Civil parishes in Bedfordshire explained

A civil parish is a country subdivision, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 125 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, most of the county being parished: Luton is completely unparished; Central Bedfordshire is entirely parished. At the 2001 census, there were 312,301 people living in the 125 parishes, which accounted for 55.2 per cent of the county's population.

History

Parishes arose from Church of England divisions, and were originally purely ecclesiastical divisions. Over time they acquired civil administration powers.[1]

The Highways Act 1555 made parishes responsible for the upkeep of roads. Every adult inhabitant of the parish was obliged to work four days a year on the roads, providing their own tools, carts and horses; the work was overseen by an unpaid local appointee, the Surveyor of Highways.[2]

The poor were looked after by the monasteries, until their dissolution. In 1572, magistrates were given power to 'survey the poor' and impose taxes for their relief. This system was made more formal by the Poor Law Act 1601, which made parishes responsible for administering the Poor Law; overseers were appointed to charge a rate to support the poor of the parish.[3] The 19th century saw an increase in the responsibility of parishes, although the Poor Law powers were transferred to Poor Law Unions.[4] The Public Health Act 1872 grouped parishes into Rural Sanitary Districts, based on the Poor Law Unions; these subsequently formed the basis for Rural Districts.[5]

Parishes were run by vestries, meeting annually to appoint officials, and were generally identical to ecclesiastical parishes,[6] although some townships in large parishes administered the Poor Law themselves; under the Divided Parishes and Poor Law Amendment Act 1882, all extra-parochial areas and townships that levied a separate rate became independent civil parishes.[7]

Civil parishes in their modern sense date from the Local Government Act 1894, which abolished vestries; established elected parish councils in all rural parishes with more than 300 electors; grouped rural parishes into Rural Districts; and aligned parish boundaries with county and borough boundaries.[7] Urban civil parishes continued to exist, and were generally coterminous with the Urban District, Municipal Borough or County Borough in which they were situated; many large towns contained a number of parishes, and these were usually merged into one. Parish councils were not formed in urban areas, and the only function of the parish was to elect guardians to Poor Law Unions; with the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930 the parishes had only a nominal existence.[8]

The Local Government Act 1972 retained civil parishes in rural areas, and many former Urban Districts and Municipal Boroughs that were being abolished, were replaced by new successor parishes; urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes became unparished areas.[9]

The current position

Recent governments have encouraged the formation of town and parish councils in unparished areas, and the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 gave local residents the right to demand the creation of a new civil parish.[10]

A parish council can become a town council unilaterally, simply by resolution;[9] and a civil parish can also gain city status, but only if that is granted by the Crown.[9] The chairman of a town or city council is called a mayor.[9] The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 introduced alternative names: a parish council can now choose to be called a community; village; or neighbourhood council.[11]

List of civil parishes and unparished areas

ImageNameStatusPopulation (2001 census)DistrictFormer local authority[12] Refs
Unparished area 69,271 [13]
[14]
Civil parish 1,640 [15]
[16]
Civil parish 281
[17]
Civil parish 734
Civil parish 8,678
[18]
[19]
Civil parish 4,768
Civil parish 316
Civil parish 827
Civil parish 3,643
Civil parish 367
Civil parish 736
Civil parish
Civil parish 386
Civil parish 2,049
Civil parish 737
Civil parish 1,864
Civil parish 980
[20]
[21]
Civil parish 1,235
Town 19,375 [22]
Civil parish 1,286
Civil parish 269
Civil parish 44
Civil parish 421
Civil parish 391
Civil parish 754
Civil parish 2,438
Civil parish 260
Civil parish 593
Civil parish 231
Civil parish 417
Civil parish 706
Civil parish 1,448
Civil parish 1,284
Civil parish 322
[23]
Civil parish 1,940
Civil parish
Civil parish 354
Civil parish 347
Civil parish 581
Civil parish 1,212
Civil parish 150
Civil parish 696
Civil parish 1,192
Civil parish 412
Civil parish 782
Civil parish 2,263
Civil parish [24]
Civil parish 4,230
Civil parish 946

Civil parish 868
Town 6,767 [25]
[26]
Town 4,741 [27]
Civil parish 2,185 [28]
Civil parish 573
Civil parish 24
Civil parish 4,793 [29]
[30]
Civil parish 37
Town 15,383 [31]
Billington[32] Civil parish 632
Civil parish 926
Civil parish 343
Civil parish 3,673
Civil parish 1,388
Civil parish 480
Civil parish 549
Civil parish 2,730
Civil parish 1,702
Civil parish 4,909
Town 33,805 [33]
Civil parish 653
Civil parish 2,591
Civil parish 69
Civil parish 288
Civil parish 387
Civil parish 525
Civil parish 86
Civil parish [34]
Civil parish 1,212
Town 12,700
Civil parish 581
Civil parish 2,322
Civil parish 1,122
Civil parish 1,285
Civil parish 3,084
Civil parish 730
Civil parish 1,299
Town 16,970
Civil parish 186
Civil parish 217
Civil parish 402
Civil parish 1,504
Civil parish 2,882
Town 32,417 [35]
Civil parish 1,145
Civil parish 3,684
Civil parish 2,900
Civil parish 1,549
Civil parish 130
Civil parish 144
Civil parish 636
Civil parish 2,288
Civil parish 275
Civil parish 44
Town 4,473
Civil parish 850
Civil parish 418
Town 10,887 [36]
Town 4,928
Civil parish 1,831
Civil parish 1,729
Civil parish 1,976
Civil parish 1,141
Civil parish 747
Civil parish 233
Civil parish 1,821
Town 6,190
Civil parish 1,707
Civil parish 1,125
Civil parish 507
Civil parish 299
Civil parish 564
Civil parish 360
Civil parish 149
Civil parish 4,459
Civil parish 1,180
Civil parish 2,001
Civil parish 457
Civil parish 945
Civil parish 737
Unparished area 184,371 [37]
[38]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Angus Winchester, 2000, Discovering Parish Boundaries. Shire Publications. Princes Risborough, 96 pages
  2. http://www.racfoundation.org/files/British%20Highways%20Development%20Before%20Motorways.pdf RAC Foundation : What Went Wrong? British Highway Development Before Motorways
  3. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/plintro.html The Victorian Web : The Poor Law : Introduction
  4. http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/humanities_and_soc_sciences/census/unions.htm Staffordshire University : Poor Law Unions and Registration Districts
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20070810205704/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=RSD A Vision of Britain Through Time : Status Details for Rural Sanitary District
  6. Robert Tittler, The Reformation and the Towns in England, 1998, Oxford University Press, 395 pages,
  7. http://homepages.newnet.co.uk/dance/webpjd/offstats/regevents.htm Modern British Surnames : Selected Events in the History of Civil Registration and Boundary Changes 1801-1996
  8. Alex MacMorran and T R Colquhoun Dill, The Local Government Act 1894 and the Subsequent Statutes Affecting Parish Councils, 1907, Butterworth and Co, London, 626 pages
  9. http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1972/cukpga_19720070_en_1 Office of Public Sector Information : Local Government Act 1972
  10. http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970029_en_1 Office of Public Sector Information : Local Government and Rating Act 1997
  11. http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070028_en_1 Office of Public Sector Information : Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
  12. From 1974 to 2009, Central Bedfordshire was divided into districts: Mid Bedfordshire, formed from Ampthill Rural District, Ampthill Urban District, Biggleswade Rural District, Biggleswade Urban District and Sandy Urban District; and South Bedfordshire, formed from Dunstable Municipal Borough, Leighton–Linslade Urban District and Luton Rural District.
  13. https://archive.today/20121225021504/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10108287 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Bedford Municipal Borough
  14. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/home.do Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population
  15. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10002060 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Bedford Rural District
  16. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/home.do Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population
  17. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790321 Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Bedford
  18. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/home.do Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population
  19. http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/151840.pdf The Bedford (Parish) Order 2004
  20. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/home.do Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population
  21. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/pdf/uksi_20070362_en.pdf The Bedford (Parishes Electoral Arrangements) Order 2007
  22. https://archive.today/20121224081111/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10061763 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Kempston Urban District
  23. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/home.do Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population
  24. Web site: Wilstead-Wixams . 12 April 2015 . 23 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923183311/http://www.bedford.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/elections/community_governance_reviews/2013_reviews/wilstead-wixams.aspx . dead .
  25. https://archive.today/20121224134745/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10213538 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Ampthill Urban District
  26. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790320 Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Mid Bedfordshire
  27. https://archive.today/20121224082734/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10093260 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Biggleswade Rural District
  28. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10173358 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Ampthill Rural District
  29. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10144085 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Luton Rural District
  30. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790322 Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : South Bedfordshire
  31. https://archive.today/20121224165028/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10153372 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Biggleswade Urban District
  32. Web site: Billington. Mapit. 16 July 2019.
  33. https://archive.today/20121224102831/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10042290 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Dunstable Municipal Borough
  34. Web site: Historic moment for community's parish council - Biggleswade Today . 26 May 2013 . 23 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923185058/http://www.biggleswadetoday.co.uk/news/local-news/historic-moment-for-community-s-parish-council-1-5103001 . dead .
  35. https://archive.today/20121224182854/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10002072 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Leighton–Linslade Urban District
  36. https://archive.today/20121224063914/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10108305 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Sandy Urban District
  37. https://archive.today/20121224090505/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10133580 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Luton County Borough
  38. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/home.do Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population

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