Chester

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Region: North West
Country: England

§ This page provides an overview of an officially designated city in the UK, bringing together various information to help you better understand this city.

Chester’s city identity is ancient, rooted in the Roman fortress of Deva and medieval charters, with city status extended to the whole local district in 1974; in 2009 local government was reorganised to create the unitary Cheshire West and Chester, and Chester’s civic status and mayoralty have since been maintained by charter trustees covering the former district area.

City Council Status

Since 2009 local services are delivered by the unitary Cheshire West and Chester Council. The Charter Trustees of the City of Chester maintain the Lord Mayoralty and civic traditions for the historic city area, funded by a small precept.

In the UK, charter trustees are formed to preserve a city or borough’s historic civic identity—especially the mayoralty and ceremonial traditions—when local-government changes abolish the former city/borough council and no successor parish or town council exists; they are usually drawn from principal-authority councillors for the wards covering the historic city area and may levy a small council-tax precept to fund civic functions. Among the UK’s official cities, four currently have charter trustees: Bath, Carlisle, Chester, and Durham.

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Chester was granted a Lord Mayoralty on 10 March 1992, marking the city’s historic and civic importance.

In the UK, city status and the dignity of Lord Mayor (or Lord Provost in Scotland) are separate honours, each granted by the monarch via letters patent. Of the 76 cities, 28 have a Lord Mayoralty and 4—Scotland’s four cities—have a Lord Provost; these titles don’t automatically follow from city status. A Lord Mayoralty exists in 24 cities in England, 2 in Wales, and 2 in Northern Ireland.

Only 24 cities in England have Lord Mayors: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Canterbury, Chester, Coventry, Exeter, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, the City of London, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, the City of Westminster, and York.

In the UK, a city is not defined by size or population but by formal status granted by the monarch, often through historical charters or, more recently, civic honours competitions. There are 76 officially recognised cities, some of which are relatively small compared to other urban areas. In contrast, local authority districts (361 in total) are administrative areas created for local government purposes and may include a mix of urban centres, suburbs, and rural communities. Within districts, there may be one or more towns, which generally refer to sizeable urban settlements but do not hold city status unless it has been formally granted. In practice, a city can exist within a district, and a district can cover multiple towns, showing the clear distinction between legal status, administrative boundaries, and everyday usage.

Cities in North West