County Towns of the UK

A county town is the ‘capital’ of a county in Ireland or the United Kingdom. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county.

In the case of Yorkshire in England, there are three county towns, one for each Riding: Northallerton for the North Riding, Beverley for the East Riding, and Wakefield for the West Riding. Contrary to popular belief, there are no civil administrative offices for the county of Yorkshire as a whole (not even in York).