A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England , Wales , and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties .
17-832: Elstree Rural District (until 1941 called Barnet Rural District ) was a rural district in Hertfordshire , England from 1894 to 1974. The district had its origins in the Barnet Rural Sanitary District , which had been created in 1872, covering the rural parts of the Barnet Poor Law Union . Under the Local Government Act 1894 , rural sanitary districts became rural districts on 28 December 1894. Where districts straddled county boundaries, as Barnet Rural Sanitary District did, separate rural districts were to be created for
34-459: A farmer from Totteridge, was appointed the council's first chairman. He had previously been the chairman of the old Barnet Rural Sanitary Authority. The council continued to meet at the workhouse (later Wellhouse Hospital) until 1929, when the board room and committee rooms were needed to provide extra space for the hospital. The council left Barnet and found new offices in Borehamwood , which
51-405: A rural district was a doughnut-shaped ring around a town (which would be either an urban district or a municipal borough ). A good example of this is Melton and Belvoir Rural District , which surrounded the town of Melton Mowbray . Some rural districts were fragmented, consisting of a number of detached parts , such as Wigan Rural District . Some rural districts had a more rounded shape and had
68-542: A small town or village as the administrative centre. A few rural districts consisted of only one parish (for example, Tintwistle Rural District , Alston with Garrigill Rural District , South Mimms Rural District , King's Lynn Rural District , Disley Rural District and Crowland Rural District ). In such districts there was no separate parish council, and the rural district council exercised its functions. All rural districts in England and Wales were abolished in 1974 (by
85-742: The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 . They were subdivided into district electoral divisions . In 1921, Ireland was partitioned with Northern Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom, and the rest of the country leaving as the Irish Free State in 1922. In the Irish Free State, rural districts outside of County Dublin were abolished in 1925 under the Local Government Act 1925 amid widespread accusations of corruption . Their functions were transferred to
102-513: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) along with urban districts . They replaced the earlier system of sanitary districts (themselves based on poor law unions , but not replacing them). Each rural district had an elected rural district council (RDC), which inherited the functions of the earlier sanitary districts, but also had wider authority over matters such as local planning, council housing , and playgrounds and cemeteries. Matters such as education and major roads were
119-574: The Local Government Act 1972 ) and were typically merged with nearby urban districts or boroughs to form " districts ", which included both urban and rural areas. See Rural districts formed in England and Wales 1894–1974 for the districts created in 1894; List of rural and urban districts in England , and List of rural and urban districts in Wales for a list of rural districts at abolition in 1974. Rural districts were created in Ireland in 1899 under
136-437: The non-metropolitan district of Hertsmere on 1 April 1974. The council's former offices at 84 Shenley Road were redeveloped shortly afterwards to become a Tesco supermarket, which in turn became a cinema and leisure complex in the late 1990s. 51°40′N 00°15′W / 51.667°N 0.250°W / 51.667; -0.250 Rural district In England and Wales rural districts were created in 1894 by
153-557: The area of the district with 1,176 acres of Elstree, Ridge and Shenley transferred to Barnet Urban District ; 392 acres of Ridge and Shenley transferred to St Albans Rural District ; and 692 acres of Aldenham gained from Watford Rural District . The council originally met at the board room of the Barnet Union Workhouse at 17 Wellhouse Lane in Barnet, holding its first meeting there on 3 January 1895, when John Osmond,
170-399: The council, based just around the corner at 16 Shenley Road. The council later moved to new premises at 84 Shenley Road, which were built on former tennis courts behind a row of shops at 76–92 Shenley Road. On 20 March 1957, Armorial Bearings were granted. The arms and crest are described as follows: Elstree Rural District was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 , becoming part of
187-550: The county councils The remaining rural districts in County Dublin were similarly abolished in 1930 by the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930 . The former boundaries of the rural districts in the Republic of Ireland continue to be used for statistical purposes and defining constituencies. In Northern Ireland, rural districts continued to exist until 1973 when they were abolished (along with all other local government of
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#1732773312265204-463: The following decades led to some rural districts being redefined as urban districts or merging with existing urban districts or boroughs. Other rural districts proved to be too small or poor to be viable, and under the Local Government Act 1929 , 236 rural districts were abolished and merged or amalgamated into larger units. Further mergers took place over following decades and by 1965 the number of districts had been reduced to 473. The typical shape of
221-624: The old pattern) and replaced with a system of unitary districts . Rural districts also existed in the Canadian province of Newfoundland to govern certain rural communities. Under Newfoundland's Local Government Act , rural districts and towns together formed the province's municipalities. Under the Municipalities Act , effective April 1, 1980, rural districts where abolished and automatically turned into towns. Sanitary district Too Many Requests If you report this error to
238-502: The parish of Arkley . The district was renamed Elstree Rural District on 28 July 1941. Over its existence the rural district consisted of the following civil parishes : Arkley was transferred into Barnet Urban District in 1905. This made Totteridge an exclave of the Barnet Rural District. Nine years later, in 1914, Totteridge was also transferred into Barnet Urban District. In 1935 a county review order amended
255-704: The parts in each county. The parish of South Mimms was in Middlesex , and became the South Mimms Rural District , whilst the rest of the Barnet Sanitary Rural District was in Hertfordshire and became the Barnet Rural District. Parishes which straddled urban and rural districts were also divided into separate urban and rural parishes, and so the old parish of Chipping Barnet was split, with its rural part becoming
272-410: The responsibility of county councils . Until 1930 the rural district councillors were also poor law guardians for the unions of which they formed part. Each parish was represented by one or more councillors. Originally there were 787 rural districts in England and Wales, as they were based directly upon the sanitary districts and poor law unions which had preceded them. Gradual urbanisation over
289-433: Was rapidly developing into a small town, associated with the growth of Elstree Studios there. The council acquired a former Baptist Chapel at 1 Station Road, which had been built in 1894 and had briefly served as Borehamwood's first cinema, "The Gem", between 1914 and c. 1917. The small building was not large enough for the council and some functions were carried out at the offices of the solicitor who acted as clerk to
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