County of London

London County of London
County
County of London shown within England
Area
• 1911	74,816 acres (302.77 km2)
• 1961	74,903 acres (303.12 km2)
Population
• 1911	4,521,685
• 1961	3,200,484
Density
• 1911	60/acre
• 1961	42/acre
History
• Origin	District of the Metropolitan Board of Works
• Created	1889
• Abolished	1965
• Succeeded by	Greater London
Status	Administrative and (smaller) ceremonial county
Government	London County Council
• HQ	County Hall, Lambeth
Coat of arms of London County Council
Subdivisions
• Type	Parishes and districts (1889–1900) Metropolitan boroughs (1900–1965)
Boroughs numbered 2–29 (1 is the City)

The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of London, which included within its territory the City of London. However, the City of London and the County of London formed separate ceremonial counties for "non-administrative" purposes.^[1] The local authority for the county was the London County Council (LCC), which initially performed only a limited range of functions, but gained further powers during its 76-year existence. The LCC provided very few services within the City of London, where the ancient Corporation monopolised local governance.^[1] In 1900, the lower-tier civil parishes and district boards were replaced with 28 new metropolitan boroughs. The territory of the county was 74,903 acres (303.12 km²) in 1961. During its existence, there was a long-term decline in population as more residents moved into the outer suburbs; there were periodic reviews of the local government structures in the greater London area and several failed attempts to expand the boundaries of the county. In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 replaced the county with the much larger Greater London administrative area.