Shire
For information on the fictional Shire of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, see Shire (Middle-earth)
A shire is an administrative area of Great Britain. The first shires were created by the Anglo-Saxons in what is now England and south eastern Scotland. Shires were controlled by a royal official known as a "shire reeve" or sheriff. In Australia, a shire is a type of Local Government Area. See that article for a list of lists.
In Great Britain, the term 'shire county' is used to refer to non-metropolitan counties.
It can also be used in a narrower sense, referring only to traditional counties ending in 'shire'. These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town.
Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Yorkshire.
Of these, all but Huntingdonshire and Yorkshire are still administrative counties. Huntingdonshire is now administered as a district of Cambridgeshire, and Yorkshire is split between East North, South, and West Yorkshire.
The counties of Devon, Dorset, Rutland and Somerset were occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. This usage is now archaic.
Aberdeenshire, Argyllshire, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Berwickshire, Buteshire, Clackmannanshire, Cromartyshire, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Inverness-shire, Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Morayshire, Nairnshire, Peeblesshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross-shire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Stirlingshire, Wigtownshire
In Scotland four counties have alternative names with the "shire" suffix: Angus (Forfarshire), East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire) and West Lothian (Linlithgowshire).
Sutherland is occasionally still referred to as 'Sutherlandshire', despite there being no town called Sutherland. Also, Morayshire is sometimes called Elginshire.
Brecknockshire, Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire,Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire
In Wales, the counties of Merioneth and Glamorgan are occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. The only traditional Welsh county that never takes "shire" is Anglesey.
Non-county shires
The suffix -shire was a generalised term referring to a district. It did not acquire the strong association with county until later, though the former Hexhamshire and Winchcombeshire were considered counties. The area of Richmondshire in North Yorkshire is today a local government district. The term shire thus predates the creation of England's counties, referring originally to a more local jurisdiction.
Other than these, the term was used for several other districts. Bedlingtonshire, Norhamshire and Islandshire were exclaves of County Durham, which were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844. The suffix was also was used for many hundreds and wapentakes such as Allertonshire, Blackburnshire, Leylandshire, Powdershire, Pydenshire, Salfordshire, Triggshire, West Derbyshire and Wivelshire, counties corporate such as Hullshire, and other districts such as Applebyshire, Bamburghshire, Bunkleshire, Carlisleshire, Coldinghamshire, Coxwoldshire, Cravenshire, Halfshire, Hallamshire, Howdenshire and Yetholmshire.
The term "shire" is shared by the Germanic people; Scirii.
See also
Shire is also the name for a breed of large draft horse.
