when does a town become a city
dusty1960 Wed 23/01/08 00:42
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It certainly used to be if it had a Cathedral (Catherdral City) but I'm not so sure that's the case now.
I remember the Queen declared 5 or 6 Towns were now Cities at her Jubilee, so maybe that's all it takes these days (Charter City).
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It's not been an unbroken rule since the 1880's. Belfast was declared a city before it had a cathedral and Southwell was given a cathedral but was considered far too small to be a city. These days most new cities are "created" by the Queen (or in her name). Others, like the new city of Milton Keynes aren't , but we would like to be, so we've put up the signs already and are waiting for the rest of the world to catch up!
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http://www.lovemytown.co.uk/CityStatus/index.h tm
Used to be if you had a church you were a village (if not, a hamlet); a market made you a town and a cathedral made you a city. These days you pretty much call yourself what you like - I don't think there's any legal significance.
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Doesn't Southwell have a minster, rather than a cathedral?
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There are several examples of cities without cathedrals and cathedrals in towns that are not cities. A cathedral is the seat of a bishop. The Archbishop of Canterbury appoints bishops (I think). There used to be only about seven cathedral cities a few hundred years ago, but, as the population of the UK grew, there was a need for more bishops, therefore more cathedrals. The status of 'city' is conferred by the sovereign, but these days I suppose it is actually done by Parliament. They usually go together, but not always. I don't know what the 'city' status does for a town, in terms of extra rights and privileges.
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