85-576: Hoo St Werburgh , commonly known as Hoo , is a large village and civil parish in the Medway district of Kent, England. It is one of several villages on the Hoo Peninsula to bear the name Hoo , a Saxon word believed to mean "spur of land" or to refer to the "distinct heel-shape of the ridge of hills" through the settlement. Hoo features in Domesday Book , and had a population of 7,356 at
170-522: 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
255-528: A 5.32-acre site which includes an older children's play park and separate younger children's play park, enclosed surfaced football and basketball pitch, skate half pipe, skate ramps, adult exercise equipment, sheltered seating area and open space surrounded by treeline. Hoo Common, located off Elm Avenue, is a large site which includes woodland walks, meadows and open space surrounded by treeline. Arriva Southern Counties operates bus route 191 to Chatham every 20 minutes, with one service every hour continuing in
340-515: 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
425-576: 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
510-532: A charitable trust by a management committee. Hoo has one 1.5-acre allotment site (made up of 35 plots) located off Everest Drive. The allotments site is managed by the Parish Council. Formerly a primary school, Hoo has a library located next to St Werburgh Church on Church Street. The library is managed by Medway Council. Hoo has one public convenience (toilets, including disabled toilet) and carpark located on Stoke Road. The public convenience and carpark
595-477: 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
680-462: 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
765-559: 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
850-440: 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
935-481: 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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#17327837382771020-586: 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
1105-597: A fleet of Wright Streetlite buses fitted with free WiFi, e-leather seats and USB charging ports. Sapphire branded buses were also previously used on routes 101 in 2014 and 700 in 2017 in the Medway Towns but has since been discontinued on these services in 2022. Arriva Southern Counties operate branded buses on route 9 in Southend which operates between Rayleigh and Shoeburyness . The Optare Versa buses that operate this service are branded as "We're heading to
1190-677: A mixture of local and interurban services across Kent and Essex , although operations in Colchester and Southend-on-Sea are localised to each town. In Southend, Arriva Southern Counties operate a local network of services covering Rayleigh , Hadleigh , Rochford and Shoeburyness and in Colchester, they operate a number of local services around the town. In Kent, operations from the company's depots in Northfleet , Gillingham , Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells combine to create
1275-724: A network across the northern and western areas of the county. Services are centred in the towns of Dartford , Gravesend , Chatham , Maidstone, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells and also extend to Tenterden , Hawkhurst , Sevenoaks , Orpington , Sittingbourne and Sheerness-on-Sea . The company also operates a small number of branded interurban services. Arriva Southern Counties currently operate Sapphire branded buses in Kent Thameside on routes 480, 490 and 491 which link Temple Hill , Dartford , Bluewater, Greenhithe , Swanscombe , Northfleet , Gravesend , or Valley Drive and Riverview Park . These services are operated using
1360-529: 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
1445-431: 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
1530-761: 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. Arriva Southern Counties Arriva Southern Counties Limited , trading as Arriva Southern Counties ,
1615-416: 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
1700-503: 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
1785-1079: 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
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#17327837382771870-537: 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
1955-409: 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
2040-598: 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
2125-943: 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
2210-521: 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
2295-730: Is a bus operator in Kent , Essex , Hemel Hempstead , and Watford in England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus . In November 1986, the National Bus Company sold Maidstone & District in a management buyout to Einkorn Limited. In June 1988, New Enterprise Coaches of Tonbridge was purchased, followed in December 1991 by four buses and their associated Kent County Council services from Shearings , and in June 1992 Boro'line Maidstone . In 1990, British Bus purchased
2380-507: 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
2465-539: 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
2550-416: Is likely to have been placed under the rule of the leading Mercian monastery of Medeshamstede , now known as Peterborough . A significant, and possibly unique, feature of this ancient parish church are the two Royal hatchments of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I . These were later restored and can be viewed in the church. The Reverend Ferdinando Booth of the same family as Archbishop Lawrence Booth
2635-404: Is managed by Medway Council. Hoo has a 1.0-acre green and landscaped gardens located in the centre. The village green and gardens are managed by Medway Council. The gardens are also looked after and tended to by a group of volunteer residents. Hoo has a pond and surrounding nature reserve located off Hemony Grove. The pond and reserve is managed by a private maintenance company, although the site
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2720-405: 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
2805-508: Is once again owned by Arriva, albeit not under the control of Arriva Southern Counties. In October 2009, the Horsham depot and routes were sold to Metrobus with 19 buses. In March 2015, Network Colchester and Network Harlow operations were taken over from Tellings-Golden Miller , who at the time was an Arriva subsidiary. Both operation companies were rebranded Arriva Colchester and Arriva Harlow respectively. The Medway Towns network
2890-401: Is open to the public for recreation. Public liaison is Medway Council. Hoo has three recreation grounds managed by the Parish Council. Kingshill Recreation Ground, located off Fourwents Road, is a 7.71-acre site which includes a play park, surfaced football and basketball pitch, woodland walks and open space surrounded by treeline. Pottery Road Recreation Ground, located off Pottery Road, is
2975-504: 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
3060-623: The Cranleigh , Guildford and Woking based operations of Alder Valley followed in 1993 by Colchester Borough Transport and Southend Transport . In April 1995, Einkorn was sold to British Bus, which had purchased Kentish Bus in July 1994 and Londonlinks in 1988. In August 1995, Einkorn was renamed Invictaway . Invictaway was previously the name of the Maidstone & District commuter services to London, which were renamed Green Line at
3145-591: The Eurostar at Ebbsfleet International railway station, and Eurostar passengers are permitted free travel on the service. On 11 February 2008, Arriva began trialling their mobile "m-ticket" system on the Fastrack network before rolling the system out on all Southern Counties services. Go-Ahead London started operating the Fastrack network from 10 November 2024 which will introduce electric buses by April 2025. The locations of Arriva Southern Counties' depots and
3230-657: The Guildford depot closed and operations in Surrey ceased. On that date, 6 routes were taken by Stagecoach South , with routes 36/37 being replaced by a new route 6 and an extension to the existing Route 1. Route A was withdrawn without replacement from 14 November 2021. The depot was leased to Stagecoach South. On 10 November 2024, Go-Ahead London took over the Fastrack routes which will introduce brand new Irizar ie trams by April 2025. Arriva Southern Counties operate
3315-761: 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
3400-1010: 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
3485-438: 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
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3570-472: 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
3655-470: 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
3740-554: The 1954 Parker–Hulme murder case in Christchurch , New Zealand , now lives in Hoo following her release after serving a 5-year prison sentence. She currently runs a children's riding school in the area. 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
3825-564: 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
3910-478: The 2001 census , rising to 8,945 at the 2011 census. The civil parish includes Chattenden to the west. St Werburgh was the daughter of King Wulfhere of Mercia , and niece of King Æthelred , his brother and successor. She was born between 640 and 650. The first church of Hoo may have been built in the reign of the 8th-century King Æthelbald of Mercia , though presumably a monastery existed nearby at an earlier time. This, together with land at Hoo All Hallows ,
3995-591: 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
4080-511: 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
4165-507: The Grays area, partially replacing them by extending route 5 from Southend-on-Sea . Routes 44 and 150, the remaining services in the Grays area, are operated under contract to Thurrock Council . The buses used for these routes were transferred to Southend. As at September 2014, Dartford garage operated London routes 160 , 428 , 492 , B12 , B13 and B15 . Grays garage operated London routes 66 , 346 , 370 , 375 and 499 . As part of
4250-595: The Local Government Act 1933, for the name of the civil parish to be changed to 'Hoo St Werburgh'. In response, the County Council presented a change of name document which ordered and declared that with effect from the first day of October 1968, and until further order, the name of the civil parish shall be Hoo St Werburgh. Hoo Village Hall & Jubilee Hall are located on Pottery Road Recreation Ground. Hoo Village Hall & Jubilee Hall are run as
4335-738: 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
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#17327837382774420-648: The beach" . Arriva Southern Counties currently operate the Colchester park & ride service under contract to Essex County Council . The service operates in a loop between the Park & Ride site next to the A12, Colchester City Centre and Colchester Station . Until February 2022, Arriva Southern Counties operated the Maidstone park & ride under contract to Maidstone Borough Council . The service linked Maidstone Town Centre with two park & ride sites, one on London Road and one on Willington Street. The service
4505-399: 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
4590-558: The company also controls Arriva Guildford & West Surrey, Arriva West Sussex, and Arriva Southend. The Croydon and North Surrey subsidiary was largely transferred to Arriva London . In 2001, the Crawley depot and operations were sold to Metrobus and the depot in Merstham was closed. In August 2004, Arriva Colchester was sold to Tellings-Golden Miller , although with the December 2007, sale of Tellings-Golden Miller, Colchester
4675-537: 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
4760-464: 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
4845-466: 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
4930-459: 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
5015-463: 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
5100-596: The divisions which operate them are: Former depots of Arriva Southern Counties were: Dartford and Grays garages were the only Arriva Southern Counties depots which did not have commercial services and only handled services operated under contract to Transport for London with all buses painted in red Arriva livery. Commercial routes previously operated from Dartford depot before it became an all Transport for London depot were transferred to Northfleet. Grays depot switched to all Transport for London services after Arriva Southend withdrew both commercial routes 373 and 383 in
5185-439: 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
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#17327837382775270-534: 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
5355-645: 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
5440-455: 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
5525-476: 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
5610-504: The maritime activity at Chatham Dockyard . The corvette HMS Calypso (1883) was built at Chatham, which Wyllie painted in 1897. Wyllie died on 6 April 1931 at Primrose Hill , London . There is a road in Hoo called Wylie Road (incorrectly spelled), named after Wyllie. Declan Galbraith , best known for his 2002 hit single " Tell Me Why ", which peaked at #29 in the UK Singles Chart , is from Hoo. Pauline Parker , known for
5695-465: 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
5780-635: The name " The Hundred of Hoo Academy ". Hoo was connected to the Chattenden and Upnor Railway by a 1 mile (1.6 km)-long branch which closed in the 1890s. Although historically and mostly referred to as Hoo, in 1955 the Parish Council, during a revision of the Ordnance Survey map of the area, requested that Hoo should be shown as 'Hoo St Werburgh'. The Parish Council formally submitted an application in February 1968, under Section 147(4) of
5865-465: 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
5950-440: The opposite direction to Isle of Grain . As part of the developing Local Plan, Medway Council has proposed to expand and develop Hoo into a "small rural town". The expansion could be supported by a new railway station. Hoo is served by a number of schools. Hoo St Werburgh Primary School is for pupils aged 4–11 years of age. There are a total of 386 pupils arranged into 14 classes with two classes per year group. Attached to
6035-488: 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
6120-401: 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
6205-404: 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
6290-562: 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
6375-499: 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
6460-411: 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
6545-438: 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
6630-667: The same time. In July 1996, British Bus was taken over by the Cowie Group . Invictaway was renamed Arriva Southern Counties in April 1998, and Arriva transferred London & Country (also owned by British Bus) to it. The subsidiary operating companies therefore became: Current operations in the South East area are: Many reorganisations of Arriva operations in South East England have followed since and today
6715-671: The school is the Marlborough Centre which caters for children diagnosed as autistic. The centre has 54 children arranged into six classes. The Hundred of Hoo Academy (formerly The Hundred of Hoo School) is for pupils aged 4–18 years of age. There are a total of 1,757 pupils. The academy holds specialist Arts College status and is named after the " hundred of Hoo" featured in Domesday Book. The academy offers advanced media facilities and provides secondary education as well as one form entry primary education. Pupils draw from
6800-450: 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
6885-566: The various villages on the Hoo Peninsula. Hoo is within the Rochester & Strood parliament constituency. Hoo is governed by two tiers of local government: Thomas Aveling, a pioneering agricultural engineer, was born in Elm, Cambridgeshire on 11 September 1824 before moving to Hoo. He was the co-founder of Aveling and Porter which became the largest manufacturer of steam rollers in
6970-528: The world. Aveling died on 7 March 1882 and is buried in the churchyard at St Werburgh Church. There is a road in Hoo called Aveling Close, named after Aveling. William Lionel Wyllie , a prolific maritime painter, was born in Camden Town , London on 5 July 1851. He once lived at Hoo Lodge, located on top of a ridge, which would have provided inspiration with its panoramic view of the River Medway and
7055-409: Was vicar here from 1675 to 1680. The parish records of 1851 gave the population as 1,065. According to official census figures, the population was, in 1891, 1,400; in 1971, 7,725; and in 1981, 7,944. Broad Street appeared as Brodestrete in 1478. Jacobs Lane is named after the family of Stephen Jacobe of Hoo (1480). A workhouse was in use here until the 1930s, and the secondary school bears
7140-526: Was upgraded in a £10 million investment marketed as Operation Overdrive . In April 2021, Arriva announced the Sheerness depot would close in July 2021, with routes 360, 361 and 367 being withdrawn and re-tendered by Kent County Council . All three routes transferred to Chalkwell Coaches on Monday 12 July 2021. On 31 October 2021, routes 306 and 308 from Northfleet depot were withdrawn. Both were taken over by Redroute Buses . On 18 December 2021,
7225-521: Was withdrawn in February 2022 due to reduced passenger numbers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . Arriva Southern Counties operated the Fastrack busway scheme in the Thames Gateway area of Kent on behalf of Kent County Council , Prologis and Amazon . Arriva Southern Counties currently operated the following three Fastrack services: Since November 2007, Route B has connected with
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