List of tripoints of counties of England explained

This article contains a list of tripoints of counties of England. A tripoint is the point at which three geographical regions meet.

Ceremonial county tripoints

The table contains a list of the 68 tripoints for the ceremonial counties of England as per the Lieutenancies Act 1997, as amended. Also included are the three points at which two counties meet the borders with Wales and Scotland. For each tripoint the counties are ordered with the first alphabetically given first, and the counties listed anti-clockwise around the point from there.

County 1County 2County 3Grid RefNotes
DevonDorsetSomerset
DorsetWiltshireSomerset
DorsetHampshireWiltshire
HampshireWest SussexSurrey
East SussexSurreyWest Sussex[1]
East SussexKentSurrey
BerkshireBuckinghamshireOxfordshire
BerkshireSurreyBuckinghamshire
BerkshireHampshireSurrey
BerkshireWiltshireHampshire
BerkshireOxfordshireWiltshire
Greater LondonSurreyKent[2]
EssexHertfordshireGreater London[3]
EssexGreater LondonKent
CambridgeshireNorfolkLincolnshire
CambridgeshireSuffolkNorfolk[4]
CambridgeshireEssexSuffolk
CambridgeshireHertfordshireEssex
CambridgeshireNorthamptonshireLincolnshire[5]
LincolnshireRutlandNorthamptonshire
BedfordshireHertfordshireCambridgeshire
BedfordshireBuckinghamshireHertfordshire
BedfordshireNorthamptonshireBuckinghamshire[6]
BedfordshireCambridgeshireNorthamptonshire[7]
BuckinghamshireGreater LondonHertfordshire
BerkshireSurreyGreater London
BuckinghamshireNorthamptonshireOxfordshire
BristolSomersetGloucestershire
GloucestershireSomersetWiltshire
GloucestershireHerefordshireWales
GloucestershireWorcestershireHerefordshire
GloucestershireWarwickshireWorcestershire
GloucestershireOxfordshireWarwickshire[8]
GloucestershireWiltshireOxfordshire
HerefordshireShropshireWales
HerefordshireWorcestershireShropshire
West MidlandsWorcestershireWarwickshire
NorthamptonshireWarwickshireOxfordshire
LeicestershireLincolnshireNottinghamshire[9]
LeicestershireRutlandLincolnshire
LeicestershireNorthamptonshireRutland
LeicestershireWarwickshireNorthamptonshire[10]
LeicestershireStaffordshireWarwickshire[11]
StaffordshireWest MidlandsWarwickshire
StaffordshireWorcestershireWest Midlands
ShropshireWorcestershireStaffordshire
DerbyshireSouth YorkshireWest Yorkshire
DerbyshireNottinghamshireSouth Yorkshire[12]
DerbyshireLeicestershireNottinghamshire
DerbyshireStaffordshireLeicestershire
DerbyshireWest YorkshireGreater Manchester
CheshireGreater ManchesterMerseyside
CheshireDerbyshireGreater Manchester
CheshireStaffordshireDerbyshire[13]
CheshireShropshireStaffordshire
CheshireWalesShropshire
Greater ManchesterWest YorkshireLancashire
Greater ManchesterLancashireMerseyside
East RidingNottinghamshireLincolnshire
East RidingSouth YorkshireNottinghamshire
East RidingNorth YorkshireSouth Yorkshire
LancashireWest YorkshireNorth Yorkshire
North YorkshireWest YorkshireSouth Yorkshire
DurhamTyne and WearNorthumberland
CumbriaDurhamNorthumberland
CumbriaNorth YorkshireDurham
CumbriaLancashireNorth Yorkshire
CumbriaNorthumberlandScotland

As a result of the Local Government Act 1972, between 1974 and 1996 the counties of Avon and Cleveland had three tripoints that are no longer in existence.[14]

County 1County 2County 3Grid Ref
AvonWiltshireGloucestershire
AvonSomersetWiltshire
ClevelandDurhamNorth Yorkshire

Historic county tripoints

The table contains a list of the 58 principal tripoints for the historic counties of England prior to 1800.[15] As the English county boundaries had remained essentially unchanged since the eleventh century,[16] the list can thus be seen to represent the "original" locations of the English county tripoints.

During the nineteenth century a number of laws, most notably the Counties Act of 1844, resulted in the relocation of some sections of historic boundaries, principally to remove detached portions of counties. With the notable exception of the creation of the metropolitan counties in 1974, the majority of the boundaries have remained unchanged since then. For comparison the locations of the tripoints in 1890 are also listed in the table, by which time the majority of the localised changes had been made. The handful of additional tripoints that were formed by detached parts of counties are not listed in the table (e.g. Devon(detached)-Dorset-Somerset, Staffordshire-Shropshire(detached)-Worcestershire(detached)).

The symbol (†) indicates that the original point still exists unchanged as a tripoint of the current ceremonial counties. (Many of the other points still exist as the meeting of three administrative districts.) For each tripoint the counties are ordered with the first alphabetically given first, and the counties listed anti-clockwise around the point from there.

County 1County 2County 3Grid Ref (1806)Grid Ref (1890)Notes
DevonDorsetSomerset
DorsetWiltshireSomerset
DorsetHampshireWiltshire
HampshireSussexSurrey
KentSurreySussex
BerkshireWiltshireHampshire
BerkshireHampshireSurrey
BerkshireSurreyBuckinghamshire
BerkshireBuckinghamshireOxfordshire
BerkshireOxfordshireGloucestershire[17]
BerkshireGloucestershireWiltshire
GloucestershireSomersetWiltshire
GloucestershireWorcestershireHerefordshire
GloucestershireHerefordshireMonmouthshire
GloucestershireWarwickshireWorcestershire[18]
GloucestershireOxfordshireWarwickshire
BuckinghamshireNorthamptonshireOxfordshire
BuckinghamshireSurreyMiddlesex
BuckinghamshireMiddlesexHertfordshire
BedfordshireHertfordshireCambridgeshire
BedfordshireBuckinghamshireHertfordshire
BedfordshireNorthamptonshireBuckinghamshire
BedfordshireHuntingdonshireNorthamptonshire
MiddlesexSurreyKent
EssexMiddlesexKent
EssexHertfordshireMiddlesex
CambridgeshireHertfordshireEssex
CambridgeshireEssexSuffolk
CambridgeshireSuffolkNorfolk
CambridgeshireNorfolkLincolnshire
CambridgeshireLincolnshireNorthamptonshire
CambridgeshireNorthamptonshireHuntingdonshire
BedfordshireCambridgeshireHuntingdonshire
LincolnshireRutlandNorthamptonshire
LeicestershireNorthamptonshireRutland
LeicestershireWarwickshireNorthamptonshire
LeicestershireStaffordshireWarwickshire
LeicestershireRutlandLincolnshire
StaffordshireWorcestershireWarwickshire
ShropshireWorcestershireStaffordshire
HerefordshireWorcestershireShropshire
HerefordshireShropshireRadnorshire
DerbyshireStaffordshireLeicestershire
DerbyshireLeicestershireNottinghamshire
LeicestershireLincolnshireNottinghamshire
DerbyshireNottinghamshireYorkshire
CheshireFlintshireShropshire
CheshireShropshireStaffordshire
CheshireStaffordshireDerbyshire
CheshireDerbyshireYorkshire
CheshireYorkshireLancashire
LincolnshireYorkshireNottinghamshire
LancashireYorkshireWestmorland
CumberlandLancashireWestmorland
CumberlandWestmorlandDurham
DurhamWestmorlandYorkshire
CumberlandDurhamNorthumberland
CumberlandNorthumberlandRoxburghshire

See also

Notes and References

  1. These two tripoints are just about a mile from one another, to the east of East Grinstead.
  2. Formerly located at
  3. This tripoint is located beside where the M25 motorway crosses the River Lea.
  4. Near to Shippea Hill railway station
  5. Often incorrectly believed to be a quadripoint, these two tripoints are around 20 metres apart.
  6. Located at the edge of "Threeshire Wood".
  7. Marked by a "Three Shire Stone"
  8. Location of the "Four Shire Stone" monument, marking the location of a former quadripoint when the site also bordered a detached area of Worcestershire.
  9. Marked by "Three Shire Oak".
  10. Marked by Dow Bridge
  11. These two tripoints are just under a mile from one another - see No Man's Heath.
  12. Situated 500m north of "Three Shires Oak".
  13. Known as Three Shire Heads and the former location of three stones marking the boundary and shown on John Speed's map of 1612.
  14. Web site: County boundary mapping from 1995. Ordnance Survey. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20081209044832/http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/images/userImages/misc/outlinemaps/1995.gif. 2008-12-09.
  15. Ordnance Survey: First Edition, 1806
  16. Book: Encyclopedia Americana. Encyclopedia Americana Corp.. 1918. 354.
  17. These two tripoints are just over a mile from one another near Lechlade.
  18. Marked by the "Three Shire Elms"