Home Counties - Definition and Overview

The phrase Home Counties is a semi-archaic name for the English counties bordering London. These were originally Kent, Surrey, Middlesex and Essex. However, although Middlesex still exists as a postal address, most of the county itself has long since been absorbed into Greater London (though parts of what was Middlesex are now in Surrey or in Hertfordshire), along with parts of the other counties. The list of counties bordering Greater London also includes Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire with Berkshire a near-miss. However, the phrase "Home Counties" is not usually applied with geographical precision, but simply refers to the south-east of England.

In economic terms much of the region can nowadays be considered a very large suburb of London itself, sometimes called "London and the South-East". In this sense the phrase is likely to be understood to include the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire, which were in the official South East region of England until the late 1990s, when they were merged with the traditional region of East Anglia to create the new official region of the East of England.

It should be noted that some people may find use of the term "home counties" a sign of London bias.

See Also

• London commuter belt
• Shire Counties
• Home Nations