This was the interesting lunchtime discussion point which led us to do some research. We thought that City status was based on population and if there was a cathedral. Turns out that this is outdated and just plain wrong!
Most people think they know what a city is – a large, densely-populated, distinct urban area. And a lovely old cathedral is a must.
But when it comes to the UK’s official city status, the cathedral requirement is long defunct, ending in the 19th Century. And size does not matter.
The bounds of city status throw up a plethora of quirks.
There aren’t too many people who would deny that London was a city but in the UK it is not an official one, although it contains two of them – the City of London and City of Westminster.
A place can also stop being a city overnight. Rochester lost its city status in 1998 due to a technical oversight when the local government structure was reorganised. It took four years for them to realise they had lost it.
The definition of a city in the UK is a place which has been granted city status by the monarch. There are 66 cities in the UK – 50 in England, five in Wales, six in Scotland and five in Northern Ireland.
We found that the current population of Reading is an estimated 318,011 but is not a city. Hereford, where we are moving to, has 55,800 and is a city.
After much discussion, we could decide what if any benefit there is to being a city. MasterF believes it is just adult-ish bragging rights!
