    a county town is a county's current or former administrative centre in the united kingdom, ireland, or jamaica. county towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. the concept of a county town eventually became detached from its original meaning of where the county administration or county hall is based. in fact, many county towns are no longer part of "their" administrative county. for example, nottingham is administered by a unitary authority entirely separate from the rest of nottinghamshire. many county towns are classified as cities, but all are referred to as county towns regardless of whether city status is held or not. == county towns prior to the late 19th century reforms== ===united kingdom=== ====historic counties of england==== this list shows county towns prior to the reforms of 1889. {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !county !! county town |- | bedfordshire || bedford |- | berkshire || abingdon, supplanted by reading |- | buckinghamshire || aylesbury 2, although the county is named after buckingham |- | cambridgeshire || cambridge |- | cheshire || chester |- | cornwall || truro 3 |- | cumberland || carlisle 4 |- | derbyshire || derby |- | devon || exeter |- | dorset || dorchester |- | county durham || durham |- | essex || chelmsford |- | gloucestershire || gloucester |- | hampshire || winchester, although the county is named after southampton |- | herefordshire || hereford |- | hertfordshire || hertford |- | huntingdonshire || huntingdon |- | kent || maidstone 5 |- | lancashire || lancaster, superseded by preston, where the county hall was opened in 1882.6 |- | leicestershire || leicester |- | lincolnshire || lincoln |- | middlesex || brentford, clerkenwell, the city of london or westminster for different functions 7 |- | norfolk || [[norwich, engla
Capitals Towns_in_Ireland Towns_in_the_United_Kingdom