Croxley Rail Link "Exhibition" dates
On May 10, 12:09*pm, Paul Terry wrote:
In message , David
Cantrell writes
So why County Durham instead of Durhamshire?
Possibly because the county had several subdivisions that were in
themselves already "shires" (Islandshire, Bedlingtonshire and
Norhamshire were all exclaves that eventually became part of
Northumberland).
There's a sort of general principle that an area which took its name
from an ancient kingdom or tribe (such as Cornwall, Kent, Sussex,
Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk) didn't get a "-shire" appendage,
while areas based on administrative centres did (such as York/Yorkshire,
Hereford/Herefordshire, Oxford/Oxfordshire and so on). But there are
many exceptions (including Durham and, especially, Berkshire).
Thank you. I had not seen that explained before.
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