A heath ( / ˈ h iː θ / ) is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain —a cooler and damper climate.
87-604: Shackleford is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Guildford , Surrey , England centred to the west of the A3 between Guildford and Petersfield 32 miles (51 km) southwest of London and 5.2 miles (8.4 km) southwest of Guildford . Shackleford includes the localities of Eashing , Hurtmore , Norney and Gatwick . The village does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086; however, Hurtmore manor in
174-522: 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
261-515: 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
348-576: 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
435-521: A chain used to aid in crossing the river. Alternatively, there may have been an unattested Old English adjective *sceacol 'shaky, loose' from the stem of the Old English verb sceacan 'to shake', perhaps with reference to the bed of the river. It has also been suggested that the element might derive from an unattested Old English noun akin to Old High German scahho 'strip or tongue of land' or to Old Norse skekill as in útskekill 'the outskirts of
522-477: 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
609-462: 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
696-559: 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
783-440: 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
870-481: 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
957-586: 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
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#17327837167261044-557: A field', but there is nothing in the local topography pointing to such meanings. Whatever the etymology, in 1349 a John de Shackleford was one of three persons enfeoffed of a nearby manor; his surname, which at that relatively late date was most likely hereditary, doubtless referred to the Surrey village. Hall Place (see landmarks) was a large house of Richard Wyatt, who built the Mead Row Almshouses in 1619, before Hall Place
1131-463: A nearby crossroads in the woodland locality of Norney . Most of the parish consists of relative uplands to the Wey Valley; elevations vary between 102 m AOD in the north and west to 45m AOD at a weir marking the boundary with Godalming town council. Shackleford is centred 32 miles (51 km) southwest of London and 5.2 miles (8.4 km) southwest of Guildford. Shackleford's soil
1218-620: A negligible % of households living rent-free). The population has increased from 740 in the 2001 census. A bus services operates in Hurtmore through the village taking people into the nearby town of Godalming . The main line between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour is accessible to the east at Farncombe, Godalming railway station and Godalming railway station is a similar distance (of about 2 miles (3.2 km) from nearer parts of Shackleford) in an ESE direction and has more trains per hour. An A3 intersection to local roads
1305-529: 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
1392-431: 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
1479-737: 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. Heath Heaths are widespread worldwide but are fast disappearing and considered
1566-416: 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
1653-503: 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
1740-1079: 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
1827-594: A rare habitat in Europe. They form extensive and highly diverse communities across Australia in humid and sub-humid areas where fire regimes with recurring burning are required for the maintenance of the heathlands. Even more diverse though less widespread heath communities occur in Southern Africa . Extensive heath communities can also be found in the Texas chaparral , New Caledonia , central Chile , and along
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#17327837167261914-436: A rather poor state at Hurtmore Bottom. A hot air balloon provider, Reach 4 The Sky , operates flights from the land behind the pub cottages, historically used as a chalk quarry. An 18-hole golf course with clubhouse is just off the next to the public house , The Squirrel , which is beside the A3 and has a focus on serving food while providing a few guest rooms. It closed for a period from 28 November 2008 to 17 July 2009 and
2001-409: 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
2088-598: 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
2175-943: 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
2262-521: 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
2349-429: Is a settlement and locality roughly east of Shackleford, adjoining hilly developed parts of the outskirts of Godalming such as Charterhouse Hill and Prior's Field (which is part of the village of Compton ). On Charterhouse Hill, which comes under Godalming, is a well known public school (independent). Charterhouse School . The name is derived from the word hurt (' hart '/deer) and mere ('pond'), which still exists in
2436-648: Is a small neighbourhood consisting of 15 houses named Gatwick (not to be confused with the former hamlet in Reigate and Banstead , or the airport of the same name ), parts of which overlook part of the expanse of placid, acid heath to the northwest, the Surrey Wildlife Trust managed Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons . Its coordinates are 51°11′45″N 0°41′32″W / 51.19583°N 0.69222°W / 51.19583; -0.69222 (SU 916 450). Norney Grange, designed by Charles Voysey ,
2523-507: 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
2610-524: Is directly between Norney and Hurtmore, which is one of three which can be used to access the town of Godalming. Eashing can be accessed by bridleway and footpath under the A3 or from the A3 itself, not by local roads to the northwest. Civil parishes in England In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which
2697-539: 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
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2784-553: Is just 1.9% of English soil and 0.2% of Welsh soil, which gives rise to pines and coniferous landscapes, such as pioneered at Wentworth and Foxhills estate (now spa, hotel, restaurant and golf club) by pro-American Independence statesman Charles James Fox . Consequently, Malden summarised Shackleford's visual landscape in 1911 "The hamlet of Shackleford contains some old cottages and farm buildings and many new houses in very beautiful scenery." Samuel Lewis writing in his magnum opus of 1848 "A Topographical Dictionary of England" described
2871-405: 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
2958-500: Is of two types. An arc of wet heath soil is to the south-east, south, south-west, west and north-west of the village centre, covering all of Norney and Gatwick. This is the same type of heath as in Esher , Oxshott , Weybridge , Wisley , all around Woking , Brookwood , Deepcut , Pirbright , Frimley , Lightwater , Camberley , Chobham Common , Virginia Water and Ottershaw is "naturally wet, very acid sandy and loamy soil" which
3045-503: Is officially listed as "probably built by the monks of Waverley Abbey"; it is made of local rubble stone with thin slabs of Bargate stone set in mortar to form voussoirs over the arches. Its top is of 18th-century bricks with no parapet but instead for safety, twentieth-century wooden posts and railings. The east span consists of three arches and the west four. Pointed cutwaters to upstream side and rounded cutwaters, "very rare", to downstream side. The average level of accommodation in
3132-446: Is only small in extent. Heaths are dominated by low shrubs, 20 centimetres (8 in) to 2 metres (7 feet) tall. Heath vegetation can be extremely plant-species rich, and heathlands of Australia are home to some 3,700 endemic or typical species in addition to numerous less restricted species. The fynbos heathlands of South Africa are second only to tropical rainforests in plant biodiversity with over 7,000 species. In marked contrast,
3219-502: Is the highest architecturally graded listed building in the Norney part of the parish, a rectangular late 1897-1903 built, roughcast stone home with yellow limestone dressings. Its interior is just as remarkable as its exterior, with among many carved features, a green marble chimney breast in end room to left and a half-dome ceiling with gallery landing to the rear. The house has featured prominently in film and on television, such as in
3306-404: Is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to 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
3393-544: Is the silver-studded blue butterfly, Plebejus argus . Anthropogenic heath habitats are a cultural landscape that can be found worldwide in locations as diverse as northern and western Europe , the Americas , Australia , New Zealand , Madagascar and New Guinea . These heaths were originally made or expanded by centuries of human clearance of the natural forest and woodland vegetation, by grazing and burning. In some cases this clearance went so far that parts of
3480-504: 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
3567-708: 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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3654-1010: 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
3741-411: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on 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
3828-634: The River Wey which was constructed in the 14th century by monks from Waverley Abbey . Twenty buildings strewn across both parts are now listed buildings . Eashing also has two large-unit business parks, The Granary and The Wharf, which are on a large island accessed by a bridge behind the Stag public house and the Mill. Noel Fitzpatrick 's veterinary practice is located at Eashing, and has been seen in television programmes including The Bionic Vet . Hurtmore
3915-472: 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
4002-692: The communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have 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
4089-460: The courtesy title Viscount Cranborne) and his son James Cecil, 5th Earl of Salisbury inherited the share of the two Bennett daughters; his grandson James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury sold the estate with much later belonging to the Richardson, Keen and Frankland families. Many of the houses that still stand today were built in the 18th century, although there was a further expansion of
4176-632: The tree pipit . In Australia the heathland avian fauna is dominated by nectar-feeding birds such as honey-eaters and lorikeets , although numerous other birds from emus to eagles are also common in Australian heathlands. The birds of the South African fynbos include sunbirds , warblers and siskins. Heathlands are also an excellent habitat for insects including ants , moths, butterflies and wasps; many species are restricted entirely to it. One such example of an organism restricted to heathland
4263-470: 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
4350-564: 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
4437-591: 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
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#17327837167264524-511: 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
4611-586: The 2021 film The Dig , standing in as Edith Pretty 's house at Sutton Hoo , Suffolk. William de Shackleford probably owned Hall Place - a substantial manor house which existed here in the 15th century. Its estate covered many acres, including much of today's village. Hall Place was demolished in 1797 and a new mansion was built on the site in the late 19th century. During the Second World War this building and much of its grounds were bought by Aldro School, which relocated there from Eastbourne . To
4698-738: 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
4785-399: 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
4872-537: 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
4959-464: 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
5046-466: 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
5133-450: The country here in that "Eashing House is situated on a commanding brow overlooking the beautiful valley of Eashing." The remainder of the soil is in common with Godalming, "free draining slightly acid loamy" and is the dominant type in the centre of Shackleford, as well as throughout Eashing and Hurtmore. Eashing is a hamlet 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of Shackleford on the River Wey , 1.2 miles (1.9 km) west of Godalming , and
5220-459: 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
5307-463: 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
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#17327837167265394-428: The discontinuation of traditional management techniques, such as grazing and burning, that mediated the landscapes. Some are also threatened by urban sprawl . Anthropogenic heathlands are maintained artificially by a combination of grazing and periodic burning (known as swailing), or (rarely) mowing; if not so maintained, they are rapidly recolonised by forest or woodland. The recolonising tree species will depend on what
5481-438: The east of the parish and Rodsall manor, just to the west of the parish, a far-south part of Puttenham, do appear. The name first appears in 1220, as Sakelesford , and appears in a variety of mostly quite minor variants thereafter. The second element, -ford , is self-explanatory, but the etymology of the "Shackle-" element is uncertain. One possibility is that it is from Old English sceacol 'a shackle', perhaps with reference to
5568-439: 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
5655-534: 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
5742-645: 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
5829-455: 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
5916-554: The hall came from the Old Banqueting Hall at Whitehall Palace . Meanwhile, Hurtmore Manor was held by Sir Edward More of Odiham who before his death in 1623 left this to his daughter and her husband Sir William Staunton, recusant convict , and stating he should have the house free of rent for life – the manor was sold by later relatives to executors of Simon Bennett of Calverton , one of the daughters of whom married James Cecil, 4th Earl of Salisbury (when still styled by
6003-710: The heathland have given way to open spots of pure sand and sand dunes , with a local climate that, even in Europe, can rise to temperatures of 50 °C (122 °F) in summer, drying the sand spot bordering the heathland and further raising its vulnerability for wildfires. Referring to heathland in England, Oliver Rackham says, "Heaths are clearly the product of human activities and need to be managed as heathland; if neglected they turn into woodland". The conservation value of these human-made heaths has become much more appreciated due to their historical cultural value as habitats; consequently, most heathlands are protected. However they are also threatened by tree incursion because of
6090-476: 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
6177-465: 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
6264-465: 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
6351-488: 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
6438-401: 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
6525-404: 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
6612-562: 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
6699-499: 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
6786-411: 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
6873-412: The region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households (a sizeable minority of which share buildings) in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus
6960-438: 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
7047-485: The shores of the Mediterranean Sea . In addition to these extensive heath areas, the vegetation type is also found in scattered locations across all continents, except Antarctica . Heathland is favoured where climatic conditions are typically hard and dry, particularly in summer, and soils acidic, of low fertility, and often sandy and very free-draining; a mire may occur where drainage is poor, but usually
7134-466: The south-west is a late 17th-century two-storey galleted coursed sandstone home with red brick dressings facing its round front drive, which is listed. During the reign of King Alfred the Great an Anglo-Saxon burh was constructed at Upper Eashing as a defensive point to resist Viking attacks. Both this and the 13th-century Eashing Bridge (in two parts) are Scheduled Ancient Monuments The bridge
7221-414: The tiny pockets of heathland in Europe are extremely depauperate with a flora consisting primarily of heather ( Calluna vulgaris ), heath ( Erica species) and gorse ( Ulex species). The bird fauna of heathlands are usually cosmopolitan species of the region. In the depauperate heathlands of Europe, bird species tend to be more characteristic of the community, and include Montagu's harrier and
7308-482: The village when the railway line was constructed between London and Portsmouth during the mid 19th century, passing through nearby Godalming and Farncombe . At the centre of the village are sixteen listed buildings and one listed set of walls – Aldro School garden walls. St Mary's Church was built in 1865, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott . It stands in the outskirts of the Shackleford village centre at
7395-613: Was part of the Hundred of Godalming ; in the Anglo-Saxon era it was a significant place and is one of the burhs listed in the Burghal Hidage of Alfred the Great . Eashing is now administered by Guildford Borough Council and is divided into Upper Eashing on top of the steep south-east bank and Lower Eashing set low, immediately below the A3 road embankment on the north-west bank. Lower Eashing has an ancient bridge over
7482-615: Was rebuilt in the 19th century. For a time the estate office was used as an inn, known as the Cyder House. Hall Place was acquired by Mr. William Edgar Horne, who turned it into a modern mansion. With gardens designed by Gertrude Jekyll , in the 1940s it was sold and converted into what became Aldro School. Its panelling and overmantel of the dining-room came from the Cock Tavern in Fleet Street, London; its gallery railings in
7569-524: Was refurbished before reopening under new management. Six listed buildings are spread about among the no more than 30 private residences, most with private woods. These are: The Lodge, The Church of St Mary, Norney Grange, The Lodge to Norney Grange, Norney Farmhouse and Norney Old House which is a Tudor period cottage with extensions. One of these, Norney Grange is Grade II* listed, (described in Landmarks, below). Nestled among fir and beech plantations
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