England is divided by a number of different regional schemes for various purposes. Since the creation of the Government Office Regions in 1994 and their adoption for statistical purposes in 1999, some historical regional schemes have become obsolete. However, many alternative regional designations also exist and continue to be widely used.
Alternative
Cultural
Informal and overlapping regional designations are often used to describe areas of England. They include: Midlands, often considered interchangeable with Mercia
Welsh Marches
Staffordshire Potteries
Three Counties
Northern England
Scottish Marches
Southern England
Home Counties
M4 corridor
Thames Valley
Cinque Ports
West Country, often considered interchangeable with Wessex
Heptarchy
Heptarchy, former kingdom names which did not become counties have continued to be recognised by organisations as regions: , generally interchangeable the West Country excluding Cornwall
, often considered interchangeable with the Midlands
, associated mainly with the Viking age rump kingdom of Northumbria (the counties of Durham and Northumberland) however can be considered interchangeable with Northern England
Counties
Historic counties and the Yorkshire Ridings are no longer used as units for administrative or ceremonial purposes. These have continued to be recognised in sport and used by organisations as regional units.
(historic)
National parks
National parks include: Peak District Lake District Dartmoor Exmoor North York Moors Northumberland National Park The Broads New Forest Yorkshire Dales South Downs
Britain in Bloom regions
Britain in Bloom divides England into 12 regions. Mixture of government regions with some altered names. It also includes Cumbria, Thames-and-Chilterns (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire) and part of south east and south west as South-and-South-West.
National Trust
The National Trust has 10 regional offices in England. These are
Devon and Cornwall – part of the official South West region
East of England – as region
East Midlands – as region
North East England – North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber
North West England – as region
Thames and Solent – Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, London, Oxfordshire, Hampshire
South East England – East Sussex, Kent, Surrey, West Sussex
West Midlands – as region
Wessex – South West England without Devon and Cornwall
Historical
500–1066
After the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, the area now known as England became divided into seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex. A number of other smaller political divisions and sub-kingdoms existed. The kingdoms were eventually united into the Kingdom of England in a process beginning with Egbert of Wessex in 829 and completed by King Edred in 954.
1655–1657
During The Protectorate, Oliver Cromwell experimented with the Rule of the Major-Generals. There were ten regional associations covering England and Wales administered by majors-general. Ireland under Major-General Henry Cromwell, and Scotland under Major-General George Monck were in administrations already agreed upon and were not part of the scheme.
World War II
{ |
| In the Second World War, England was divided into ten civil defence regions: Northern: Durham, Northumberland, Yorkshire, North Riding North Eastern: Yorkshire, East and West Riding North Midland: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland Eastern: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk, Suffolk London: larger area than County of London/Middlesex, possibly same as Metropolitan Police District Southern: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire South Western: Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire Midland: Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire North Western: Cheshire, Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland South Eastern: Kent, Surrey and Sussex |}
1945–1994
Economic planning regions
Eight economic planning regions were named by the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, George Brown in December 1964. These were: