One county, Kent, we know dates back to Julius Caesar and may well be older than that. Essex is at least 1,500 years old. And all the other historic counties date back at least to medieval times.

First there are the historic counties, which date as far back as the mid-Saxon period. Some, like Westmorland, no longer exist in an administrative sense.

If we go by the historic counties list, Rutland is indeed the smallest with a total area of 382 sq km (147.4 sq miles), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Stockton Councillor Ross Patterson's passionate campaign struck a chord with councillors, one of whom said: 'We never know where we live' ...

For some, the historic counties of England represent the authentic divisions of the land. Others fervently press for the creation of an English parliament for the first time in centuries.

England’s largest county was for centuries divided into three ridings – north, east and west – but these were wiped from the map in 1974. Some areas were handed to neighbouring counties ...

Lord Heseltine has admitted he ripped up England’s historic counties after taking a light aircraft flight across the country and redrawing lines on a map. As local government minister under ...

He added: "There's 41 historic counties of England. They go back to the Middle Ages and the monarchy used them to run the country. In 1889 each of these counties was given a council that covered the ...