thumbnail

County towns of England (with map)

Name the county towns (or cities) of each of the English counties and the counties will fill in on the map. Note that the definition of a 'county town' is somewhat arbitrary and ceremonial now but these are generally accepted to be the county towns even though the administrative centre may now be located elsewhere.
In the case of the Metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester, West Midlands and Merseyside, they don't really have 'county towns' as such but the answers are considered de-facto.
Similarly Greater London is an administrative area with no real 'county town' but is on here for completeness.
Quiz by Berney
Rate:
Last updated: April 11, 2023
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedFebruary 24, 2013
Times taken11,807
Average score55.3%
Rating4.74
Report this quizReport
5:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 47 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
 
County
County Town
Bedfordshire
Bedford
Berkshire
Reading
Buckinghamshire
Aylesbury
Cambridgeshire
Cambridge
Cheshire
Chester
Cornwall
Truro
Cumbria
Carlisle
Derbyshire
Matlock
Devon
Exeter
Dorset
Dorchester
County of Bristol
Bristol
County Durham
Durham
East Riding of Yorkshire
Beverley
East Sussex
Lewes
Essex
Chelmsford
Gloucestershire
Gloucester
County
County Town
Greater London
London (Southwark)
Greater Manchester
Manchester
Hampshire
Winchester
Herefordshire
Hereford
Hertfordshire
Hertford
Isle of Wight
Newport
Kent
Maidstone
Lancashire
Lancaster
Leicestershire
Leicester
Lincolnshire
Lincoln
Merseyside
Liverpool
Norfolk
Norwich
Northamptonshire
Northampton
Northumberland
Morpeth
North Yorkshire
Northallerton
Nottinghamshire
Nottingham
County
County Town
Oxfordshire
Oxford
Rutland
Oakham
Shropshire
Shrewsbury
Somerset
Taunton
South Yorkshire
Barnsley
Staffordshire
Stafford
Suffolk
Ipswich
Surrey
Guildford
Tyne & Wear
Newcastle
Warwickshire
Warwick
West Midlands
Birmingham
West Sussex
Chichester
West Yorkshire
Wakefield
Wiltshire
Trowbridge
Worcestershire
Worcester
+1
Level 83
Jul 12, 2013
Think you'll find that Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire these days, though Derby was certainly so in the past.
+3
Level 59
Oct 14, 2018
Glenfield is the town for Leicestershire and West Bridgeford for Nottinghamshire.
+2
Level 80
Oct 15, 2018
As per the notes I'm looking for the generally accepted, and typically the traditional county towns, not the locations where the county councils are based. I don't think that makes those smaller suburbs the 'county towns'.
+1
Level 80
Nov 23, 2018
Good idea for a quiz, would be a good one to be featured imo.
+1
Level 78
Dec 31, 2018
Great quiz and challenging
+1
Level 78
Oct 24, 2020
Just taken this quiz again, didnt even realise I'd taken it almost 2 years ago til I read the comments, Since we can now nominate, I will do so. Great quiz !
+1
Level 56
Apr 17, 2020
Good quiz - difficult to do to please everyone! Apparently Bodmin is still officially the county town of Cornwall but like you say, most people would say it's Truro. Nice to see the map fill up as you do it.
+1
Level 87
Mar 23, 2022
Ace quiz, nominated
+1
Level 83
Aug 22, 2022
I don't know why I'm surprised that so many places still have their county town as the one which gave its name to the county. Maybe living in Yorkshire has skewed my perception a bit.
+1
Level 70
Nov 17, 2022
Pretty sure that it's Leeds, not Wakefield, for West Yorkshire, and Sheffield, not Barnsley, for South Yorkshire
+1
Level 86
Apr 18, 2023
They deliberately put the county council (for the 12 years it existed: 1974-1986) not in the biggest city to appease the other places who were worried that the biggest city would dominate. See also many US state capitals, Ottowa, Canberra, etc.
+1
Level 49
Apr 16, 2023
Definitely West Bridgford for Nottinghamshire
+1
Level 80
Apr 16, 2023
See the quiz description - the administrative centre and location of the council is West Bridgford but the county town is still considered to be Nottingham.