Lostwithiel
Lostwithiel is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739; the Lostwithiel electoral ward had a population of 4,639 at the 2011 census. The name Lostwithiel comes from the Cornish "lostwydhyel" which means "tail of a wooded area"; the origin of the name Lostwithiel is a subject much debated. In the 16th century it was thought that the name came from the Roman name Uzella, translated as Les Uchel in Cornish. In the 17th century popular opinion was that the name came from a translation of Lost and Withiel, the lion in question being the lord who lived in the castle. Current thinking is that the name comes from the Old Cornish Lost Gwydhyel meaning "tail-end of the woodland"; the view from Restormel Castle looking towards the town shows. Lostwithiel is a historic borough; the Lostwithiel constituency elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons, but was disenfranchised by the Reform Act 1832.
It remained a municipal borough until the 1960s. The seal of the borough of Lostwithiel was a shield charged with a castle rising from water between two thistles, in the water two fish, with the legend "Sigillum burgi de Lostwithyel et Penknight in Cornubia", its mayoral regalia includes a silver oar. The town is situated in the Fowey river valley, positioned between the A390 road from Tavistock to Truro and the upper tidal reaches of the river. Lostwithiel railway station is on the Cornish Main Line from Plymouth to Penzance, it is situated on the south side of the town, just across the medieval bridge. The line was built for the Cornwall Railway which built its main workshops here, but the surviving workshop buildings were transformed into apartments in 2004. A branch line takes china clay trains to Fowey; the town contains the suburbs of Bridgend to the east and Rosehill and Victoria to the west of the River Fowey. Lostwithiel's most notable buildings are Restormel Castle. There is a small museum devoted to the history of the town.
Once a stannary town, for a period the most important in Cornwall, it is now much reduced in importance. There is a fine early fourteenth-century bridge with five pointed arches, nearby the remains of the Lostwithiel Stannary Palace, with its Coinage Hall – this was the centre of royal authority over tin-mining, and'coinage' meant the knocking off of the corner of each block of tin for the benefit of the Duchy of Cornwall; the small Guildhall has an arcaded ground floor. The old Grammar School has been converted into dwellings; the town has a playing field known as King George V Playing Field. Lostwithiel has several large parks including Coulson Park, named after Nathaniel Coulson, raised in Lostwithiel after being abandoned by his father; the town is host to a number of annual cultural activities including an arts and crafts festival, a beer festival, a week-long carnival in the summer and cider festivals in the October, a Dickensian evening in December. There are two primary schools in Lostwithiel: Lostwithiel Primary School.
Both schools are academies. Lostwithiel Primary School is part of the Peninsula Learning Trust Multi Academy Trust and St Winnow C E School is part of The Saints Way Multi Academy Trust; the majority of children aged between 11 and 16 attend Bodmin College. Lostwithiel Educational Trust is a local charity which makes "grants to local schools and churches, as well as to individuals, for educational purposes" From Lostwithiel railway station trains operated by Great Western Railway run every two hours towards Plymouth or Penzance; some through services to and from London Paddington station and those operated by CrossCountry between Penzance and Scotland stop. National Express provides a regular coach service to London which runs via Plymouth for connections to other destinations; the coach stop is located outside the Royal Talbot Hotel. Bus stops in Lostwithiel are outside the Royal Talbot Cott Road phone box. Lostwithiel was twinned with Pleyber-Christ in Brittany, France in 1979; the people in the Twinning Associations of both towns meet up every year, alternating between Lostwithiel and Pleyber Christ.
Battle of Lostwithiel List of topics related to Cornwall Lostwithiel Town Council The History of Parliament Trust, Borough, from 1386 to 1868 Lostwithiel.org.uk run by Lostwithiel Business Group Lostwithiel at Curlie GENUKI page Lostwithiel Bridge and its Memories – The Reverend Canon E Boger, 1887 Lostwithiel OCS Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Lostwithiel
Fowey
Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local church first established some time in the 7th century. Privateers made use of the sheltered harbourage; the Lostwithiel and Fowey Railway brought China clay here for export. The Domesday Book survey at the end of the 11th century records manors at Penventinue and Trenant, a priory was soon established nearby at Tywardreath. C. 1300 the prior granted a charter to people living in Fowey itself. This medieval town ran from a north gate near Boddinick Passage to a south gate at what is now Lostwithiel Street; the natural harbour allowed trade to develop with Europe and local ship owners hired their vessels to the king to support various wars, although the town developed a reputation for piracy, as did many others at this time. A group of privateers known as the'Fowey Gallants' were given licence to seize French vessels during the Hundred Years' War.
In the 14th century the harbour was defended by 160 archers. Despite these defences the town was attacked by French forces in 1457. Place House, by the church, was defended against the French but subsequently strengthened; this building still exists, but much remodelled. A small castle was built on St Catherine’s Point, the western side of the harbour entrance, around 1540; the defences proved their worth when a Dutch attack was beaten off in 1667. The people of Fowey sided with the Royalists during the English Civil War, but in 1644 the Earl of Essex brought a Parliamentarian army to Lostwithiel and occupied the peninsula around Fowey. In August, a Royalist army surrounded Essex’s troops and King Charles I himself viewed Fowey from Hall Walk above Polruan, where he came close to being killed by a musket shot. On 31 August, the Parliamentarian cavalry forced their way through the Royalist lines and retreated towards Saltash, leaving the foot soldiers to be evacuated by sea from Fowey. Essex and some officers did indeed escape, but the majority of the force surrendered a few days near Golant and were marched to Poole, but most died before reaching there.
The fortunes of the harbour became much reduced, with trade going to elsewhere instead. Fishing became more important, but local merchants were appointed as privateers and did some smuggling on the side. Tin and iron mines, along with quarries and china clay pits became important industries in the area, which led to improvements at rival harbours. West Polmear beach was dug out to become Charlestown harbour circa 1800, as was Pentewan in 1826. Joseph Austen shipped copper from Caffa Mill Pill above Fowey for a while before starting work on the new Par harbour in 1829. Fowey had to wait another forty years before it saw equivalent development, but its natural deep-water anchorage and a rail link soon gave it an advantage over the shallow artificial harbours nearer to the mines and china clay works. Meanwhile, a beacon tower was erected on the Gribben Head by Trinity House to improve navigation into Fowey and around Par bay; the Fowey Harbour Commissioners were established by an Act of Parliament in 1869, to develop and improve the harbour.
On 1 June in that year, the 7 ft broad gauge Lostwithiel and Fowey Railway was opened to new jetties situated above Carne Point, in 1873, the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in standard gauge Cornwall Minerals Railway opened a line from Newquay and Par to further jetties between Caffa Mill Pill and Carne Point. Both of these railways carried just goods, but on 20 June 1876, a passenger station was opened on the CMR on land reclaimed from Caffa Mill Pill; the Lostwithiel line closed at the end of 1879 but was reopened by the CMR as a standard gauge line in 1895, the short gap between the two lines at Carne Point was eliminated. Passenger trains from Par were withdrawn after 1934 and from Lostwithiel in 1965; the Par line was subsequently converted to a dedicated roadway for lorries bringing china clay from Par after which all trains had to run via Lostwithiel. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution established Fowey Lifeboat Station near the Town Quay in 1922 to replace an earlier station at Polkerris; this was replaced by a new facility in Passage Street.
Two lifeboats are stationed at Fowey: Maurice and Joyce Hardy, a Trent Class all weather boat, kept afloat opposite the lifeboat station, Olive Two, an IB1 inshore lifeboat kept inside the station and launched by davit. Fowey was the main port for loading ammunition for the US 29th Division that landed on Omaha Beach on D Day during the Second World War. There was a munitions siding at Woodgate Pill just north of Fowey built for the Great War conflict; the seal of the borough of Fowey was On a shield a ship of three masts on the sea her topsail furled with the legend "Sigillum oppidi de Fowy Anno Dom. 1702". Fowey elected two members to the unreformed House of Commons until the Reform Act 1832 stripped it of its representation as a rotten borough, it having lost its borough corporation a few years before, it was restored as a municipal borough in 1913, was merged with the nearby and much larger St Austell in 1968 to form the borough of St Austell with Fowey. This was itself in 1974 replaced with the Restormel Borough, repl
Liskeard
Liskeard is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in south east Cornwall, United Kingdom. Liskeard is situated 20 miles west of Plymouth, 14 miles west of the River Tamar and the border with Devon, 12 miles east of Bodmin; the town is at the head of the Looe valley in the ancient hundred of West Wivelshire and has a population of 9,417. Liskeard was the base of the former Caradon District Council and it still has a town council. There are 3 wards in Liskeard; the total population at the 2011 census was 11,366 The place name element Lis, along with ancient privileges accorded the town, indicates that the settlement was once a high status'court'. A Norman castle was built here after the Conquest, which fell into disuse in the Middle Ages. By 1538 when visited by John Leland only a few insignificant remains were to be seen. Sir Richard Carew writing in 1602 concurred; the market charter was granted by Richard, Earl of Cornwall in 1240. Since it has been an important centre for agriculture.
The seal of the borough of Liskeard was Ar. A fleur-de-lis and perched thereon and respecting each other two birds in chief two annulets and in flank two feathers; when Wilkie Collins wrote of his visit to the town in his Rambles Beyond Railways he had a low opinion of it: "that abomination of desolation, a large agricultural country town". The town went through a period of economic prosperity during the pre-20th century boom in tin mining, becoming a key centre in the industry as a location for a stannary and coinage. Liskeard was one of the last towns in Cornwall to have a regular livestock market, ending in 2017. There is a range of restaurants, cafés and pubs in the town, some shops retain their Victorian shopfronts and interiors. Liskeard holds a carnival every June; every July, Liskeard holds a large agricultural show, The Liskeard Show, always held on the second Saturday in July. St Matthew's Fair was established by charter in 1266, the fair was re-established in 1976 which runs in September/October.
Every December, there is street entertainment and a lantern parade for'Liskeard Lights Up', when the Christmas lights are switched on. Bodmin Moor lies to the northwest of the town; the A38 trunk road used to pass through the town centre but a dual carriageway bypass now carries traffic south of the town leaving the town centre accessible but with low traffic levels. Liskeard is one of the gateway towns for Bodmin Moor. Liskeard has an oceanic climate; the town boasts St. Martin's, the second largest parish church in Cornwall Built on the site of the former Norman church, the oldest parts of the current structure date back to the 15th century. Other places of worship include a Roman Catholic church and Methodist chapels; the Foresters Hall now houses Liskeard & District Museum. The Foresters still meet in the town at the Public Rooms in West Street. Stuart House was used by Charles I as a lodging in 1644, when his forces were chasing the Parliamentarians. Restored, it is now used as a community building for arts and community events Luxstowe House.
Designed by George Wightwick for William Glencross. The Guildhall has a prominent clock tower; the Public Hall was constructed in 1890. Webb's House is a classic early Victorian market-town hotel featuring in royal visits, parliamentary declarations and much more but converted into flats and is the home of the local newspaper The Cornish Times. Pencubitt House was built in 1897 for a wealthy wool merchant; the house was designed by local architect John Sansom, responsible for many Liskeard homes of that period. The Liskeard Union Workhouse, architect John Foulston of Plymouth. For further details of the parliamentary history of the town see Liskeard In the year 1294, Liskeard began to send two members to Parliament, but this was reduced to one by the 1832 Reform Act; the MPs have included Edward Gibbon, author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Isaac Foot. Liskeard is now part of the South East Cornwall constituency, is represented by Conservative Sheryll Murray; the first school in Liskeard was founded in 1550 on Castle Hill.
For a time it was maintained by the Earls of St Germans, but it closed around 1834 due to a decline in numbers and financial difficulties. From 1835 a series of private schools existed in the borough, until 1908 when Cornwall Education Committee built the County School at Old Road. From 1945 it was known as Liskeard Grammar School until September 1978 when it became the Lower School site of Liskeard School, following amalgamation with the town's secondary modern school. Liskeard County Secondary School received its first pupils on Monday 12 September 1960, was formally opened by the Minister of Education, Sir David Eccles on 7 July the following year. Costing £100,000, it was built to accommodate around 500 pupils on the site of the current school at Luxtowe, its glass and steel structure made "free use of fresh air and sunlight" according to local newspaper reports, whilst other modern features included a well-equipped gymnasium, automated central heating and synchronised clocks across the school, operated from the secretary's office.
A new block was opened by the Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher, Secretary of State for Education and Science in 1974, following the raising of the school leaving age from 15 years to 16, two years earlier. Like man
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigration or visitor status; the NHS commissions most emergency medical services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK. As with other emergency services, the public access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers. In addition to ambulance services provided by NHS organisations, there are some private and volunteer emergency medical services arrangements in place in the UK, the use of private or volunteer ambulances at public events or large private sites, as part of community provision of services such as community first responders. Air ambulance services in the UK are not part of the NHS and are funded through charitable donations.
Paramedics are seconded from a local NHS ambulance service, with the exception of Great North Air Ambulance Service who employ their own paramedics. Doctors are provided by their home hospital and spend no more than 40% of their time with an air ambulance service. Public ambulance services across the UK are required by law to respond to four types of requests for care, which are: Emergency calls Doctor's urgent admission requests High dependency and urgent inter-hospital transfers Major incidentsAmbulance trusts and services may undertake non-urgent patient transport services on a commercial arrangement with their local hospital trusts or health boards, or in some cases on directly funded government contracts, although these contracts are fulfilled by private and voluntary providers; the National Health Service Act 1946 gave county and borough councils a statutory responsibility to provide an emergency ambulance service, although they could contract a voluntary ambulance service to provide this, with many contracting the British Red Cross, St John Ambulance or another local provider.
The last St John Division, to be so contracted is reputed to have been at Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, where the two-bay ambulance garage can still be seen at the branch headquarters. The Regional Ambulance Officers’ Committee reported in 1979 that “There was considerable local variation in the quality of the service provided in relation to vehicles and equipment. Most Services were administered by Local Authorities through their Medical Officer of Health and his Ambulance Officer, a few were under the aegis of the Fire Service, whilst others relied upon agency methods for the provision of part or all of their services.” The 142 existing ambulance services were transferred by the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 from local authority to central government control in 1974, consolidated into 53 services under regional or area health authorities. This led to the formation of predominantly county based ambulance services, which merged up and changed responsibilities until 2006, when there were 31 NHS ambulance trusts in England.
The June 2005 report "Taking healthcare to the Patient", authored by Peter Bradley, Chief Executive of the London Ambulance Service, for the Department of Health led to the merging of the 31 trusts into 13 organisations in England, plus one organisation each in Wales and Northern Ireland. Following further changes as part of the NHS foundation trust pathway, this has further reduced to 10 ambulance service trusts in England, plus the Isle of Wight which has its own provision. Following the passage of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, commissioning of the ambulance services in each area passed from central government control into the hands of regional clinical commissioning groups; the commissioners in each region are responsible for contracting with a suitable organisation to provide ambulance services within their geographical territory. The primary provider for each area is held by a public NHS body, of which there are 11 in England, 1 each in the other three countries. In England there are now ten NHS ambulance trusts, as well as an ambulance service on the Isle of Wight, run directly by Isle of Wight NHS Trust, with boundaries following those of the former regional government offices.
The ten trusts are: East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust London Ambulance Service NHS Trust North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS TrustThe English ambulance trusts are represented by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, with the Scottish and Northern Irish providers all associate members. On the 14 November 2018 West Midlands Ambulance Service became the UK's first university-ambulance trust; the service was operated before reorganisation in 1974 by the St Andrews’ Ambulance Association under contract to the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Scottish Ambulance Service is a Special Health Board that provides ambulance services throughout whole of Scotland, on behalf of the Health and Social Care Directorates of the Scottish Government.
Due to the remote nature of many areas of Scotland compared to the other Home Nations, the Scottish Ambulance Service has Britain's only publi
Padstow
Padstow is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary 5 miles northwest of Wadebridge, 10 miles northwest of Bodmin and 10 miles northeast of Newquay; the population of Padstow civil parish was 3,162 in the 2001 census, reducing to 2,993 at the 2011 census. In addition an electoral ward with the same name extends as far as Trevose Head; the population for this ward is 4,434 Padstow was named Petroc-stow, Petroc-stowe, or'Petrock's Place', after the Welsh missionary Saint Petroc, who landed at Trebetherick around AD 500. After his death a monastery was established here, of great importance until "Petroces stow" was raided by the Vikings in 981, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Whether as a result of this attack or the monks moved inland to Bodmin, taking with them the relics of St Petroc; the cult of St Petroc was important both in Bodmin. Padstow is recorded in the Domesday Book. There was land for 5 villeins who had 2 ploughs, 6 smallholders and 24 acres of pasture.
It was valued at 10/-. In the medieval period Padstow was called Aldestowe. Or Hailemouth; the modern Cornish form Lannwedhenek derives from Lanwethinoc and in a simpler form appears in the name of the Lodenek Press, a publisher based in Padstow. The seal of the borough of Padstow was a ship with three masts, the sails furled and an anchor hanging from the bow, with the legend "Padstow." Time Team visited Padstow for the episode "From Constantinople to Cornwall," broadcast on 9 March 2008. There are two Cornish crosses in the parish: one is built into a wall in the old vicarage garden and another is at Prideaux Place. There is part of a decorated cross shaft in the churchyard; the church of St Petroc is one of four said to have been founded by the saint, the others being Little Petherick and Bodmin. It is quite large and of 13th and 14th century date. There is a fine 15th century font of Catacleuse. There are two fine monuments to members of the Prideaux family: there is a monumental brass of 1421.
Traditionally a fishing port, Padstow is now a popular tourist destination. Although some of its former fishing fleet remains, it is a yachting haven on a dramatic coastline with few navigable harbours; the influence of restaurateur Rick Stein can be seen in the port, tourists travel from long distances to eat at his restaurant and cafés. This has led to the town being dubbed "Padstein", by food writers in the British media. However, the boom in the popularity of the port has caused house price inflation both in the port and surrounding areas, as people buy homes to live in, or as second or holiday homes; this has meant significant numbers of locals cannot afford to buy property in the area, with prices well over 10 times the average salary of around £15,000. This has led to a population decline. Plans to build a skatepark in Padstow have been proposed and funds are being raised to create this at the Recreation Ground. During the mid-19th century, ships carrying timber from Canada would arrive at Padstow and offer cheap travel to passengers wishing to emigrate.
Shipbuilders in the area would benefit from the quality of their cargoes. Among the ships that sailed were the barques Clio and Voluna; the approach from the sea into the River Camel is blocked by the Doom Bar, a bank of sand extending across the estuary, a significant hazard to shipping and the cause of many shipwrecks. For ships entering the estuary, the immediate loss of wind due to the cliffs was a particular hazard resulting in ships being swept onto the Doom Bar. A manual capstan was installed on the west bank of the river and rockets were fired to carry a line to ships so that they could be winched to safety. There have been ferries across the Camel estuary for centuries and the current service, the Black Tor Ferry, carries pedestrians between Padstow and Rock daily throughout the year. From 1899 until 1967 Padstow railway station was the westernmost point of the former Southern Railway; the railway station was the terminus of an extension from Wadebridge of the former Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway and North Cornwall Railway.
These lines were part of the London and South Western Railway incorporated into the Southern Railway in 1923 and British Railways in 1948, but were proposed for closure during the Beeching Axe of the 1960s. The LSWR promoted Padstow as a holiday resort; until 1964, Padstow was served by the Atlantic Coast Express – a direct train service to/from London – but the station was closed in 1967. The old railway line is now the Camel Trail, a footpath and cycle path, popular owing to its picturesque route beside the River Camel. One of the railway mileposts is now embedded outside the Shipwright's Arms public house on the Harbour Front. Today, the nearest railway station is at Bodmin Parkway, a few miles south of Bodmin. Plymouth Bus operate buses to the station; the South West Coast Path runs on both sides of the River Camel estuary and crosses from Padstow to Rock v
River Allen, Cornwall
The River Allen in north Cornwall is one of two rivers of the same name in Cornwall which share this name. In this case the name is the result of a mistake made in 1888 by Ordnance Survey, replacing the name Layne with Allen, the old name for the lower reaches of the Camel; the other River Allen runs through Truro. The River Allen is a major tributary of the River Camel, it springs northeast of Camelford and flows south-southwest through the Allen Valley passing St Teath and St Kew Highway to join the Camel near Sladesbridge. Media related to River Allen, North Cornwall at Wikimedia Commons
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world; the Irish Sea lies between Great Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world, it is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017. The UK is constitutional monarchy; the current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the longest-serving current head of state.
The United Kingdom's capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million. Other major urban areas in the UK include Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire conurbations, Greater Glasgow and the Liverpool Built-up Area; the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh and Belfast, respectively. Apart from England, the countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution; the nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England, followed by the union between England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are fourteen British Overseas Territories, the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language and political systems of many of its former colonies; the United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and has a high Human Development Index rating, ranking 14th in the world, it was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power, with considerable economic, military and political influence internationally, it is sixth in military expenditure in the world. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.
It has been a leading member state of the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization; the 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The term "United Kingdom" has been used as a description for the former kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was "Great Britain"; the Acts of Union 1800 united the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, Scotland and Northern Ireland are widely referred to as countries. The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom; some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the United Kingdom refer to Scotland and Northern Ireland as "regions". Northern Ireland is referred to as a "province". With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice revealing one's political preferences"; the term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England and Wales in combination. However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole; the term "Britain" is used both as a synonym for Great Britain, as a synonym for the United Kingdom. Usage is mixed, with the BBC preferring to use Britain as shorthand only for Great Britain and the UK Government, while accepting that both terms refer to the United K
Media related to St Allen at Wikimedia Commons
