Civil parishes in Greater Manchester

Parishes arose from Church of England divisions, and were originally purely ecclesiastical divisions. Over time they acquired civil administration powers.Angus Winchester, 2000, Discovering Parish Boundaries. Shire Publications. Princes Risborough, 96 pages {{ISBN|978-0-7478-0470-3}}

The Highways Act 1555 made parishes responsible for the upkeep of roads. Every adult inhabitant of the parish was obliged to work four days a year on the roads, providing their own tools, carts and horses; the work was overseen by an unpaid local appointee, the Surveyor of Highways.[http://www.racfoundation.org/files/British%20Highways%20Development%20Before%20Motorways.pdf RAC Foundation : What Went Wrong? British Highway Development Before Motorways] Retrieved 2009-08-22 {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

The poor were looked after by the monasteries, until their dissolution. In 1572, magistrates were given power to 'survey the poor' and impose taxes for their relief. This system was made more formal by the Poor Law Act 1601, which made parishes responsible for administering the Poor Law; overseers were appointed to charge a rate to support the poor of the parish.[http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/plintro.html The Victorian Web : The Poor Law : Introduction] Retrieved 2009-08-22 The 19th century saw an increase in the responsibility of parishes, although the Poor Law powers were transferred to Poor Law Unions.[http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/humanities_and_soc_sciences/census/unions.htm Staffordshire University : Poor Law Unions and Registration Districts] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120914080003/http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/humanities_and_soc_sciences/census/unions.htm |date=2012-09-14 }} Retrieved 2009-08-22 The Public Health Act 1872 grouped parishes into rural sanitary districts, based on the poor law unions; these subsequently formed the basis for rural districts.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070810205704/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=RSD A Vision of Britain Through Time : Status Details for Rural Sanitary District] Retrieved 2009-08-22

Parishes were run by vestries, meeting annually to appoint officials, and were generally identical to ecclesiastical parishes,Robert Tittler, The Reformation and the Towns in England, 1998, Oxford University Press, 395 pages, {{ISBN|978-0-19-820718-4}} although some townships in large parishes administered the Poor Law themselves; under the Divided Parishes and Poor Law Amendment Act 1882, all extra-parochial areas and townships that levied a separate rate became independent civil parishes.[http://homepages.newnet.co.uk/dance/webpjd/offstats/regevents.htm Modern British Surnames : Selected Events in the History of Civil Registration and Boundary Changes 1801-1996] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801015539/http://homepages.newnet.co.uk/dance/webpjd/offstats/regevents.htm |date=August 1, 2010 }} Retrieved 2009-08-22

Civil parishes in their modern sense date from the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which abolished vestries; established elected parish councils in all rural parishes with more than 300 electors; grouped rural parishes into rural districts; and aligned parish boundaries with county and borough boundaries. Urban civil parishes continued to exist, and were generally coterminous with the urban district, municipal borough or county borough in which they were situated; many large towns contained a number of parishes, and these were usually merged into one. Parish councils were not formed in urban areas, and the only function of the parish was to elect guardians to poor law unions; with the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930 the parishes had only a nominal existence.Alex MacMorran and T R Colquhoun Dill, The Local Government Act 1894 and the Subsequent Statutes Affecting Parish Councils, 1907, Butterworth and Co, London, 626 pages

The Local Government Act 1972 retained civil parishes in rural areas, and many former urban districts and municipal boroughs that were being abolished, were replaced by new successor parishes; urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes became unparished areas.[http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1972/cukpga_19720070_en_1 Office of Public Sector Information : Local Government Act 1972] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121205094411/http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1972/cukpga_19720070_en_1 |date=2012-12-05 }} Retrieved 2009-08-22

File:Greater Manchester County (3).png

Recent governments have encouraged the formation of town and parish councils in unparished areas, and the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 gave local residents the right to demand the creation of a new civil parish.[http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970029_en_1 Office of Public Sector Information : Local Government and Rating Act 1997] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120805191004/http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970029_en_1 |date=2012-08-05 }} Retrieved 2009-08-22

A parish council can become a town council unilaterally, simply by resolution; and a civil parish can also gain city status, but only if that is granted by the Crown. The chairman of a town or city council is called a mayor. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 introduced alternative names: a parish council can now choose to be called a community; village; or neighbourhood council.[http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070028_en_1 Office of Public Sector Information : Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120805220009/http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070028_en_1 |date=2012-08-05 }} Retrieved 2009-08-22

{{Location map+|Greater Manchester |caption = Civil parishes with town status

|width = 500

|float= center

|places =

{{Location map~|Greater Manchester

|label = Blackrod

|long = -2.581

|lat = 53.590

|background = white

|position= left

}}

{{Location map~|Greater Manchester

|label = Horwich

|long = -2.559

|lat = 53.593

|background = white

}}

{{Location map~|Greater Manchester

|label = Westhoughton

|long = -2.529

|lat = 53.548

|background = white

}}

{{Location map~|Greater Manchester

|label = Mossley

|long = -2.039

|lat = 53.515

|background = white

}}

{{Location map~|Greater Manchester

|label = Partington

|long = -2.43

|lat = 53.42

|background = white

}}

}}

{{Portal|Greater Manchester}}

• List of civil parishes in England

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• {{Cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/geographic_area_listings/administrative.asp |title=Office for National Statistics : Geographical Area Listings |access-date=2005-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205022045/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/geographic_area_listings/administrative.asp |archive-date=2005-02-05 |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/Pages/Parishandtowncouncils.aspx |title=Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council : Parish and Town Councils |access-date=2009-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615113233/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/Pages/Parishandtowncouncils.aspx |archive-date=2011-06-15 |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://www.stockport.gov.uk/content/councildemoc/parishcouncils/ |title=Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council : Parish Councils |access-date=2009-08-26 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070519072355/http://www.stockport.gov.uk/content/councildemoc/parishcouncils/ |archive-date=2007-05-19 |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/Elections/ParishElections.htm |title=Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council : Parish Elections |access-date=2009-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618054027/http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/Elections/ParishElections.htm |archive-date=2009-06-18 |url-status=dead }}

{{List of civil parishes in England}}

{{Greater Manchester}}

Civil parishes

Greater Manchester