Until 1844, many of the counties in England and Wales had exclaves (detached parts) entirely surrounded by other counties. Under the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, many of these exclaves were absorbed by the counties within which they were located. The process was based on a schedule attached to the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832, drawn up by a boundary commission headed by the surveyor Thomas Drummond.The Statutes of the United Kingdom, Vols 30, 34 1832 p. 816

Nevertheless, a number of exclaves remained; these were dealt with in a piecemeal manner over a period of decades.

The Local Government Act 1894 empowered the county councils of administrative counties to exchange areas in order to make a more effective local government area. As the Local Government Act 1888 had redefined the lieutenancy and shrievalty to be based on administrative counties, the changes also affected them as well as judicial boundaries. Accordingly, many anomalies in county boundaries were removed in the next three years, including the elimination of outlying areas of Derbyshire and Huntingdonshire.

The last major transfer of areas was in 1931, when the boundaries of Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire were realigned. Following the creation of a new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough in 1965, and boundary changes at Dudley in 1966, Lancashire and Flintshire were left as the only counties with detached areas; these remained right up to the abolition of the respective county councils in 1974.

Terminology

Exclave – part of a county completely detached from its main territory, and surrounded by territory of another county or counties. Satellite exclave – many exclaves were accompanied by smaller ones, ranging from field strips of a fraction of an acre (see Donisthorpe under Derbyshire, below) to farms of a couple of hundred acres (see Caversfield under Buckinghamshire). Small exclaves were usually close to the main exclave or to the main county boundary; it was rare to find them at a substantial distance from other territory belonging to their county (see Borden Wood under Hampshire for an example). Counter-exclave – an exclave of the surrounding county within an exclave. Also known as a second-order exclave. Counter-counter exclave – a county had an exclave in another county which had a counter-exclave within it, and within this was an exclave of the same county as the first exclave. Also known as a third-order exclave. There used to be one in Wales (see Caernarvonshire in the list), and ten in the Shropshire exclave of Halesowen. Enclave – a "hole" in a county's territory created by an exclave of another county. Note that not all exclaves are enclaves, as the former might be on the border between two other counties. Counter-enclave – a portion of the surrounding county within the territory of an enclave. Semi-exclave – part of a county detached by land from its main territory, but on a marine coastline which the latter also abuts. Riparian semi-exclave – found where a river or river estuary forms the boundary between two counties, and one county has territory on the "wrong" side of the river which is only accessible directly from that county by using a boat. These are usually, but not always, caused by the river changing course (for example, by cutting off a meander to create an oxbow lake). However, there were three examples on the other side of a tidal estuary through which a county boundary ran, two in Kent and one in Cornwall (q.v.). These riparian semi-exclaves are not legally true exclaves, because rivers and estuaries are county territory in English law. Salient – a protrusion of a county's territory into that of another county or counties. Pene-exclave – a salient which cannot be accessed by public right of way except through another county. These usually have a narrow "neck" joining the salient to the main territory. In England they can be distinguished as "vehicular" (bridlepath and footpath access only), "equestrian" (footpath access only) or "pedestrian" (no direct access). Divided parish – county boundaries usually coincided with parish ones, but not invariably. The former could run through parishes, and many county exclaves and salients divided parishes in this way. Parish exclave – exclaves belonging to parishes used to be more common than those of counties. A county exclave might contain one or more parishes if large, but might also include parish exclaves. Small county exclaves were usually parish exclaves as well, but not invariably: see "Monks House" under County Durham below. County corporate – Twenty towns and cities in England and Wales had the historical status of County corporate, making them equivalent to counties. The majority became county boroughs in 1888. Thirteen of them were enclaves within their counties. Several of them which were county towns, for example Chester and Norwich, contained counter-enclaves of their counties which comprised the administrative headquarters of the latter.

Areas transferred

Total number of exclaves The following list has 204 exclaves in total, including 11 semi-exclaves with a coastline and generating 76 legal issues. The semi-exclaves were in Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, Devon, County Durham and Lancashire. Riparian semi-exclaves are not counted. After 1844, 106 exclaves survived which amounted to 28 surviving legal issues (multi-parish exclaves counted singly).

The 1844 Act resulted in a list of individual legal enactments targeting boundary anomalies. It counted a set of exclaves belonging to a single parish or township as a single legal issue. Conversely, a single exclave containing territory of two parishes was treated as two legal issues. Counter-exclaves were not regarded as separate legal issues, because they vanished when the exclave concerned was abolished. In contrast, after 1844 legal issues concerning exclaves could be bundled together and dealt with by a single legal order, as happened in the 1931 re-ordering of the boundaries of Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

Bedfordshire

The county had one exclave after 1844, and eight abolished then (pre-1844 total 9, legal 3; post-1844 total 1, legal 1):

Aspley Heath (1). This was an exclave separated from the county's main territory by the width of a highway. The exclave was eliminated by the annexation of territory from Buckinghamshire to create a civil parish in 1883.Ordnance Survey 6 inch sheet Buckinghamshire XV 1885VCH Bedfordshire p. 338

Abolished in 1844:

Meppershall (1). The Hertfordshire exclave of Meppershall contained a small counter-enclave, on the south side of Fildyke Road near the junction with Chapel Road. This was abolished when the exclave was annexed.Ordnance Survey First Series sheet 46 Shillington (6). Exclaves of the parish of Shillington, Bedfordshire in Hertfordshire were transferred to the latter. There were five small ones in fields of Pirton next to Oughtonhead Common, the largest being of very irregular shape and another containing a counter-exclave of Hertfordshire. A sixth contained Shillington Mill at Ickleford.Ordnance Survey First Series sheet 46 1834Ordnance Survey 6 inch sheets Hertfordshire VI, VII 1884 Whipsnade (1). Balligdon Bottom, , an exclave of Whipsnade parish in Beechwood Park.Ordnance Survey 6 inch Hertfordshire sheet XXVI 1884 The area remained a parish exclave until it was added to Markyate parish in 1897. Beechwood had been a wooded common in Anglo-Saxon times shared by several villages, and the exclave was granted to Whipsnade in exchange for its rights when the Benedictine nunnery of "St Giles in the Wood" was founded on the common in the 12th century.Rowe & Williamson:Hertfordshire, A Landscape History 2013 p. 100

Berkshire

The county had no exclaves after 1844, and three were abolished then (pre-1844 total 3, legal 3; post-1844 total 0):

Great Barrington (1). Part of the parish of Great Barrington, otherwise in Gloucestershire and the exclave was transferred to it. This ran the width of the parish along the north bank of the River Windrush, and the boundary ran through the village. This exclave was not shown on the first Ordnance Survey, so is not on the online "Historic County Boundaries Project" map.Ordnance Survey First Series Sheet 44 Langford and Little Faringdon (1). Langford and Little Faringdon townships (now civil parishes), together forming an exclave transferred to Oxfordshire. Samuel Lewis 1803 wrote that only part of Langford township belonged to Berkshire, with the county boundary running through the parish church.Lewis, Samuel: A Topographical Dictionary of England 1840 p. 19. The "Historic County Boundaries Project" has the whole township in Berkshire, following the first Ordnance Survey.Ordnance Survey First Series Sheet 34 Shilton (1). Most of the parish of Shilton formed an exclave transferred to Oxfordshire. The parish had its own exclave comprising a meadow next to the River Windrush south-east of Witney, which was already in Oxfordshire.Ordnance Survey 6 inch sheet Oxfordshire XXXII 1883

Two pene-exclaves were abolished after 1844:

That part of the divided parish of Inglesham in Berkshire was transferred to Wiltshire to join the rest in 1844. It contained part the village, while the church was in a small exclave of Wiltshire. The south part of the parish with the hamlet of Upper Inglesham was also in Wiltshire. The pene-enclave was a large field by the River Thames north-west of Upper Inglesham, inaccessible directly from Berkshire. The boundary survived for parliamentary purposes into the latter 19th century.Ordnance Survey 6 inch sheet Berkshire VII 1883 The parish of Shalbourne was divided between Berkshire and Wiltshire, the former having the parish church and the tithing of Oxenwood. The long, narrow and irregularly shaped salient was transferred to Wiltshire and the parish united only in 1895. Oxenwood was included in the 1844 Act by mistake, as it was erroneously listed as an exclave. The relevant Order was cancelled after the error was pointed out.Grose, D: The Flora of Wiltshire 1957 p. 58

Riparian semi-exclaves at Oxford:

The River Thames was selected as the northern boundary of the county, but from north of Wytham past Oxford to beyond the mouth of the River Cherwell the river subsequently changed its course. At the city centre, this left a strip of territory on the north bank in Berkshire. Included were Folly Bridge Island and an area north of Folly Bridge, adjacent to two riparian semi-enclaves. The first was Deans Ham, in between the river and Christ Church Meadown. The second was Aston's Eyot, the other side of the old channel of the Cherwell and including what is now "Boathouse Island". These areas were annexed to Oxford when it became a county borough in 1890.Ordnance Survey 6 inch sheet Berkshire VI 1886 However, the boundary between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth continues to follow the old county boundary.

Buckinghamshire

The county had four exclaves after 1844, and five abolished then (pre-1844 total 9, legal 6; post-1844 total 4, legal 2):

Drayton Beauchamp (2). Two exclaves of the parish of Drayton Beauchamp were transferred to Hertfordshire, and annexed to the parish of Tring in 1886. The larger was Whittle Farm, and the other a field of on Cheddington Lane east of Long Marston which is now most of the village cricket club.Ordnance Survey First Edition sheet 46Ordnance Survey 6 inch sheet Buckinghamshire XXIX 1884Divided Parishes and Poor Law Amendment Act 1882, Local Government Board Order 19622 25 March 1883