City status in the United Kingdom This policy, which was not at the time made public, had the effect of stemming the number of city creations. The 1907 policy contained three criteria: However, well into the 20th century it was often assumed that the presence of a cathedral was sufficient to elevate a town to city status, and that for cathedral cities the city charters were recognising its city status rather than granting it. On this basis, the 1911 "Encyclopædia Britannica" said that Southwell and St Asaph were cities. The policy laid down by Edward VII was continued by his successor, George V, who ascended the
City status in Ireland After Belfast received its charter in 1888, no further towns in nine-county Ulster applied for city status until 1953, when Armagh began to argue for the restoration of the status lost in 1840. Its justification was that the Archbishop of Armagh was Primate of All Ireland. The council used the appellation "city" unofficially until 1994, when Charles, Prince of Wales, announced the status had been granted to mark the 1,550th anniversary of the traditional date of Armagh's foundation by Saint Patrick. Lisburn and Ballymena entered a UK-wide competition for city status held to mark the millennium in 2000; neither was