What defines a town, city or village in the UK?

There is a lot of argument about this. There was a series of letters
in the Guardian a couple of years ago playing out the whole debate. A
popular variation on a simple classification is that a village must
have a pub or a church, a town must have a market, and a city must
have a cathedral.
But, there is lots of room for manourvre and there is always an
exception to that rule...
Legally at least, a city must have a royal charter: a couple of years
ago Preston in the North west, Sunderland(I think) in the north east,
and Brighton and Hove on the south coast, all became cities when they
recieved royal charters.

Hi devnulluk,

It could be useful for you:

"In the United Kingdom, a city is a town which has been known as a
city since time immemorial, or which has received city status by royal
charter ? which is normally granted on the basis of size, importance
or royal connection (traditional pointers have been whether the town
has a cathedral or a university). Some cathedral cities, for example
St. David's in Wales, are quite small, and may not be known as cities
in common parlance. (See the list of cities in the United Kingdom.) A
similar system existed in the medieval Low Countries where a landlord
would grant settlements certain privileges ('city rights') that
settlements without city rights didn't have. This include the
privilege to put up city walls, hold markets or set up a judicial
court."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City

"In England and Wales, the status of a city is reserved for places
that have a Royal Charter entitling them to the name, traditionally
associated with the possession of a cathedral. Some large
municipalities are legally boroughs but not cities, whereas some
cities are quite small ? St. David's for instance.

It is often thought that towns with bishops' seats rank automatically
as cities: however, Chelmsford remains a town despite being the seat
of the Diocese of Chelmsford. St. Asaph, which is the seat of the
Diocese of St. Asaph, is another such town.

Historically, a town was generally distinguished from a village by
having a regular market or fair. Not all towns were boroughs. There
are some English villages (e.g. Kidlington, Oxfordshire) larger than
some small towns (e.g. Middleham, North Yorkshire)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town

"In England the main historical distinction between a hamlet and a
village is that the latter will have a church, and will therefore
usually have been the worship centre of a parish. A village is
traditionally distinguished from a town in that a village lacks a
regular market."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village

Hope this helps,

Lannaeus