City or Not

[pedderwo]

I have a friend who says he lives in a City; there is a Cathedral but no University. Is he misinformed or a pathological liar? Does anyone know which City is the smallest in the UK?

[gary baldy]

St Davids is the smallest and this should explain everything:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_status_in_th e_United_Kingdom

[shammydodger]

I haven't read Gary's link but have no basis to dispute it. It used to be said that City status was dependent on having a cathedral. How accurate this was is anybody's guess. I do know that the likes of Sunderland and Brighton have been granted city status in the last decade, and neither of these cities has a cathedral.

[Starbar]

Could this be St.Asaph in North Wales ?
I believe it has a small cathedral and was originally a cathedral city,but this status was taken away for some reason.
ONCE A CATHEDRAL CITY ALWAYS A CATHEDRAL CITY, I'd say, unless the cathedral has disappeared or something.

[shammydodger]

Wells in Somerset often is given as the answer in pub quizzes. Don't know how accurate this is.

Yes, pedants, I do know that it is either accurate or not!

[shammydodger]

Beg pardon, it seems Gary is correct. Must have been thinking about England rather than UK.

[mightyWBA]

I always thought the smallest city was a trick question,with the answer technically being "The City of London" which is only one square mile.
Other than that I always thought it was St.Davids.

[homerthegrea]

I always thought ELY was the smallest city

[spudqueen]

Lancaster is a city without an Anglican cathedral (though there is a Roman Catholic one), and its university only came into being in the 1960's.

[gary baldy]

Whilst running the risk of repeating myself St Davids is the smallest city in the UK.
Dont take my word for it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallest_cities_i n_the_United_Kingdom

[SaxyJag]

Please read Gary's link, because it really does tell all. I live in a city and I never knew half of this.

[littleoldme]

gary baldy - you can't expect a little thing like solid evidence to stop people having a different opinion. BTW, is the answer Chichester? ;-) (easy gary, I'm just joshing).

As to the first question, there is the matter of Guildford. Odd place - it has a cathedral, it has a university, it even used to have a (now defunct) football team called Guildford City, but I understand it is still technically a town. Not sure what else it has to do...

[ugly_bob]

How about Letchworth Garden City? no cathedral, no university, still a town, but called a city!!
also, MK is a city now, but no cathedral.
And do 7000-odd people actually live in the City of London?

[luckyal42]

The Cathedral on the Scottish Island of Cumbrae (population 1434) is the smallest in Europe located in Milllport on the island.

http://www.millport.org.uk/cpm/thumbnails.php? album=6

[pedderwo]

Thanks all. I think Starbar my be as deluded as my friend, St Asaph in North Wales, a City? Passed through there once......just kept on driving.

[atoach]

He may live in Truro, unquestionably a city, unquestionably with a cathedral, unquestionably without a university. \it's not the smallest city in the UK though.

[atoach]

Or Wakefield, for that matter.

[rugeleyboy]

i was always led to believe that lichfield was the smallest city in the uk??

[Starbar]

What's MK got so it qualifies as a city ?
I think in these days of progress, it must be a similar process changing from town to city status as it is getting one of those OBE, MBE badges.

[gary baldy]

Milton Keynes has a Cathedral and a university (albeit the Open University) and it even now has a league division football team which is more than some of these johnny-come-lately cities can claim.

[n00dles]

ugly_bob the 7,000 people who live in the City of London are not odd! lol :o)

and mighty WBA, Did you know that there are no
roads in the City of London?

What about Welwyn Garden City?