Ian Jelf wrote:
In message , Clive D. W. Feather
writes

[snip]
There is no formal definition, that I can find, of "ceremonial
purposes".
I first heard the term applied in the 1990s when County Durham was
"relieved" of Darlington and Hartlepool and Stockton were placed
within it (previously having been in Cleveland) for these
"ceremonial" purposes. Apart from the wikipaedia reference I
(frustratingly) now can't find any reference to the term anywhere.

See
http://www.publications.parliament.u...t/60229w02.htm
and
http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/grou...605206-01.hcsp

There's nothing new about the concept. When we had County Boroughs, they
were still counted as within the old/ceremonial/traditional/geographic
counties. For example, the County Borough of Reading was still regarded
as being in Berkshire despite being independent of it as far as local
government was concerned, even to the extent of having its own police
force. The same (apart from the police) is now true once again as there
is no county council of Berkshire, but it remains a ceremonial county.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)