The standard map of English regions ignores some very important sub-regional divides, particularly in the South West. Here's my attempt to address that. The main differences from the typical regional map are:

West Country: Cornwall, Devon, west Somerset and Dorset west of Bridport
Lower Wessex: Dorset, Wiltshire and Bristol. (i.e. the rest of the South West excluding the Cotswolds and Thames Valley areas of north Wiltshire)
Upper Wessex: The Cotswolds, Oxfordshire, west Berkshire and north Hampshire. The Cotswolds are part of the South West, but have much more in common with the Thames Valley.
South Coast: Sussex, Kent and the Solent (could include Bournemouth too)
Home Counties: Surrey, Hertfordshire, east Berkshire, south Buckinghamshire, south Essex and the Thames Estuary (i.e. the rest of the South East)
South Midlands: Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, north Oxfordshire and north Buckinghamshire. Often gets forgotten about because the southern half of it has been swallowed by the London commuter belt.
Welsh Marches: Herefordshire, Shropshire and north Gloucestershire. Historically included Cheshire and the neighbouring Welsh counties too, but not anymore.
East Anglia: Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and north Essex. (I've also included the Lincolnshire fens here, which are also part of the East Midlands)

The rest of the Midlands and the North follows the generally standard boundaries, with High Peak and North Lincs included in the North. I've also split Cumbria from North West, because I've been so granular in the South.

by twentytwowhispers

14 comments

  2. Any map which recognises the differences between the north and the south of Essex has my approval.

  4. Stop lumping Grimsby and Scunthorpe into Yorkshire. There is no connection and no history to it.

  5. Not sure why you have done this but your legend has the North East of England (Gods Country) at the bottom.
    Yet the North East is shown, as God intended on the map at the top. Like the cream on a bottle of the finest milk you could possibly buy.

  6. But the West Country includes a lot of the yellow too. No way you can call a lot of what’s included in South Coast as that.

  7. Cumbria split from the North West, I can understand that, but including Barrow?

  10. Not bad but what does the Welsh Marches even mean? I mean they’re part of England, not Wales.

  11. Your South Coast needs a different name. As the south Coast of England runs from Kent right to Cornwall, so to just a small region of the called South Coast making no sense. It could be South East. Saying Bournemouth could be included. What happens to the area from Solent to Bournemouth including the New forest.

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