Chelmsford, Perth and St Asaph to receive city status

Three UK cities – Chelmsford, Perth and St Asaph - will be given city status this year, as part of celebrations to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  There was to be just one selected from the 23 hopefuls, but it appears a diplomatic approach has been taken and one from England, Scotland Wales has been selected instead.

Chelmsford in Essex is home to the Essex County cricket team as well as Anglia Ruskin University, and is one of the fastest-growing towns in the south-east of England.

Chelmsford hotels
Chelmsford B&Bs
Chelmsford attractions

St Asaph in Denbighshire, Wales, has been one of the few towns in the UK with a cathedral but without city status. It has population of around 3,500, which will make it one of the smallest cities in the UK, with only the Welsh city of St. David’s being small in terms of population size.

St. Asaph hotels
St. Asaph self-catering

Up in Scotland, Perth – which sits on the banks of the River Tay – will become the seventh city in Scotland. The town is currently the largest in the country and, among other claims to fame, home to the Harry Potter author, JK Rowling.

Perth hotels
Perth B&Bs
Perth self-catering
Perth attractions

The towns that missed out on city status this time around were Bolton, Bournemouth, Colchester, Coleraine, Corby, Craigavon, Croydon, Doncaster, Dorchester, Dudley, Dumfries, Gateshead, Goole, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Reading, Southend, St Austell, Stockport, Tower Hamlets and Wrexham.