Wikishire

Last updated
Wikishire
Wikishire logo.svg
Type of site
Gazetteer
Available in British English
URL wikishire.co.uk
CommercialNo
RegistrationYes
LaunchedJuly 2010
Current statusActive
Content license
CC BY-SA

Wikishire is an online gazetteer of Great Britain, Ireland and associated territories. The site describes itself thus:"Wikishire is where you are; whether you are on the Shetland islands or the South Shetland Islands or the places between, Wikishire is a growing guide on all you need to know about the British and Irish lands". To accompany the gazetteer there is an interactive map of the British Isles based on OpenStreetMap.

Contents

Wikishire organises its articles on the basis of the historic counties and ridings of Britain and Ireland and insists that articles are written in British or Irish dialects of English.

History

The site was launched in July 2010 and as of March 2020 contained over 25,000 articles.

Maps

The site's map service is used by websites such as the British Counties Campaign, [1] SABRE (the Society for All British Road Enthusiasts) [2] and the Gazetteer of British Place Names.

Map data used by the site are freely licensed and have been used in projects including Wikimedia Commons. [3]

The urbanism website CityMetric (part of the British political and cultural magazine the New Statesman ) has featured Wikishire maps in a number of articles, posing questions such as "Which historic English county has the highest population?" [4] and "Why do so many of England's cities straddle traditional county boundaries?" [5]

Related Research Articles

Historic counties of England Geographical designations for areas of England, based on historical traditions

The historic counties of England are areas that were established for administration by the Normans, in many cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires created by the Anglo-Saxons and others. They are alternatively known as ancient counties, traditional counties, former counties or simply as counties. In the centuries that followed their establishment, as well as their administrative function, the counties also helped define local culture and identity. This role continued even after the counties ceased to be used for administration after the creation of administrative counties in 1889, which were themselves amended by further local government reforms in the years following.

Cumberland Historic county of England

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England that had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. It was bordered by Northumberland to the northeast, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the southeast, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish counties of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire to the north. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria.

Montgomeryshire historic county of Wales

Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county town, Montgomery, which in turn is named after one of William the Conqueror's main counsellors, Roger de Montgomerie, who was the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.

Ceremonial counties of England Collective name for areas, in England, to which a Lord Lieutenant is appointed

The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas in England, as well as in Wales and Scotland, are defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 as "counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies in Great Britain", in contrast to the areas used for local government. They are also informally known as "geographic counties", to distinguish them from other types of counties of England.

Monmouthshire (historic)

Monmouthshire, also known as the County of Monmouth, is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales and a former administrative county. It corresponds approximately to the present principal areas of Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Torfaen, and those parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff east of the Rhymney River.

Denbighshire (historic)

Historic Denbighshire is one of thirteen traditional counties in Wales, a vice-county and a former administrative county, which covers an area in north east Wales. It is a maritime county, bounded to the north by the Irish Sea, to the east by Flintshire, Cheshire and Shropshire, to the south by Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire, and to the west by Caernarfonshire.

The Association of British Counties (ABC) is a non-party-political society formed in 1989 by television personality Russell Grant to promote the historic counties of the United Kingdom. It argues that the historic counties are an important part of Britain's cultural heritage and as such should be preserved and promoted. It also proposes that there be a clear official distinction between the historic counties and the administrative units known as counties—first described as a separate entity in the Local Government Act 1888.

United Kingdom constituencies Various types of electoral area in the UK

In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.

Counties of the United Kingdom Subnational divisions of the United Kingdom

The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. The older term, shire is historically equivalent to county. By the Middle Ages, county had become established as the unit of local government, at least in England. By the early 17th century, all of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland had been separated into counties. In Scotland shire was the only term used until after the Act of Union 1707.

Friends of Real Lancashire Lancastrian pressure group

Friends of Real Lancashire (FORL) is a pressure group affiliated to the Association of British Counties calling for the wider recognition of the historic boundaries of Lancashire in England. Its chairman is Philip Walsh.

Broad Law

Broad Law is a hill in the Manor Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The second highest point in the Southern Uplands and the highest point in the Scottish Borders, it has an elevation of 840 metres, a prominence of 653 metres and an isolation of 81 kilometres. It is only ten feet lower than its parent, Merrick. Like many of its neighbours it is smooth, rounded and grassy, although the surrounding glens have very steep sides — country somewhat akin to the Cheviots or the Howgill Fells. The hill is most easily climbed from the Megget Stane to the south, beginning at an elevation of 452m, but is also frequently climbed from the villages near its base, or as part of a long, 30-mile trek across the local area between the towns of Peebles and Moffat. On the summit is the highest VOR beacon in the UK, and also a radio tower.

Kuzman Knoll

Kuzman Knoll is a solitary ice-covered knoll rising to 620 m in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The knoll forms a conspicuous landmark in Wörner Gap area, overlooking Huron Glacier and upper Perunika Glacier. It was named after Kuzman Tuhchiev, participant in the 1993/94 Bulgarian Antarctic campaign and base commander at St. Kliment Ohridski during the 1994-96 seasons.

The Great Britain Historical GIS, is a spatially enabled database that documents and visualises the changing human geography of the British Isles, although is primarily focussed on the subdivisions of the United Kingdom mainly over the 200 years since the first census in 1801. The project is currently based at the University of Portsmouth, and is the provider of the website A Vision of Britain through Time.

Gramada Glacier

Gramada Glacier is a 1.6 nautical miles long glacier on Smith Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica draining the southeast slopes of Imeon Range east of Riggs Peak, southeast of Madan Saddle and south of Neofit Peak. It is situated southwest of Armira Glacier and northeast of Letnitsa Glacier, and flows southeastward into Brashlyan Cove on Osmar Strait. The glacier is named after the town of Gramada in northwestern Bulgaria.

Bistra Glacier

Bistra Glacier is 1 nautical mile long and 0.4 nautical miles wide glacier on the northwest side of Imeon Range on Smith Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It is situated southwest of Chuprene Glacier and northwest of Dragoman Glacier, drains the west slopes of Mount Foster and the north slopes of Slaveykov Peak, and flows northwestwards of Zavet Saddle to enter Drake Passage south of Garmen Point.

Urda Ridge Promontory on Clarence Island, Antarctica

Urda Ridge is the mostly ice-covered ridge occupying the interior of southern Clarence Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It extends 8 km in north-northeast to south-southwest direction and 9 km in west-northwest to east-southeast direction, rising to 1950 m at the island's summit Mount Irving, and is connected to Ravelin Ridge to the north by Soyka Saddle. The southeast slopes of the feature are drained by Dobrodan and Highton Glaciers, and its northwest slopes — by Skaplizo, Giridava and Bersame Glaciers. Urda is a Thracian place name from Southern Bulgaria.

Fregata Island

Fregata Island is the 480 m long in southeast-northwest direction and 230 m wide rocky island lying off the north coast of Nelson Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.

References

  1. "Wikishire Map - British Counties Campaign" . Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  2. "SABRE - Maps" . Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  3. commons:Category:Media including data from Wikishire
  4. "Which historic English county has the highest population?". CityMetric. 2017-10-09.
  5. "Why do so many of England's cities straddle traditional county boundaries?". CityMetric. 2017-03-01.