Middlesex Heritage
Aims & Objectives
- To make people aware that the geographical County of Middlesex still exists and that only the County Council was abolished in 1965.
- To explain that London is in Middlesex and that London should refer ONLY to the City itself.
- To explain that Hertfordshire and Surrey County Councils only administer portions of the County of Middlesex but those portions are NOT part of the counties which administer them.
- To correct the media whenever they refer to an area of Middlesex as a compass point of ‘London’ or as Hertfordshire or Surrey.
- To enlist the support of Members of Parliament to assist with any legislation that will safeguard the continuing identity of the County of Middlesex.
- To encourage local authorities which are now jointly responsible for administering the County to acknowledge their duty to safeguard the heritage of the County.
- To promote the identity of the County of Middlesex by encouraging the use of the county name in addresses.
- To promote awareness and interest in the history and geography of Middlesex, particularly amongst our schoolchildren.
- To encourage the preservation of all historic buildings and other aspects of the history and heritage of the County.
- To encourage a sense of pride in the County through sport and other activities and a sense of identity among all Middlesaxons.
Historical Facts
Middlesex was first recorded in a Saxon Charter of 704 A.D. as the “Provincia Middleseaxon” (Providence of the Middle Saxons) making it the third oldest recorded county name after Kent and Essex.
Originally it was part of the Kingdom of Essex until the Danes overran Essex and captured London in the mid ninth century. In 886 A.D. Alfred the Great re-took London and established the boundary between the Saxons and Danelaw along the river Lea. Middlesex (including modern Hertfordshire) remained part of the Kingdom of Wessex until the Norman Conquest in 1066 A.D.
In the late ninth century the shires as we know them today were created. They were parts of kingdoms or provinces which were shorn off to create smaller units, thus Hertfordshire was detached from the Middlesex Province and Middlesex was never a shire.
The Normans used the existing Saxon Divisions of the country calling them counties (units of account for the Domesday Survey and being under the control of a compte or count).
The County Arms
The arms of the County of Middlesex are three seaxes pointing upwards. (As in the Middlesex Federation logo)
Before the County Council was created, arms were unofficial: the official arms of the County Council reversed the seaxes and added the Saxon crown. (As in the Federation of Middlesex Sports logo)
Middlesex Day
