West Berks DC
| Purley PC | Planning
| District Notes
Local Government
Local government in England is a very ancient institution. The system we have today originated in Saxon times from the village moot. Although the Romans had a very efficient system of local administration there was virtually no local democracy, whereas in the village moot every villager had the right to speak. These village moots developed into the parish councils we have today.
In
early mediaeval times the village moot and the parish vestry became virtually
indistinguishable and for many years both came under the subservience of the
manor. Administration tended to be
carried out by the steward of the manor who was often the churchwarden or
parish clerk.
From
around the 12th century parishes were enjoined to appoint constables
and tithing men to keep good order in their areas. Over the years more parish
offices were created; haywards to keep fences in repair and livestock under
control; surveyors to keep the roads in good repair; overseers to look after
the poor.; and so on. The people of the parish usually took turns at performing
these offices as, to do the job properly, one generally had to spend a lot of
one’s own money, raise a parish rate or call upon parishioners for assistance.
Thus one could be out of pocket and very unpopular.
Appointments
to parish offices were usually done at vestry meetings although in many cases
the officer had to be sworn in by a local Justice of the Peace. The vestries
were often either dominated by, or consisted solely of, a handful of the more
important members of the community and were usually self perpetuating.
A
second level of local government was imposed from above, through the Shire
Courts and Justices of the Peace. The Justices ensured that national laws were
enforced and taxes collected but many made up local laws and enforced local
customs. The plethora of courts from the shire, through hundreds and to manors
makes any generalisations somewhat meaningless as every area was different and
the system was so open to corruption and mismanagement that it could be totally
unpredictable.
However
despite all the problems, the English
system of local government gave society a greater level of stability
than in many countries and did much to forestall revolutions and dictatorships.
The brief experience of the Commonwealth period when it was replaced by diktats
from Major Generals brought home to most people how valuable it was and how
much power it left with communities to govern themselves and for people to have
at least some say.
Things
began to change in the early 19th century when parishes were grouped
together to form Unions to administer the Poor Laws. These Unions were
supplemented by sanitary and health districts and later formed the basis of
Urban and Rural Districts when the
powers of these various bodies were brought together.
Purley
on Thames was made part of the Honour of Wallingford in King Alfred’s time as
part of his arrangements for defending Wessex against the Danes. Honours
defined where Knights service had to be performed and where the villagers
should go to be defended should the Danes attack. Honours were split up into
Hundreds, Purley becoming part of the Hundred of Reading. This split into two
in the 12th century with those parishes which were not under the
patronage of the Abbot of Reading breaking away to form the Hundred of Theale.
This formed the basis for the Bradfield Union in 18xx when other parishes, such
as Pangbourne were transferred to the Hundred of Theale from Reading.
The
major change occurred when most of the activities of the Shire Courts were made
the responsibility of the newly formed Berkshire County Council in 1892. At the same time the civil and ecclesiastical
functions of parish councils were separated and parishes given the option of
either electing their parish councillors or appointing two officials to run
parish affairs at an annual Parish Meeting. Purley opted for the latter
arrangement and so from 1892 to 1926 it held annual parish meetings at which an
overseer and an assistant overseer were elected, together with Guardians to sit
on Bradfield Union and representatives to sit on the other local councils. For
County Council purposes Purley was part of the Pangbourne Division.
In
1927 Purley Parish Council was formed with 5 elected members and in 19xx
Bradfield Rural District Council was formed to bring together most of the
former functions of the Union and Sanitary District. It was not until the
National Health Act of 1948 that all the functions of the Unions were finally
abolished and it no longer became necessary to appoint Guardians.
In
1974 all the Rural and Urban Districts were abolished and replaced by new
District Councils, in Purley’s case we became part of Newbury District. In 1998
the County Council was abolished and Newbury District Council became West
Berkshire Council, taking over all the functions of the former Berkshire County
Council.
For
further information click on one of the links below:-
West Berkshire | Reading
Borough | Purley on Thames PC
The
structure of local government | Boundary changes
Berkshire CC | Bradfield RDC | Newbury DC | West Berks
Council | Purley Parish Council
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