4 ms·

Swindon is rural England? It's the 10th biggest town in the UK, with a population that exceeds some cities. Pretty much the only reason it's not a city is the a

• circular_logic 9y ago
  This is a common misconception that I stumbled upon a few months ago. - The cathedral requirement was only to the 19th Century. - Size does not matter. For example St Davids is a city with only 1,600 inhabitants - A city in the UK is a place that has been granted city status by the monarch. - You can loose city status for similar arbitrary reasons - London is not even a fucking city in this system! UK city definition is perhaps one of the dumbest concepts in the UK due to its disparity with the populations expectation of actual criteria. Sources: - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13841482 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_status_in_the_United_Kingdom
  • timthorn 9y ago
    > London is not even a city in this system! Well, there is the City of London aka the Square Mile, as well as the City of Westminster.
    • circular_logic 9y ago
      Yes with populations of 9,400 and 247,600 respectively. They seem to invalidate the rest of the city from city status.
• timthorn 9y ago
  Swindon is a big town, but is arguably in a rural location. However, cities do /not/ need a Cathedral - just a Royal Charter. Look at e.g. Cambridge.