The historic counties of England were established for administration by the Normans, in most cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires established by the Anglo-Saxons and others. They are alternatively known as ancient counties or traditional counties. They were used initially for the administration of justice, collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation. They continue to form, albeit with considerably altered boundaries, the basis of modern local government.
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“If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the new stand side by side, and admit of being compared; when the energies of all men are searched by fear and by hope; when the historic glories of the old can be compensated by the rich possibilities of the new era?”
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