So why is Warwickshire associated with bears? The most Googled questions revealed

The most frequently searched questions on Google by county

Using Google’s Autocomplete function with the search questions ‘Is’ and ‘Why’ we were able to see what the most searched questions were about each county.

Whether the results are a reflection on the actual counties or the people searching is up for debate. But we have tried to be helpful by answering some of the burning questions according to the Google searches.

For Warwickshire, the most Googled search questions are ‘Why is Warwickshire associated with bears’ and ‘Is Warwickshire in Birmingham’.

So just why is the county associated with bears? The bear and ragged staff have long been associated with Warwickshire.

The exact origins of these emblems are lost over time, but have been associated with the Earls of Warwick since at least as early as the 14th century.

William Dugdale in the 17th century, said that the legendary Arthgallus, an Britsh Earl of Warwick and knight of King Arthur’s Round Table, thought that his name came from the Welsh “artos” or bear.

He also suggested that the ragged staff was chosen because Morvidus, Earl of Warwick, killed a giant with the broken branch of a tree.

A quick check on Google maps would probably be a better bet for those searching the next question, but is Warwickshire in Birmingham? Well no is the easy answer. But it is easy to see why there may be some confusion.

That’s because Birmingham was originally part of Warwickshire, but expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, absorbing parts of Worcestershire to the south and Staffordshire to the north and west.

The city absorbed Sutton Coldfield in 1974 and became a metropolitan borough in the new West Midlands county.

But what of some of Warwickshire’s near neighbour counties? The Google Autocomplete search for other counties included:

‘Is Northamptonshire a good place to live’ and ‘Why is Northamptonshire called the rose of the shires’.

‘Is Leicestershire ok’ and ‘Why is Leicestershire associated with foxes’.

‘Is Bedford awful’ and ‘Why is Bedford not on Google maps’.

‘Why is Buckinghamshire postcode HP’ and ‘Is Buckinghamshire posh’.

‘Why is Hertfordshire so expensive’ and ‘Is Hertfordshire a city’.

‘Why is Oxfordshire abbreviated to Oxon’ and ‘Is Oxfordshire going to get snow’.

It could be worse, though. The most common search for Essex is ‘Why is Essex so bad’ while the capital city is ‘Why is London so crap’.