Gazetteer of
British Place Names

2. Contents of the Gazetteer

The Gazetteer comprises the following entities.

•  Place Name
•  Type
•  Alternative Name(s)
•  Notes
•  Historic County
•  Division of County
•  Island
•  Latitude and Longitude
•  Grid Reference
•  Townland (TD)
•  Civil Parish (CP)
•  Community (C)
•  Council Area (CA)
•  Strategic Authority Area (SA)
•  Police Area (PA)
•  Devolved Legislature
•  GBPN ID
•  GSS / GGA Code
•  Entry Type
•  URL

Place Name and Type

Over 300,000 place names are included in the Gazetteer. Each place name has a category contained in the 'Type' field. The included Types are:

Settlement. Over 55,000 settlements are included. The intention is to include the name of every settlement (above isolated houses and farmsteads) which has a distinct name and identity. This includes hamlets, villages, towns and cities. Each district within a larger village, town or city which has a distinct name and identity has been included as an 'urban area' entry. The urban extent of many large towns and cities is a subjective matter, perceptions being a combination of local sentiment and identity, postal addressing, previous and current administrative arrangements, road signage and many other factors. In ascribing an urban area to a particular town or city, we have tried to reflect such ambiguities within the notes for that urban area.

Historic County. Each of the 92 historic counties of the UK (see the Historic Counties Standard) has a separate entry in the Gazetteer.

Division of County. The Gazetteer includes an entry for each traditional division of a county, specifically the Ridings of Yorkshire, the Parts of Lincolnshire, the Soke of Peterborough (Northamptonshire) and the Isle of Ely (Cambridgeshire).

Detached Part (Exclave).The Gazetteer includes an entry for each detached part (exclave) of a county - see Detached Parts (Exclaves) below. There are 128 such exclaves in the UK.

Townland (TD). Each townland in Northern Ireland has a separate entry in the Gazetteer.

Civil Parish (CP). Each civil parish in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland has a separate entry in the Gazetteer.

Community (C). Each community in Wales has a separate entry in the Gazetteer.

Council Area (CA). Each council area in the United Kingdom has a separate entry in the Gazetteer.

Strategic Authority Area (SA). Each Strategic Authority area in England has a separate entry in the Gazetteer.

Traditional Area. This category includes larger areas which have a name and a commonly understood geographic and cultural identity but which are not individual settlements, do not necessarily have well defined boundaries and which cannot be fully defined in relation to landscape features (such as valleys, hills etc). Examples include the Wentloog area of Monmouthshire, the Fens coastal plain in eastern England and the Forest of Arden in Warwickshire.

Ancient Parish (AP) or Township (TN). There are several entries in the Gazetteer for ancient or mother parishes (i.e. the ecclesiastical and civil parishes which existed directly before the formal establishment of civil parishes in England and Wales by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866), or sub-divisions thereof, e.g. a township (TN). The Gazetteer is not a reference source to the ancient parishes, but includes those which are still have a geographic and cultural identity in similar manner to the Traditional Areas included.

National Park.The Gazetteer includes an entry for each of the 15 national parks in Great Britain, as designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.

Island. Over 8,500 islands are included with the Gazetteer. The vast majority are offshore islands, though named islands within freshwater lakes etc. are also included.

Island Group. Around 70 named groups of islands are included with the Gazetteer.

Valley. Over 10,000 named valleys are included in the Gazetteer.

Hill, Mountain. Over 37,000 hills and mountains are included in the Gazetteer.

Corrie (Glacial Valley). There are over 2,000 entries for glacial valleys (aka cirques) in the Gazetteer.

Range of Mountains, Range of Hills. This category includes well defined groups of hills and mountain ranges. There are around 300 such entries.

Cliff, Slope. The Gazetteer lists over 1,400 cliffs or slopes.

Downs, Moorland. There are over 16,000 entries in the Gazetteer for named moorlands or downs.

Lake, Pool, Pond, Freshwater Marsh. This category lists over 16,000 inland water features.

Waterfall. Over 600 waterfalls are included in the Gazetteer.

Wood, Forest. This category lists over 97,00 areas of woodland and forest, from small copses to large forests.

Sea, Estuary, Creek. This category includes all tidal waters around the coast. There are over 4,700 entries.

Coastal Feature, Headland, Point. This category includes coastal headlands and points and many other landscape features from around the coast. There are over 14,000 entries.

Coastal Marsh, Saltings. This category lists over 2,700 areas of marshland or saltings from around the coast.

Bay. The Gazetteer includes over 3,500 bays.

Beach. The Gazetteer lists over 1,500 beaches.

Urban greenspace. This category includes large areas of urban open space. The Gazetteer lists over 130 entries.

Landscape Feature. This category includes various landscape features which do not fit easily into other categories. It contains over 900 entries.

Heritage Sites. This category includes historic properties, earthworks, prehistoric remains etc.

We do not attempt here to give a detailed discussion of the history and orthography of place names. Several excellent books on this subject are available, notably The Names of Towns and Cities in Britain by Gelling, Nicolaisen and Richards (Batsford 1970, 1986) and the Place-names of Northern Ireland series published by the Northern Ireland Place-Names Project at Queen's University Belfast.

Alternative Name(s)

This field lists alternative versions of the place name. Each place has a separate entry in the Gazetteer under each of these alternatives, with cross-referencing in all cases.

Both the spellings and pronunciations of many place names have changed (often radically) with time. Indeed, the idea of a "standard" spelling of a place name is a relatively modern one. The three main factors which have led to a standardisation of the spellings of place names have been the recording of them on Ordnance Survey maps, the use of them as "postal localities" by the Post Office and the denoting of them by road signs erected by local authorities. However, even today one can find many place names spelt in two or more ways depending on which map, postal address book or road sign one looks at. Within the Gazetteer, we have attempted to include all such variations of the spelling of a given place name by including a separate entry for each spelling. Our benchmark has been to include any spelling denoted on an O.S. map or used by the Post Office since the start of the twentieth century, although we also include any other locally accepted spelling which is known to us. Hence, the Gazetteer does not provide an exhaustive list of the spellings of a particular place name throughout its entire history.

Many places within Wales have both a Welsh name and also an English or anglicised name. In such cases, each name is given a separate entry. We have taken a similar approach to those places in Scotland which have a commonly used Gaelic name as well as an English or anglicised name.

Those place names which have an affix of the type "The", "Old", "New", "North", "South", "East", "West", "Lower", "Upper" etc. are included twice, e.g. as "West Acre" and "Acre, West".

See also  Entry Type.

Notes

The Gazetteer includes brief descriptive notes for settlements, heritage sites and certain other entries. These are intended to give a brief description of the place, its nature and location, and describe any especially noteworthy features.

Historic County

The Historic County field of the Gazetteer is based on the Historic Counties Standard, which provides a comprehensive definition of the names, areas and borders of the historic counties of the UK.

The vast majority of places in the United Kingdom can be unambiguously assigned to a particular historic county. Unlike modern administrative areas, the boundaries of the historic counties are not laid out in any single Act of Parliament. Many of them pre-date statutory law itself. Nonetheless, by the beginning of the nineteenth century their bounds had been fixed and known by repute to great accuracy for many centuries. A major task of the Ordnance Survey during the nineteenth century was to ascertain and mark out such "reputed boundaries" (not just of the counties but also of parishes, townships, hundreds, boroughs etc.). By the late 1880s the whole of the United Kingdom had been accurately surveyed on a scale of 1:2500 (25 inches to one mile). The resultant set of maps, known as the "1st edition", provided the first planimetrically accurate determination of the boundaries of the counties.

There are, however, several areas of potential ambiguity. A discussion of each of these and the way in which they are dealt with within the Gazetteer is presented below. These issues are dealt with in more detail in the Historic Counties Standard.

(i) Detached Parts (aka Exclaves)
A "detached part" of an historic county can be defined as a small exclave of that county which is entirely separated from the main body of that county and locally situate either entirely within the main body of another county or between the main bodies and/or detached parts of two or more other counties. Many of the historic counties have detached parts. Like the exterior boundaries, most are believed to date back to at least the time of the Conquest. It has long been the convention to associate a detached part with both its parent county and the county in which it is locally situate. The Gazetteer continues this convention.

The Historic Counties Standard presents two definitions. In Definition A detached parts are not separately identified, but are associated with their host county. This is the definition used by the Office for National Statistics in its Index of Place Names in Great Britain. Definition B identifies all detached parts and associates them with their parent county.

Within the Gazetteer the historic county to which each place is primarily related is that of Definition A from the Historic Counties Standard, i.e. that of the host county. However, the fact that the place lies within a detached part and the full details of the parent county are also noted, ensuring that the Gazetteer complies with both definitions from The Historic Counties Standard.

Many exclaves were deemed by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 to form part of their surrounding county "for all purposes". Whether this was meant to be a real territorial change or an administrative convenience is a debatable point. Definition B of the Historic Counties Standard makes no distinction between those detached parts referred to in the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 and those not referred to. Within the Gazetteer, we do note where a detached part was one of those referred to by this act.

In the early 1840s, three small exclaves in Ireland were "annexed to and incorporated with" one or other of the six counties which later became Northern Ireland. This was done under the Valuation of Lands (Ireland) Act 1836. This fact is also noted in the entries for these three exclaves.

(ii) Settlements in more than one County
There have since ancient times been settlements which lay across county borders (e.g. Lamberhurst in Kent and Sussex, Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire, Tamworth in Staffordshire and Warwickshire). Twentieth and twenty-first century developments have added considerably to their number. Cases where a significant part of a settlement lies in more than one county are dealt with by including reference to each of the relevant counties. In such cases the county listed first is that in which the "centre" of the settlement lies or with which the settlement has been traditionally associated.

(iii) The Counties Corporate
There are, within England and Wales, 18 towns or cities which have, at various times, been granted charters apparently making them "counties" in their own right. These areas are collectively known as the "counties corporate". Such charters were actually concerned with the judicial arrangements of these towns and cities rather than their geographical status. There has always been debate about whether these areas should be considered to be real counties, equivalent to, for example, Devon and Lincolnshire. The General Register Office, within its Census Reports, never considered them to be so and always dealt with them as being part of the county in which they geographically lay. Numerous legal judgments found that the "counties corporate" were not "Counties in the ordinary sense of the term". This convention is followed in the Gazetteer. This is done without prejudice to the special status which many feel these places deserve.

(iv) Ross-shire and Cromartyshire
The county of Cromarty consists of several parts distributed within the county of Ross and between Ross-shire and Sutherland. In consequence, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire are often considered as a single geographical unit. Administrative areas based upon them have frequently used their combined area and been given the label "Ross and Cromarty". However, the bounds of each county have been determined by O.S. to great accuracy. It, therefore, seems reasonable within the Gazetteer to list places either "Ross-shire" or "Cromartyshire" as appropriate, not least to assist those using the Gazetteer for historical or genealogical studies.

(v) Alternative County names
The county names used in the Gazetteer are those by which each county has been most commonly known throughout its history. Certain county names (e.g. Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Glamorgan, Merioneth) have occasionally had a "shire" suffixed to them but are here presented in their more common "shire-less" forms.

Several Scottish counties have alternative names by which they are also sometimes known. These are listed below.

Angus                 Forfarshire
East Lothian          Haddingtonshire
Midlothian            Edinburghshire
Morayshire            Elginshire
West Lothian          Linlithgowshire

The counties of Wales have, of course, commonly used Welsh names. The following versions are those recommended by The Language and Literature Committee of the Board of Celtic Studies of the University of Wales (which advises the Ordnance Survey on the orthography of Welsh place names).

Anglesey             Sir Fon
Brecknockshire       Sir Frycheiniog
Caernarfonshire      Sir Gaernarfon
Cardiganshire        Ceredigion
Carmarthenshire      Sir Gaerfyrddin
Denbighshire         Sir Ddinbych
Flintshire           Sir y Fflint
Glamorgan            Morgannwg
Merioneth            Meirionnydd
Monmouthshire        Sir Fynwy
Montgomeryshire      Sir Drefaldwyn
Pembrokeshire        Sir Benfro
Radnorshire          Sir Faesyfed

Division of County

The Gazetteer lists the traditional division for places in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

The Three Ridings of Yorkshire are the ancient division of the county, and the creation of the Norse period from which Yorkshire itself arose. The three ridings surround the City of York, their boundaries meeting at the walls of the city: thus York is the only part of Yorkshire outside any of the ridings. The three ridings are:

• The East Riding, the smallest and least hilly, much of it in the plains extending from the north bank of the Humber;
• The North Riding, extending from the Pennines to the North Sea;
• The West Riding, the largest and most urbanised as its southern parts contain the great industrial cities of Yorkshire, though in its north encompassing some of the finest of the Yorkshire Dales.

The three Parts of Lincolnshire are ancient divisions of the county. They are similar in nature to the three Ridings of Yorkshire. The three Parts are:

• Lindsey in the north;
• Kesteven in the south-west;
• Holland in the south-east.

The Gazetteer also lists places in the Soke of Peterborough. The Soke is a part of Northamptonshire which was once a Liberty under the control of Peterborough Abbey and, after the dissolution of the Abbey, under a secular "Lord Paramount of Peterborough". Although no longer used for administrative purposes, it retains a geographical and cultural identity within Northamptonshire.

The Gazetteer also lists places in the Isle of Ely. The Isle of Ely takes up the northern half of Cambridgeshire. From 1107 until 1837 the Isle was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ely, who appointed a Chief Justice of Ely and exercised temporal powers within the Liberty of Ely. Although no longer used for administrative purposes, the Isle retains a geographical and cultural identity within Cambridgeshire.

Island

For places which lie on an island, the Gazetteer entry lists the island name.

Latitude and Longitude

These are the latitude and longitude of the "centre" of the settlement (see comments below about the problem of deriving this in certain cases).

Grid Reference

These represent the 10m x 10m square in which the "centre" of the settlement concerned lies. While the "centre" of a village or town is usually fairly easy to define, such an area will usually spread into more than one 10m x 10m square. A determination of the "centre" of districts within urban areas can present problems since in many cases their bounds and centres are not unambiguously discernible. Our approach has generally been to base it on the site of the village or geographical feature from which the district took its name. However, many modern housing estates have no such "centre" and a subjective decision has had to be made in some cases.

For places in Great Britain these grid references are from the National Grid reference system developed by the Ordnance Survey. For places in Northern Ireland these grid references are from the Irish grid reference system developed by the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland and the Ordnance Survey of Ireland.

Townland (TD)

A townland is a traditional small land division used throughout Ireland, typically covering around 100–500 acres. The townland system is of mediæval origin, predating the Norman invasion. Most have Irish-derived names. Some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors, Plantation divisions, or later creations of the Ordnance Survey. There are over 9,500 townlands in Northern Ireland. Along with the civil parishes and the counties, they form an important part of the traditional geography of Northern Ireland. The "TD" label is appended to the townland name in the Gazetteer to clarify that the reference is to the townland and not to any settlement which shares the townland name.

Civil Parish (CP)

The civil parishes of England can trace their origin to the ancient system of ecclesiastical parishes which, before the mid 19th century, played a role in both civil and ecclesiastical administration. These functions were separated in the mid 19th century and the "civil parish" was created at that time. Nonetheless, most civil parishes have names and bounds unchanged for many centuries. Their antiquity means that they almost all fall entirely within one or other of the historic counties. However, unlike the communities of Wales, not all parts of England have a civil parish. Most civil parishes in England have an elected parish council (sometimes known as a town council) with a range of functions including the provision of community facilities and the sponsoring of community events. Many civil parishes share the name of a settlement. In such cases, there is a separate entry in the Gazetteer for the civil parish and for the settlement.

The civil parishes of Scotland were established in 1845 when parochial boards were established to administer the poor law. They originally corresponded to the parishes of the Church of Scotland, although the number and boundaries of the civil parishes soon diverged from the ecclesiastical parishes. There are over 850 civil parishes in Scotland. Although parish councils were abolished in 1930, civil parishes remain a foundational, comprehensive geographical unit covering the whole of Scotland, used for various administrative and statistical purposes, notably for the census.

The civil parishes of Ireland have their origins in the mediæval territorial unit called a túath. They were adopted by the Anglo-Norman barons as a unit of taxation, later being renamed as parishes or manors. The civil parish was formally created by Elizabethan legislation. A civil parish is typically made up of 25 to 30 townlands. Civil parishes can cross county borders, some now lying partly in Northern Ireland and partly in the Republic of Ireland. Their use as administrative units was gradually replaced by Poor Law Divisions in the 19th century, although they were not formally abolished. They remain in use for some legal purposes. There are over 250 civil parishes in Northern Ireland. Along with the townlands and the counties, they form an important part of the traditional geography of Northern Ireland.

The "CP" label is appended to the civil parish name in the Gazetteer to clarify that the reference is to the civil parish and not to any settlement which shares the civil parish name.

Community (C)

A community is a division of land that forms the lowest tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England. Most are direct successors to former civil parishes and have names and bounds unchanged for many centuries. Their antiquity means that they almost all fall entirely within one or other of the historic counties. In the sense of general-purpose geography one can, therefore, view Wales as being comprised of 13 historic counties with about 870 communities within them. Most communities have an elected community council (sometimes known as a town council) with a range of functions including the provision of community facilities and the sponsoring of community events. Many communities share the name of a settlement. In such cases, there is a separate entry in the Gazetteer for the community and for the settlement. The "C" label is appended to the community name in the Gazetteer to clarify that the reference is to the community and not to any settlement which shares the community name.

Council Area (CA)

In practical terms there are areas of England where local government service provision is split between a "county council" and several "district councils" and, throughout the rest of the United Kingdom, local government service provision is the responsibility of a single local authority, often known as a "unitary authority".

Unfortunately, statutory terminology does not reflect this simple situation. In England, a "district council" may share responsibility with a "county council" or it may be the sole council in its area. Similarly, a "county council" may share responsibility with several "districts" or it may be the sole council. In Wales, despite all local authorities having the same responsibilities, some are called "county councils", some "county borough councils" and the rest just "councils". In Scotland all local authorities are just called "councils". In Northern Ireland they are called "district councils".

Our approach is to use the term "Council Area" (CA) to refer to the local government area within which each place lies, irrespective of the confusing statutory terminology. The "CA" label is appended to the council area name to clarify that the reference is to the council area and not to any town, city or historic county from which the council area has been named.

In those remaining two-tier areas of England, both council areas are presented, e.g. as

"Council Area: Stratford-on-Avon CA (Warwickshire CA)"

In this way both the structure of local government and the name(s) of the relevant area(s) can be seen.

The structure of local government within the "Greater London" area is still principally governed by the London Government Act 1963. This Act created the "London boroughs" and their councils. It left the Corporation of the City of London in charge of administration within the City. The status of the "Inns of Court" (i.e. the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple) was also unaffected by the Act. Each of these continues to be administered by a "Master of the Bench". The Act also created "Greater London" itself, defining it to be the sum of the areas of the "London boroughs", the City of London and the Inner and Middle Temples. The Act as passed also created the "Greater London Council" (GLC).

Outside of "Greater London", the structure of local government within England and Wales is governed by the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972). As originally passed, this Act divided both England and Wales into "local government areas" which were to "be known as counties" and within which there were to be "districts". The "counties" were further subdivided into the "metropolitan counties" (e.g. "Greater Manchester", "Tyne and Wear" etc.) and the "non-metropolitan counties". Originally each "county" had a "county council" and each "district" had a "district council". The only exception to this county/district structure were the "Isles of Scilly" which were deemed by the 1972 Act and Statutory Instrument SI 1978/1844 to be a "local government area" with a council known as the "Council of the Isles of Scilly".

The Local Government Act 1985 abolished both the GLC and the "county councils" of the "metropolitan counties" although "Greater London" and the "metropolitan counties" themselves were not abolished. All local authority functions in these areas were devolved to the "London boroughs" and the "metropolitan district councils". The Greater London Authority Act 1999 created the "Greater London Authority", see  Strategic Authority Area (SA) below.

The Local Government Act 1992 created a review process within England which, as of Jan 2026, has led to the creation of a further 62 local government areas which have only one council with responsibility for the provision of all local government services. There are three different ways in which this has been done:

(a) 46 "counties" have been created which have only a single district, this district having the same name and area as the "county" (e.g. "Milton Keynes", "Swindon", "Southend-on-Sea"). There are no "county councils" in these "counties". All local government functions are exercised by the "district councils".

(b)The LGA 1972 "county" of Berkshire still exists but it now has no "county council". All administrative functions have been devolved to the six "district councils".

(c) 10 of the LGA 1972 "counties" ("Buckinghamshire", "Cornwall", "Dorset", "County Durham", "Isle of Wight" "Northumberland", "Shropshire", "Somerset", "North Yorkshire" and "Wiltshire") now have no "district councils". The sole council is the "county council".

There still exist within England, 21 "counties" (within the meaning of the LGA 1972) which have a "county council" and several districts within them, each of which has an existing "district council".

Meanwhile the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 amended the LGA 1972 so as to abolish the "counties" and "districts" of Wales and, in their place, create 22 "new principal areas". These areas are defined as "counties" and "county boroughs" in the legislation (although they are identical in every other respect). Local authorities can choose to call themselves "county council" or "county borough council" (as appropriate) or simply call themselves "council".

The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 divides Scotland into a single set of 22 "local government areas". All local authorities are simply known as "councils".

For local government purposes, Northern Ireland was divided into 11 single-tier "districts" by the Local Government (Boundaries) Order (Northern Ireland) 2012. These are sometimes known as local government districts (LGDs) or as district council areas (DCAs).

Local authorities are responsible for numerous important administrative duties. The councils of the "administrative counties" of England are responsible for education, social services, economic development and transport. The "district councils" within these areas are responsible for housing, planning, paving and street lighting, public health, leisure and amenities and waste management. Elsewhere, the sole council is responsible for all of these services. Councils in Northern Ireland have fewer areas of responsibility than those in the rest of the United Kingdom.

It should be understood that the "counties" of the LGA 1972 (or, indeed, any of the other local government areas described above) are not replacements for or amendments to the historic counties. Rather they are administrative areas created for certain specified administrative purposes. Parliament has never given them a wider geographical or cultural role. They are totally separate entities to the historic counties, as the Government has confirmed on many occasions.

Strategic Authority Area (SA)

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (2026) is creating in law the 'Strategic Authority', a regional body to which central government functions in England can be devolved. These are to be formed from groupings of councils and will, in most cases, be headed by a directly-elected mayor. Many such bodies existed prior to this bill in the guise of 'combined authorities', 'county combined authorities' and the 'Greater London Authority'. As of 2026, the Government's intention is to see all areas of England covered by a Strategic Authority by 2029. Within the Gazetteer, the "SA" label is appended to the strategic authority name to clarify that the reference is to the strategic authority area and not to any town, city or historic county from which the strategic authority has been named.

Police Area (PA)

The areas of the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police are defined by Section 76 of the London Government Act 1963. The rest of England and Wales is divided into "police areas" by the Police Act 1996.

The legislation states that each "police area" must have both a "police force" and a "police authority". Police authorities are responsible for maintaining an effective and efficient police force in their areas.

The Police Service for Scotland is the national police force of Scotland, formed in 2013 by the merger of the previous 8 regional police forces. The country is divided into 3 regions – North, East and West, each headed by an Assistant Chief Constable. There are 13 Divisions, each covering one or more local authority areas and headed by a Chief Superintendent. The Gazetteer presents the Division.

The Police Service for Northern Ireland was established by the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000. The police area is divided into eight districts, each headed by a chief superintendent.

The "PA" label is appended to the police area name to clarify that the reference is to the police area and not to any town, city or historic county from which the police area has been named.

Devolved Legislature

The Gazetteer lists whether a place is under the legislature of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Parliament (Senedd) or the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The Scottish Parliament was established by the Scotland Act 1998. It has the right to pass primary legislation on most matters relating to Scotland. The main areas of administration and law devolved to the Scottish Parliament include health, education, local government, social work, housing, planning, economic development, tourism, most aspects of the criminal and civil law, criminal justice and prosecutions, environment, agriculture, forestry, sports, fisheries, and the arts. The Scottish Executive is the Government for Scotland on all devolved matters. It consists of the First Minster (elected by the Scottish Parliament), the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General for Scotland and other Ministers appointed by the First Minister.

The Scottish Parliament has jurisdiction over the whole of Scotland (as referred to in Acts of Union of 1706 and 1707).

The National Assembly for Wales was created by the Government of Wales Act 1998. It was renamed the Welsh Parliament (in English) and Senedd Cymru (in Welsh) in 2020, though it is commonly known as the Senedd in both languages. It has the power to develop and implement policy in a range of areas including agriculture, education, health, economic development, the environment, housing, local government, social services, tourism, transport and the Welsh Language. The members of the Senedd delegate their executive powers to the First Minister, who is elected by them. The First Minister in turn delegates responsibility for delivering the executive functions to a number of Ministers. Together they form the executive committee, the Cabinet, which makes many of the Senedd's day to day decisions.

The "Wales" covered by the Senedd is that area deemed to be "Wales" by the Local Government Act 1972 for the purposes of local government. It differs slightly from the Wales referred to in the Laws in Wales Act 1535 (i.e. the act which united England and Wales into one jurisdiction) since this Act attached several small parts of Wales to Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. These areas are within "England" within its meaning in the Local Government Act 1972 and hence are not covered by the Senedd.

The Northern Ireland Assembly was established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings on the Stormont estate near Belfast, and is often known by the metonym Stormont. It has jurisdiction over the whole of Northern Ireland, as first defined by the Government of Ireland Act 1920.

GBPN ID

Every place included in the Gazetteer has a unique reference number, the GBPN ID. Where a place is listed under more than one alternative name then each entry will have the same GBPN ID. The GBPN ID is included in the online version of the Gazetteer and in the CSV download to enable those who wish to to relate their own data or place information to the Gazetteer of British Place Names to do so.

GSS / GGA Code

For those Place Types for which the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides a Government Statistical Service (GSS) Code, the GSS Code is presented. Of these entities included in the Gazetteer, GSS Codes are available for all Council Areas; for Strategic Authorities in England; for Civil Parishes in England and Scotland; for Communities in Wales; and for National Parks in England and Wales.

Council Area (England unitary authority)	"E06" + 6 digits	e.g. E06000049 Cheshire East CA
Council Area (England district)	"E07" + 6 digits	e.g. E07000200 Babergh CA
Council Area (England "metropolitan" unitary authority)	"E08" + 6 digits	e.g. E08000016 Barnsley CA
Council Area (England London borough / City)	"E09" + 6 digits	e.g. E09000002 Barking and Dagenham CA
Council Area (England county council)	"E10" + 6 digits	e.g. E10000014 Hampshire CA
Council Area (Scotland)	"S12" + 6 digits	e.g. S12000035 Argyll abd Bute CA
Council Area (Wales)	"W06" + 6 digits	e.g. W06000019 Blaenau Gwent CA
Council Area (Northern Ireland)	"N09" + 6 digits	e.g. N09000005 Derry City and Strabane CA
Strategic Authority (Greater London Authority)		E61000001 Greater London SA
Strategic Authority (others)	"E47" + 6 digits	e.g. E47000014 North East SA
Civil Parish (England)	"E04" + 6 digits	e.g. E04010263 Alvechurch CP
Civil Parish (Scotland)	"S35" + 6 digits	e.g. S35000009 Aberlady CP
Community (Wales)	"W04" + 6 digits	e.g. W04000570 Gowerton C
National Park (England)	"E26" + 6 digits	e.g. E26000009 New Forest National Park
National Park (Wales)	"W18" + 6 digits	e.g. W18000001 Brecon Beacons National Park

For those Place Types which are areal in nature but for which ONS does not currently provide a GSS code, we provide a Gazetteer Geographical Area (GGA) Code in similar format, but with an initial letter "C".

Historic County	"C010000" + 2-digit Historic County Number from Historic Counties Standard	e.g. C01000001 Aberdeenshire
Division of County	"C02" + 6 digits	e.g. C02000002 Soke of Peterboorough
Exclave	"C03" + 6 digits	e.g. C03000001 Mountcoffer exclave
Civil Parish (Northern Ireland)	"C04" + 6 digits	e.g. C04000004 Aghalee CP
Ancient Parish	"C05" + 6 digits	e.g. C05000006 Brynau AP
Townland	"C0600" + 4-digit Townland_I identifer from OSNI Open Data - Largescale Boundaries - Townlands dataaset	e.g. C06006457 Buggan TD

Entry Type

Each place (identified by its distinct GBPN ID) may have one or several entries in the Gazetteer. There are three types of entry:

Main listing (P) - each place will have one main listing. If a place is known by more than one name or has a variant of spelling then this is generally that by which it is most commonly known. Often this is a subjective matter though and the version in the main listing should not be viewed as in any sense to be preferred to any alternative form.

Alternative name listing (C) - each place may also have one or more alternative name listings (linked to the Main listing via the GBPN ID). These could be Welsh or Gaelic versions, alternative spellings etc.

Main name, prefix listing (K) - place names with a main listing of type "West Acre" are listed also as "Acre, West".

URL

Each entry in the Gazetteer has a unique URL which can be used to index the entry or link to it. This is formed from the place name, historic county and GBPN ID as in:
https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Coryton,_Glamorgan_10948

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026