The poshest county in the UK?

[Eyes98]

Which one county would you say is the outright poshest in the UK? Let’s not use Greater London here, and I know there will be social diversity in all, but which would you say is the poshest overall?
I’m going with Berkshire, darling.😂

You’ve missed out a significant portion of the entry in the OED:

adverb
INFORMAL•BRITISH
in a refined or upper-class way.
"he may talk posh, but there is nothing fancy about Basil"
noun
INFORMAL•BRITISH
the quality of being elegant, stylish, or upper class.

I think some people just conflate ‘posh’ and ‘wealthy’ but of course they are not the same thing at all.

Not a bad suggestion.

1st tier is Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, West Sussex, North Yorkshire I’d say

2nd tier is Berkshire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, northants

Quite.

It's in the historic county of bucks but it is now in Berkshire I think.

Used to stay there when we went to legoland! Good times.

I think posh has to have an element of understatement or it isn’t properly posh, it’s just flashy.

So a “ flashy” stately home is fine so long as it needs a new roof! 🤣

Northants?! Corby and Kettering are in it.

I live in Wiltshire, its quite posh, Swindon isn't in Wiltshire technically (but it is geographically), it's autonomous, not covered by Wiltshire Council, don't think anyone here looks at Swindon as part of the county.

There are undesirable parts to all counties the more I think about it.

No

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire or Oxfordshire.

@YourAzureEagle don't think anyone here looks at Swindon as part of the county.

For this alone I think you win.

Not Hampshire - anywhere that contains Southampton, Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Totton and Eastleigh cannot be considered posh. There are pockets - places in the New Forest, Winchester - but not posh as a county overall.

Agreed. Cambridgeshire has nothing too posh about it. It’s nice enough.

I’m realising they are all “ pock-marked” with less nice bits.

I think you have to take an overall assessment.

While we are talking about counties may I remind you that the County of Avon no longer exists?
(Despite many companies addressing mail to it).

I've also noticed our Scottish and Welsh counties haven't been mentioned...

Fully agree! The poshest people I know all love to make out like they are struggling with the school fees and drive crappy old cars, but they have estates and properties worth hundreds of millions.

Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

Definitely not Surrey (depending on how you define posh). I’m reminded of the bit in The Pursuit of Love where Sadie finds out that Tony Kroesig’s family live in Surrey

Nooooo

Hampshire is not posh. Aldershot anyone?

Oxfordshire- not really.

Gloucestershire- hmmm- pockets of deprivation.

West Sussex- some parts but not overall.

North York- some parts are idyllic but there is a lot of poverty and unemployment in some areas.

I think you're confusing 'pretty villages and towns' with real wealth.

None of the west country is 'posh'- most people are really poor apart from tourist hot spots.

Posh parts are those bordering the Thames, near Eton, Ascot, Virginia Water- so some parts of Surrey, part of Bucks and Berkshire.

All those counties are quite deprived in places and the only rich people are landowners, not ordinary families. You're describing the Cotswolds. Pretty and some rich spots, but a lot of deprivation- Swindon and Gloucester themselves.

@DevonCreamTeaPlease So, Henley then?

*edited as tag disappeared!

This thread is exhausting and a bit pointless really, can we all agree that EVERY county has posh and rough parts? When a poster points out posh county there's always a counter post with "yeah but it has Shithole on Sea so can't be posh"

Surrey easily wins. 29% of kids at independent school, highest house prices outside of London, more than 120 golf courses. Most wooded county in England.

Agree.

Also think everyone has their own “concept” of posh.

So not in a Surrey McMansion then!? 😂