Welcome
The Association of British Counties (ABC) is a society dedicated to promoting awareness of the continuing importance of the 92 historic counties of the United Kingdom.
The ABC believes that the historic counties are an important part of the culture, geography and heritage of The United Kingdom. The ABC contends that Britain needs a fixed popular geography, one divorced from the ever-changing names and areas of local government but, instead, one rooted in history, public understanding and commonly held notions of community and identity. The ABC, therefore, seeks to fully re-establish the use of the historic counties as the standard popular geographical reference frame of Britain and to further encourage their use as a basis for social, sporting and cultural activities.
More information about what the historic counties are and why they matter can be found in our An introduction to the historic counties factsheet.
Featured Articles
County News: October 2026
As ever there is a whole lot going on around the traditional counties movement. The end of October brought important Government announcements about its local government reorganisation and devolution programmes in England. We consider the implications of these for the identities of the historic counties. … Continue reading
Fake 1974 ‘Oxfordshire’, ‘Warwickshire’ and ‘Worcestershire’ go as abolition of ‘county councils’ recommences
On 29th October 2026, Jim McMahon OBE MP, Minister for Local Government, announced that the Government is to press ahead with the reorganisation of local government in England. The programme had been set to replace all the remaining two-tier (county council and district council) areas … Continue reading
County News: September 2026
It may be the silly season but, as ever, there has been a lot happening in the world of the traditional counties movement. Local government reorganisation continues in England and is now ongoing in Scotland too. We look at the implications for the real counties. … Continue reading