90-598: 51°37′21″N 0°04′20″E / 51.6225°N 0.07227°E / 51.6225; 0.07227 Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex , England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London , and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London . It is on the Central line of the London Underground . In 2011 the parish had
180-522: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
270-625: A county review order in 1933, Chigwell formed together with Buckhurst Hill and Loughton the Chigwell Urban District , with the Chigwell Urban District Council replacing both the parish and rural district councils. When Greater London was created in 1965 a small, more densely populated section to the southeast was transferred to the London Borough of Redbridge ; this area is now known as
360-620: A Feather (although many of the outside locations used in that programme were not in Chigwell). Schools in the area include Chigwell Primary Academy, Limes Farm Infants School & Nursery, Limes Farm Junior School, Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College , West Hatch High School and Chigwell School , a private school , which was founded from a bequest by Samuel Harsnett , Archbishop of York, in 1629, among whose past pupils are William Penn , who later went on to found Pennsylvania , and actor Sir Ian Holm . The diarist John Aubrey recorded that it
450-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
540-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
630-477: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
720-462: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
810-559: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
900-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under
990-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
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#17327908556901080-586: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by
1170-529: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
1260-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
1350-713: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Epping Forest District Council Epping Forest District
1440-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
1530-409: A population of 12,987. According to P. H. Reaney's Place-Names of Essex the name means 'Cicca's well', Cicca being an Anglo-Saxon personal name. In medieval sources the name appears with a variety of spellings including "Cinghe uuella" and Chikewelle". Folk etymology has sought to derive the name from a lost "king's well", supposed to have been to the south-east of the parish near the border of what
1620-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
1710-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
1800-537: A relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007
1890-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
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#17327908556901980-598: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
2070-943: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
2160-521: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
2250-508: A third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of offices. Essex County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections. The district straddles three parliamentary constituencies of Epping Forest , Brentwood and Ongar , and Harlow . Epping Forest District Council is based at the Civic Offices at 323 High Street, Epping. When
2340-452: Is a local government district in Essex , England. It is named after the ancient woodland of Epping Forest , a large part of which lies within the district. The district covers northeastern parts of the urban area of London , including the suburban towns of Epping , Loughton , Waltham Abbey , Chigwell , and Buckhurst Hill , as well as rural areas beyond it. The district is situated in
2430-433: Is also entirely covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government. The council has been under Conservative control since 2006. The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The leaders of
2520-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
2610-868: Is based at the Old Chigwellians Club in Roding Lane. Chigwell also plays host to the Old Loughtonians Hockey Club . There are two pubs, the King William IV and the Two Brewers. Ye Olde King's Head, which was operated as a pub until 2011, is said to be the Maypole Inn in Dickens ' Barnaby Rudge . The building was subsequently sold to local resident Lord Sugar's property company Amsprop which now leases
2700-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
2790-559: Is home to a flight training centre within the district. Stansted Airport , an international passenger and freight airport, lies in the neighbouring district of Uttlesford, north of the district. The Lee Navigation and River Stort are navigable rivers which form the district's eastern boundary. They are managed by the Canal and River Trust , and connect with the Regent's Canal in London via Hertford Union Canal . In terms of television,
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2880-455: Is inserting images from Chigwell in November 2008 into various Snaresbrook streets in the "Nov 2008" box. The reason they are doing this is currently unknown. Civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to
2970-526: Is likely Dickens was aware of both hostelries, since he frequently visited Chigwell, which he described in a letter to John Forster as "the greatest place in the world ... Such a delicious old inn opposite the churchyard ... such beautiful forest scenery ... such an out of the way rural place...". The Chigwell civil parish was part of Epping Rural District from 1894 to 1933, with local government split between Chigwell Parish Council, Epping Rural District Council and Essex County Council. Following
3060-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
3150-581: Is now the London Borough of Redbridge. There were several medicinal springs in Chigwell Row documented by Miller Christy in his book History of the mineral waters and medicinal springs of the county of Essex , published in 1910. The 18th-century historian Nathaniel Salmon stated that the "-well" element in the name derives from Anglo-Saxon weald (wood). The land registration map of Redbridge Council shows "Chig Well (site of)" as being located to
3240-916: Is part of the Epping Ongar Railway . Two motorways meet in the district - the M25 London Orbital motorway and the M11 motorway . The M25 motorway runs eastbound (clockwise) towards Brentwood and the Dartford Crossing . The motorway runs westbound (anticlockwise) towards Enfield , Watford and Heathrow Airport . The M11 motorway runs northbound towards Stansted Airport and Cambridge , and southbound towards East London. Junctions 5 ( A1168 , Loughton and Chigwell ), 6 (M25), 7 ( A414 , Harlow ) and 7A ( A1025 , Harlow) fall within Epping Forest. Other main routes in
3330-533: Is the area around the junction of Manor Road and Fencepiece Road/Hainault Road, extending as far as the boundary with Redbridge including the Limes Farm estate. Chigwell has a population of around 12,500 and is generally considered a wealthy area, characterised by large suburban houses, notably in Manor Road, Hainault Road and Chigwell High Road, which featured in the popular English situation comedy Birds of
3420-474: Is the district's oldest nature reserve, designated in 1986, and the largest at 56 hectares. Seven Sites of Special Scientific Interest on the Natural England register fall within Epping Forest. These are: Essex Wildlife Trust manages sites at: The woodland of Epping Forest partially falls within the Epping Forest district. It has been owned and conserved by the City of London Corporation -
3510-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
3600-736: The Grade I Listed building to the Sheesh Turkish restaurant. Until their closure in 2002, Chigwell had night clubs, known collectively as the Epping Forest Country Club . There is a Local Nature Reserve at Roding Valley Meadows off Roding Lane which follows the River Roding up to Loughton . The TV series Birds of a Feather was set in Chigwell. All bus services are Transport for London services, except
3690-761: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were
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3780-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
3870-594: The Local Government Act 1972 , covering the whole area of three former districts and most of a fourth, all of which were abolished at the same time: The new district was named Epping Forest after the ancient woodland of that name, much of which falls within the district. The woodland is in turn named after the town of Epping. Since 1974 there have been some changes to the district's boundary with Greater London : Other parties (26) Epping Forest District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Essex County Council . The district
3960-607: The London boroughs of Havering , Redbridge , Waltham Forest and Enfield . Roydon railway station on the West Anglia Main Line is the only National Rail station within the district, which lies on the district boundary with East Hertfordshire. Sawbridgeworth railway station on the same line lies directly west of the district, within Hertfordshire, as does Waltham Cross railway station , which serves
4050-438: The ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on
4140-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
4230-470: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
4320-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
4410-591: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
4500-511: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
4590-736: The 804. Route 150 just penetrates into Chigwell Row . Routes 362 and 462 serve only Grange Hill . Route 275 just passes through Tomswood Road and the westernmost section of Manor Road. Chigwell is served by Chigwell station and Grange Hill station (further south bordering Hainault), both on the Central line of the London Underground. For a more frequent service to London there are also nearby Buckhurst Hill , Woodford , Loughton and Hainault stations as services between Grange Hill and Woodford are limited to three trains per hour in each direction, with an increased service during morning peak hours. In 2023 and 2024, Google Street View
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#17327908556904680-500: The Limes Farm estate through the summer months. Many past and present players and staff have homes in the area. Leyton Orient Football Club also have a training ground in Chigwell, adjacent to Chigwell School's fields. A David Lloyd Leisure Centre , situated off Roding Road by the M11 motorway , contains indoor and outdoor tennis courts, swimming pools and gymnasium. Also in the area are a Holmes Place Health Club, Topgolf playing Centre and Chigwell Golf Club . Chigwell Cricket Club
4770-670: The Manford estate and continues to be within the Chigwell post town . The rest of Chigwell Urban District was incorporated into the Epping Forest District in 1974. Parish councils were re-established for Chigwell and Loughton , and for the first time in Buckhurst Hill , in 1996. From 1933 to 1958 there was an RAF presence at Roding Valley Meadows (near what is now the David Lloyd Leisure Centre). It served first to provide barrage balloon protection during
4860-540: The Rivers Lee and Stort , which connect the district with other cycle routes in Hertfordshire and London. Epping Forest features a network of shared-use forest trails, managed by the City of London Corporation . North Weald Airfield is owned by Epping Forest District Council and is open to general aviation. Flying out of North Weald began in 1916, during the First World War . Stapleford Aerodrome
4950-807: The Second World War and was involved in the rollout of Britain's coastal nuclear early warning system during the Cold War . In 1953 it briefly housed the RAF contingent taking part in the Coronation celebrations. Some of the RAF Chigwell site is now part of the Local Nature Reserve , Roding Valley Meadows LNR. The local council of the civil parish is Chigwell Parish Council. The parish council originally existed from 1894 to 1933, and
5040-738: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
5130-512: The area is served by BBC London and ITV London with television signals are received from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter. BBC East and ITV Anglia can also be received from Sandy Heath TV transmitter. Radio stations for the area are: The Epping Forest Guardian is the local newspaper. Epping Forest District Council has nine nature local nature reserves (LNRs): Roding Valley Meadows Local Nature Reserve (LNR)
5220-558: The borough fall in London fare zone 6 , with Buckhurst Hill in zone 5 and Roding Valley , Chigwell and Grange Hill in zone 4 . The Central line provides the district with direct connections with East London , The City , the West End , and West London . Transport for London manages the London Underground network. A former portion of the Central line between Epping and Chipping Ongar , via North Weald and Blake Hall ,
5310-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
5400-452: The council since 2001 have been: Following the 2024 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in June 2024, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2026. Since the last boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 54 councillors representing 18 wards , with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with
5490-537: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
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#17327908556905580-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
5670-496: The council was first created it inherited four sets of offices from its predecessors and functions were initially divided between them: The council subsequently built a large new building, Epping Civic Offices , adjoining the original converted house at 323 High Street in Epping. The new building was designed by Richard Reid and built between 1987 and 1992. It was designated a Grade II listed building in 2017. The north-east of
5760-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
5850-459: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
5940-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
6030-400: The district include: Most public highways in the district are managed by Essex County Council . The M11 and M25 motorways are managed by National Highways . National Cycle Network Route 1 passes along the eastern boundary of the district near Broxbourne, through Harlow, and east-west through the district via High Laver , Moreton and Fyfield . A shared-use path runs alongside
6120-419: The district is rural and sparsely populated for an area so close to London; this area includes Chipping Ongar and surrounding villages. The south-west of the district closer to the boundary with Greater London is more suburban and is dominated by Loughton, the largest town in the district. Most of the district has a wide range of architectural styles and periods. Loughton adjoins the woodland of Epping Forest to
6210-461: The district's town of Waltham Abbey. These stations are served by Greater Anglia trains either between London Liverpool Street and Ely , and London Stratford and Bishop's Stortford , with direct connections to destinations such as Broxbourne , Tottenham Hale , Audley End and Cambridge . The London Underground Central line passes through the southern portion of Epping Forest. Epping , Theydon Bois , Debden and Loughton stations in
6300-784: The eastern portion of the district, with the Lea Valley in the west. Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, Waltham Abbey and Loughton, although they are not within Greater London , are included in the Office for National Statistics definition of the Greater London Built-up Area . Epping Forest district is bounded by the Harlow , Uttlesford , Chelmsford and Brentwood districts of Essex, the East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne districts of Hertfordshire, and
6390-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
6480-534: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
6570-645: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
6660-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
6750-476: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
6840-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
6930-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
7020-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
7110-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
7200-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
7290-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
7380-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
7470-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
7560-623: The rear of the house located at 67 Brocket Way, Chigwell. Traditionally a rural farming community, but now largely suburban, Chigwell was mentioned in the Domesday Book . It is referred to by Charles Dickens in his novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty ; the Maypole Inn is based on the King's Head inn, though the name was taken from the Maypole public house in Chigwell Row. It
7650-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of
7740-450: The secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have
7830-681: The west and is separated by farms, rivers and golf courses from other settlements in other directions. As an example of conserved physical geographic landscapes, the Roding Valley and Three Forests Way (one end of the Stort Valley Way and the other end connecting to the Harcamlow Way in Hatfield Forest and National Nature Reserve , Essex which is north of Epping Forest District. The River Roding runs through
7920-419: The west of the county, bordering north-eastern Greater London . The administrative headquarters of Epping Forest District Council are in the town of Epping. Neighbouring districts are Brentwood , Broxbourne , Chelmsford , East Hertfordshire , Enfield , Harlow , Havering , Redbridge , Uttlesford and Waltham Forest . In 2021 it had a population of 134,909. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under
8010-488: Was at Chigwell School that Penn had a mystical vision, which influenced his later conversion to Quakerism . The original 17th-century schoolroom where Penn was taught still stands, and is now the school library. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club had its training facilities in the area until May 2012, when it moved to a new facility in Enfield, northeast London. However, the club still runs training sessions for local youth on
8100-427: Was created again in 1996. The parish council offices are located on Hainault Road. Councillors are elected from three wards: Grange Hill, Chigwell Row and Chigwell Village. Local councillors are also elected to Epping Forest District Council and Essex County Council . The hamlet of Chigwell Row lies towards the east of Chigwell, near Lambourne ; this part of the parish is well forested and mostly rural. Grange Hill
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