What is the difference between a town and a city in the uk?

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patsy

A town cannot just become a city. It has to be given the right to be called a city. There were two towns given this status in 2000, they were Wolverhampton and the other Newport. This was to celebrate the Centenary There are lots of things taken into consideration, one would be a cathedral (but I do not think it is absolutely essential, just a big advantage), population, University, etc.

Timothy M

There are two ways to become a City: either having a Cathedral or by Royal Charter.

Population and size does not come into it: Ely in Cambridgeshire is I think the smallest City, but has a Cathedral.

The Queen made Sunderland a City to mark her Golden Jubilee a couple of years ago. Towns were invited to apply for City Status, and there were about three or four that were awarded it - there was some controversy at the time because the Government recommended which became City's, and all of them had Labour Members of Parliament.

grpr1964

They don't necessarily have to have big populations. Usually people say that to be a city (in the UK) it has to have a Cathedral. But I'm sure there are some places that have cathedrals (Ely?) that are not cities, whilst there are other places that don't have cathedrals (York, which has a minster) that are cities.

I think that to be legally a city, it needs some sort of Royal approval or consent. I think that this happened with Brighton and Inverness quite recently.

The BudMiester

A city has a Cathedral. Look at the football teams, all the ones with city in the name have Cathedrals. It`s got nothing to do with size or population. Ely in Cambridgeshire is a city, but it`s no bigger than an average sized town.

floejoe4599

A city has a cathedral

leanne h

a town is smaller than a city

blondie

I think only the monarchy can create a city. Usually a city has a cathedral and is the seat of a Bishop whereas a town does not have a cathedral.

angelswings

A city has a cathedral, a town doesn't.

Penfold

A city has a Royal Charter to call itself a city. If I remember my history, it has to do with areas of population where royalty would spend the night. If the Royal Family was travelling en route to somewhere else but did not own any land or property where they were that night, they would stay in a nearby cathedral. The cathedral would be the only church accomodation big enough to accomodate the Royal Family and entourage. The thing was in those days the Royal Family could not stay somewhere that did not have Royal Assent to say it was an area loyal to the crown. Essentially, what that meant in practice was that a lot of towns with a cathedral got a Royal Charter to allow Royalty to stay there. Although this practice has died out with the advancement of transport systems over the centuries, a city is only a city once it has a Royal Charter. Size, cathedrals, location etc is an irrelevance - it is the Royal Charter that makes it a city.

la.bruja0805

A city is supposed to have a cathedral. A town doesnt have to have one.

Starsailor

It is nothing to do with population.

A City has a Cathedral.
A Town has more than one church.
A Village has One Church.
A Hamlet is a place with no church.

Easy!!