Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, similarly chartered communities were known as royal burghs, although the status is no longer granted.
Origins of borough status
Until the local government reforms of 1973 and 1974, boroughs were towns possessing charters of incorporation conferring considerable powers, and were governed by a municipal corporation headed by a mayor. The corporations had been reformed by legislation beginning in 1835 (1840 in Ireland). By the time of their abolition there were three types: County boroughs Municipal or non-county boroughs Rural boroughs
Many of the older boroughs could trace their origin to medieval charters or were boroughs by prescription, with Saxon origins. Most of the boroughs created after 1835 were new industrial, resort or suburban towns that had grown up after the Industrial Revolution. Borough corporations could also have the status of a city.
Modern borough status
England and Wales Borough status no longer implies a town or urban area. Outside Greater London, borough status is granted to metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts under the provisions of section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972. This section allows the council of a district to petition the monarch for a charter granting borough status. The resolution must have the support of at least two-thirds of the councillors. Having received the petition the monarch may, on the advice of the Privy Council, grant a charter whereupon: The district becomes a borough The district council becomes the borough council The chairman and vice-chairman become entitled to the style mayor and deputy mayor of the borough, except in councils that have an elected mayor under the Local Government Act 2000.
Charters granted under the 1972 act may allow the borough council to appoint "local officers of dignity" previously appointed by an abolished borough corporation. Examples include: Honorary recorder: some borough and city councils have the right to appoint a circuit judge or recorder appointed under the Courts Act 1971 as honorary recorder. Usually this is the senior judge in the council's area. Sheriff: These are appointed in a number of boroughs and cities that were formerly counties corporate. High steward: originally a judicial office, often held by a peer, now entirely ceremonial.
There is no obligation on the council to appoint persons to these positions.
In some boroughs the mayor has the additional title as "Admiral of the Port", recalling a historic jurisdiction. The lord mayors of Chester and Kingston-upon-Hull are admirals of the Dee and the Humber respectively, the Mayor of Medway is Admiral of the River Medway, and the mayors of Poole and Southampton are admirals of those ports.
Privileges or rights belonging to citizens or burgesses of a former borough can be transferred to the inhabitants of the new borough.
Borough councils are permitted to pass a resolution admitting "persons of distinction" and persons who have "rendered eminent service" to be an honorary freeman of the borough. This power has been used to grant honorary freedom not only to individuals, but to units and ships of the armed forces.
England ‡: and city status +Borough charters granted under section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972 to metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts of England DistrictYear of charterPrevious boroughs NotesAllerdale4 June 1992Workington (1883) Charter trustees for Workington had existed 1974 to 1982. Abolished 2023.Amber Valley17 May 1989NoneAshford1 April 1974Tenterden (reformed 1835) Tenterden formed a town council in 1974Barnsley1 April 1974Barnsley (1869)Barrow-in-Furness1 April 1974Barrow-in-Furness (1867)Abolished 2023Basildon26 October 2010 NoneBasingstoke and Deane20 January 1978Basingstoke (reformed 1835)Basingstoke had charter trustees 1974–1978Bath1 April 1974 ‡Bath (reformed 1835)Abolished 1996BedfordSee North BedfordshireBerwick-upon-Tweed1 April 1974Berwick-upon-Tweed (reformed 1835)Abolished in April 2009. Civic functions transferred to Berwick-upon-Tweed Town Council.Beverley1 April 1974Beverley (reformed 1835)Renamed East Yorkshire Borough of Beverley 1981. Abolished 1996.Birmingham1 April 1974 ‡Birmingham (1838), Sutton Coldfield (1885)Blackburn1 April 1974Blackburn (1851), Darwen (1878)Renamed Blackburn with Darwen 1997Blackpool1 April 1974Blackpool (1876)Blyth Valley1 April 1974Blyth (1922) Abolished in April 2009.Bolton1 April 1974Bolton (1838)Boothferry28 April 1978Goole (1933)Goole had charter trustees 1974–1978. Abolished 1996.Boston1 April 1974Boston (reformed 1835)Bournemouth1 April 1974Bournemouth (1890)Abolished April 2019Bracknell Forest27 April 1988NoneBradford1 April 1974 ‡Bradford (1847) Brentwood10 March 1993NoneBrighton1 April 1974Brighton (1854)Abolished 1997.Brighton & Hove1 April 1997 (granted city status in 2000)Formed from Brighton, Hove districtsBristol1 April 1974‡Bristol (reformed 1835)Broxbourne1 April 1974NoneBroxtowe10 November 1977NoneBurnley1 April 1974Burnley (1861)Bury1 April 1974Bury (1876)Calderdale1 April 1974Halifax (1848), Brighouse (1893), Todmorden (1896)Cambridge1 April 1974‡Cambridge (reformed 1835)Canterbury1 April 1974‡Canterbury (reformed 1835)Carlisle1 April 1974‡Carlisle (reformed 1835)Abolished 2023Castle Morpeth1 April 1974Morpeth (reformed 1835) Abolished in April 2009.Castle Point1992NoneCharnwood1 April 1974Loughborough (1888)Chelmsford10 November 1977Chelmsford (1888)Chelmsford had charter trustees 1974–1977 Granted city status in 2012Cheltenham1 April 1974Cheltenham (1876)Cheshire East1 April 2009Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, MacclesfieldCreated April 2009Cheshire West and Chester1 April 2009Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal Created April 2009Chester1 April 1974‡Chester (reformed 1835) Abolished April 2009Chesterfield1 April 1974Chesterfield (reformed 1835)Chorley1 April 1974Chorley (1881)Christchurch1 April 1974Christchurch (reformed 1886)Abolished April 2019Cleethorpes11 September 1975Cleethorpes (1936)Cleethorpes had charter trustees 1974–1975. Borough abolished 1996Colchester1 April 1974Colchester (reformed 1835) Granted city status in 2022Congleton1 April 1974Congleton (reformed 1835) Abolished April 2009Copeland1 April 1974Whitehaven (1894)Abolished 2023Corby28 October 1992NoneAbolished April 2021Coventry1 April 1974‡Coventry (reformed 1835) Crawley1 April 1974NoneCrewe and Nantwich1 April 1974Crewe (1877) Abolished April 2009Dacorum10 October 1984Hemel Hempstead (1898)Hemel Hempstead had charter trustees 1974–1984Darlington1 April 1974Darlington (1867)Dartford22 April 1977Dartford (1933)Dartford had charter trustees 1974–1977Derby1 April 1974 (and city status in 1977)Derby (reformed 1835) Doncaster1 April 1974Doncaster (reformed 1835) Granted city status in 2022Dudley1 April 1974Dudley (1865), Stourbridge (1914), Halesowen (1936)Durham1 April 1974‡Durham and Framwellgate (reformed 1835) Abolished April 2009. charter trustees established.East Staffordshire11 May 1992Burton upon Trent (1878)Charter trustees for Burton functioned 1974–1992.They were formally abolished in 2003.East YorkshireSee North WoldsEast Yorkshire Borough of BeverleySee BeverleyEastbourne1 April 1974Eastbourne (1883)Eastleigh1 April 1974Eastleigh (1936)Ellesmere Port1 April 1974Ellesmere Port (1955)renamed Ellesmere Port and Neston 1976. Abolished April 2009.Elmbridge1 April 1974NoneEpsom and Ewell1 April 1974Epsom and Ewell (1937)Erewash28 June 1974Ilkeston (1887)Ilkeston had charter trustees April–June 1974Exeter1 April 1974‡Exeter (reformed 1835)Fareham1 April 1974NoneFylde1 April 1974Lytham St. Annes (1922)Gateshead1 April 1974Gateshead (reformed 1835) Gedling1 April 1974NoneGillingham1 April 1974Gillingham (1903)Abolished 1996Glanford1 April 1974NoneAbolished 1996Gloucester1 April 1974‡Gloucester (reformed 1835) Gosport1 April 1974Gosport (1922)Gravesham1 April 1974Gravesend (reformed 1835) Great Yarmouth1 April 1974Great Yarmouth (reformed 1835) Grimsby1 April 1974Grimsby (reformed 1835) Renamed Great Grimsby 1979, abolished 1996.Guildford1 April 1974Guildford (reformed 1835) Halton1 April 1974Widnes (1892)Harrogate1 April 1974Harrogate (1884)Abolished 2023Hartlepool1 April 1974Hartlepool formed 1967 from Hartlepool (1850), West Hartlepool (1887)Hastings1 April 1974Hastings (reformed 1835) Havant1 April 1974NoneHereford1 April 1974‡Hereford (reformed 1835)Abolished 1998Hertsmere15 April 1977NoneHigh Peak1 April 1974Glossop (1866), Buxton (1917) Hinckley and Bosworth1 April 1974NoneHolderness21 June 1977Hedon (1861) (formed a town council in 1974)Abolished 1996Hove1 April 1974Hove (1898)Abolished 1997Hyndburn1 April 1974Accrington (1878)Ipswich1 April 1974Ipswich (reformed 1835)Kettering1 April 1974Kettering (1938)Abolished April 2021King's Lynn and West NorfolkSee West NorfolkKingston upon Hull1 April 1974‡Kingston upon Hull (reformed 1835)Kingswood20 May 1987NoneAbolished 1996Kirklees1 April 1974Dewsbury (1862), Huddersfield (1868), Batley (1868), Spenborough (1955)Knowsley1 April 1974NoneLancaster 1 April 1974‡Lancaster (reformed 1835)Langbaurgh1 April 1974Formed from part of Teesside county borough, created in 1967, and including Redcar (incorporated in 1921)Renamed Langbaurgh on Tees 1988 Renamed Redcar and Cleveland 1996Leeds1 April 1974‡Leeds (reformed 1835), Pudsey (1889)Leicester1 April 1974‡Leicester (reformed 1835)Lincoln1 April 1974‡Lincoln (reformed 1835)Liverpool1 April 1974‡Liverpool (reformed 1835)Luton1 April 1974Luton (1876)Macclesfield1 April 1974Macclesfield (reformed 1835)Abolished April 2009Maidstone1 April 1974Maidstone (reformed 1835)Manchester1 April 1974‡Manchester (1838)Medina1 April 1974Newport (reformed 1835), Ryde (1868)Abolished 1995Medway (1)1 April 1974Rochester (reformed 1835), Chatham (1890)Renamed Rochester-upon-Medway 1979, and awarded city status. Abolished 1998Medway (2)1998From Rochester upon Medway, Gillingham boroughs (q.v.)Melton1 April 1974NoneMiddlesbrough1 April 1974Formed from part of Teesside county borough, created in 1967, and including Middlesbrough (incorporated in 1853)Milton Keynes1 April 1974NoneGranted city status in 2022Newcastle-under-Lyme1 April 1974Newcastle-under-Lyme (reformed 1835)Newcastle upon Tyne1 April 1974‡Newcastle upon Tyne (reformed 1835)Northampton1 April 1974Northampton (reformed 1835)Abolished April 2021. Mayoralty continued by Northampton Town CouncilNorth Bedfordshire16 October 1975 Bedford (reformed 1835)Renamed Bedford 1992North East Lincolnshire23 August 1996From Cleethorpes, Great Grimsby boroughs (q.v.)Both former boroughs formed charter trusteesNorth Lincolnshire16 December 1996 Formed from Boothferry, Glanford, and Scunthorpe boroughs (q.v.)Scunthorpe's mayoralty is continued by charter trusteesNorth Tyneside1 April 1974Tynemouth (1849), Wallsend (1901)North Warwickshire1 April 1974NoneNorth Wolds1 April 1974Bridlington (1899)Renamed East Yorkshire 1981.