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35-620: Ashwell Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire , England from 1894 to 1935, covering an area in the north-east of the county. The district had its origins in the Royston Rural Sanitary District . This had been created under the Public Health Acts of 1872 and 1875, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing boards of guardians of poor law unions . Under

70-465: A major open-air ritual site. The Buckinghamshire family of Nernewt (Nernuyt) held land here in the 14th century, which was originally part of the Abbot of Westminster 's manor . This land became the manor of Westbury Nernewtes. The village has a wealth of architecture spanning several centuries. There was also a great fire of Ashwell on Saturday 2 February 1850, without fatalities. The village itself

105-566: A more rounded shape and had a small town or village as the administrative centre. A few rural districts consisted of only one parish (for example, Tintwistle Rural District , Alston with Garrigill Rural District , South Mimms Rural District , King's Lynn Rural District , Disley Rural District and Crowland Rural District ). In such districts there was no separate parish council, and the rural district council exercised its functions. All rural districts in England and Wales were abolished in 1974 (by

140-467: A number of relatively sparsely populated districts in the north and east of the county, including Ashwell Rural District. A number of options were considered for how to rationalise these small districts. At one point a very large rural district was proposed covering all the rural districts in the north-east of the county, to be administered from Bishop's Stortford . Ashwell Rural District Council objected to that proposal and requested instead to be joined with

175-562: A number of rural parishes in the area broadly south and west of Royston. Although named after Ashwell , the district's largest village, the council remained based in the town of Royston, reflecting the district's origins in the Royston Poor Law Union. The council generally met at the board room of the Royston Union Workhouse after meetings of the larger Board of Guardians. Administrative office functions were carried out at

210-590: A small brick house which was first built in 1681 as a school by the Merchant Taylors . Ashwell Bury , a large Victorian house, was remodelled by Edwin Lutyens in the 1920s. Lutyens also designed the Grade 2 listed Ashwell War Memorial , unveiled in 1922. Ashwell also has a village lock-up that was used to detain drunks and suspected criminals. The village used to be home to a number of local breweries and, accordingly,

245-627: A variety of public houses in its past, but currently has just three pubs: The Rose and Crown, the Three Tuns and the Bushel and Strike. Since 1850 the village has been served by Ashwell and Morden railway station which is about a mile and half from the centre of the village in the hamlet of Odsey in Cambridgeshire. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin dates almost entirely from the 14th century and

280-517: Is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire situated 4 miles (6 km) north-east of Baldock . To the southwest of the village is Arbury Banks , the remains of an Iron Age hill fort which have been largely removed by agricultural activity. In 2002 a local metal detector, Alan Meek, found a silver Roman figurine of a goddess, Dea Senuna . A subsequent archaeological dig over four summers revealed 26 more gold and silver objects situated in

315-551: Is an ancient parish , and it was part of the hundred of Odsey . Ashwell was included in the Royston Poor Law Union from 1835. The Local Government Act 1894 created parish and district councils. The parish of Ashwell was included in Ashwell Rural District from 28 December 1894, and Ashwell Parish Council came into being on 31 December 1894, taking over the secular functions of the parish vestry . Despite

350-634: Is mostly in a fine state of preservation, from the medieval cottage to the fine town house, plastered or timbered, thatched or tiled, in Tudor , Carolean or Georgian brick. 'Scheduled' listed buildings include the St. John's Guildhall of 1681, the carefully restored Foresters Cottages, the Chantry House with its 15th-century window, the 16th-century town house (now a local museum), the Maltings (now converted into flats), and

385-710: Is only known from this location within East Anglia . The springs now depend upon artificial flow augmentation during drier periods, due to the impact of local groundwater abstraction from the chalk aquifer for public water supply. The village is a "green oasis" with many trees and this contrasts with the surrounding landscape dominated by intense agricultural production, principally of wheat, with rather limited aesthetic or biodiversity interest. Ashwell has three tiers of local government at parish, district and county level: Ashwell Parish Council, North Hertfordshire District Council , and Hertfordshire County Council . Ashwell

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420-457: Is renowned for its ornate church tower which stands at 176 feet (54 m), and is crowned by an octagonal lantern with a leaded ' spike '. The church contains medieval graffiti carved on its walls which highlight the plight of survivors of the bubonic plague pandemic known as the Black Death .There is also a graffito depiction of Old St Paul’s Cathedral . In 2013, the village church became

455-572: The Hitchin Rural District , on the basis that Hitchin was considerably easier to get to than Bishop's Stortford for them. Ashwell Rural District was abolished on 1 April 1935, being incorporated into the Hitchin Rural District save for a couple of minor boundary alterations, notably on the edges of Royston. Rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at

490-773: The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 . They were subdivided into district electoral divisions . In 1921, Ireland was partitioned with Northern Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom, and the rest of the country leaving as the Irish Free State in 1922. In the Irish Free State, rural districts outside of County Dublin were abolished in 1925 under the Local Government Act 1925 amid widespread accusations of corruption . Their functions were transferred to

525-537: The Local Government Act 1894 , rural sanitary districts became rural districts from 28 December 1894. Where rural sanitary districts straddled county boundaries, as Royston Rural Sanitary District did, they were to be split into separate rural districts in each county. The Ashwell Rural District was therefore created as the part of the Royston Rural Sanitary District in Hertfordshire. The town of Royston straddled Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire . There

560-565: The Local Government Act 1972 ) and were typically merged with nearby urban districts or boroughs to form " districts ", which included both urban and rural areas. See Rural districts formed in England and Wales 1894–1974 for the districts created in 1894; List of rural and urban districts in England , and List of rural and urban districts in Wales for a list of rural districts at abolition in 1974. Rural districts were created in Ireland in 1899 under

595-554: The Ashwell Rural District. The new urban district of Royston covered the parishes of Royston, North Royston, South Bassingbourn, South Kneesworth, South Melbourn, and the part of Therfield parish in the South Royston Special Drainage District. Joseph Phillips, the chairman of Ashwell Rural District Council, was a representative for Royston, and so lost his place on the council. He was co-opted back onto

630-644: The Board Room of the Union Workhouse on Baldock Road in Royston. Joseph Phillips, a Conservative , was elected the first chairman of the council. He was also the chairman of the Royston Board of Guardians. The question of how the town of Royston should be governed took another couple of years to resolve. Competing proposals were put forward from the two county councils, with both Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire wanting

665-416: The centre of a nationally reported row over the quarter-hourly chiming of the clock. Complaints about the chimes during the night were initially received in the summer of that year, which North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC) was legally obliged to investigate. In December, the council ruled that the chimes are "prejudicial to health" and have to be silenced between 11 pm and 6 am. Complying with

700-538: The county councils The remaining rural districts in County Dublin were similarly abolished in 1930 by the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930 . The former boundaries of the rural districts in the Republic of Ireland continue to be used for statistical purposes and defining constituencies. In Northern Ireland, rural districts continued to exist until 1973 when they were abolished (along with all other local government of

735-589: The end of the 19th century in England , Wales , and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties . In England and Wales rural districts were created in 1894 by the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) along with urban districts . They replaced the earlier system of sanitary districts (themselves based on poor law unions , but not replacing them). Each rural district had an elected rural district council (RDC), which inherited

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770-533: The functions of the earlier sanitary districts, but also had wider authority over matters such as local planning, council housing , and playgrounds and cemeteries. Matters such as education and major roads were the responsibility of county councils . Until 1930 the rural district councillors were also poor law guardians for the unions of which they formed part. Each parish was represented by one or more councillors. Originally there were 787 rural districts in England and Wales, as they were based directly upon

805-481: The future of the chimes. In May 2015, a timer had been installed to reduce the volume of the church bells overnight. Ashwell Springs , a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest , is a perennial source of the River Cam . The cool water of the chalk springs contain a rare species of stenothermic flatworm ( Platyhelminthes ; Tricladida ) associated with cold surface waters or subterranean groundwater that

840-529: The name, Ashwell Rural District Council was based in the town of Royston rather than in Ashwell itself. Ashwell Rural District was abolished in 1935, becoming part of Hitchin Rural District , which in turn was abolished in 1974, becoming part of North Hertfordshire . Ashwell has several successful sports teams from under-12s to veterans. The adult first football team have won several trophies and are currently in

875-448: The number of districts had been reduced to 473. The typical shape of a rural district was a doughnut-shaped ring around a town (which would be either an urban district or a municipal borough ). A good example of this is Melton and Belvoir Rural District , which surrounded the town of Melton Mowbray . Some rural districts were fragmented, consisting of a number of detached parts , such as Wigan Rural District . Some rural districts had

910-515: The office (and home) of the clerk to the council, Arthur Sharpe, at The Laurels, 13 King Street (called Back Street prior to 1911) in Royston. By the early 1930s the council was also using The Laurels as its meeting place. Under the Local Government Act 1929 the boards of guardians and poor law unions were abolished, and provisions were put in place allowing county councils to review the districts within their areas to form more effective areas for administrative purposes. Hertfordshire County Council had

945-581: The old pattern) and replaced with a system of unitary districts . Rural districts also existed in the Canadian province of Newfoundland to govern certain rural communities. Under Newfoundland's Local Government Act , rural districts and towns together formed the province's municipalities. Under the Municipalities Act , effective April 1, 1980, rural districts where abolished and automatically turned into towns. Ashwell, Hertfordshire Ashwell

980-411: The parishes of North Royston, South Bassingbourn, South Kneesworth, and South Melbourn, and were all included within the Ashwell Rural District pending such time as Hertfordshire County Council was able to establish an urban district for the town. On 1 October 1897, a year and a day after the county boundary change, an urban district was established for Royston, at which point Royston ceased to be part of

1015-500: The ruling has meant turning off the chimes altogether, although the parish council has asked the Diocese of St Albans if it can install a timing mechanism that will restrict the chimes to the legally appointed hours, and has launched an appeal to raise the £1,900 cost. The chiming clock was initially installed in 1898, but was turned off for 18 months in 2011 and 2012 while repairs were carried out. A public meeting on 19 January 2014 discussed

1050-451: The rural district council and continued to serve as chairman of Ashwell Rural District Council until April 1898. In the meantime he was also elected the first chairman of the new Royston Urban District Council, and so for a few months he was chairman of two neighbouring district councils. Ashwell Rural District contained the following civil parishes . After Royston had been removed from the district in 1897, Ashwell Rural District consisted of

1085-485: The sanitary districts and poor law unions which had preceded them. Gradual urbanisation over the following decades led to some rural districts being redefined as urban districts or merging with existing urban districts or boroughs. Other rural districts proved to be too small or poor to be viable, and under the Local Government Act 1929 , 236 rural districts were abolished and merged or amalgamated into larger units. Further mergers took place over following decades and by 1965

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1120-493: The town together could be found that was acceptable to the two county councils. Therefore, when the Local Government Act came into force at the end of the year, Royston parish was split along the county boundary through the middle of the town into a Royston (Hertfordshire) parish and a Royston (Cambridgeshire) parish, with the Hertfordshire parish being included within the Ashwell Rural District. The special drainage district

1155-550: The whole town. Eventually, the Local Government Board directed that town should all be placed in Hertfordshire, and on 30 September 1896 the parish of Royston (Cambridgeshire) and the parts of the Cambridgeshire parishes of Bassingbourn, Kneesworth, and Melbourn that were within the North Royston Special Drainage District were transferred to Hertfordshire. As a temporary measure, these areas became

1190-432: Was a parish of Royston and a larger special drainage district which included Royston parish and parts of four neighbouring parishes. Both the parish and the special drainage district were partly in Hertfordshire and partly in Cambridgeshire. A joint committee of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire County Councils held inquiries during 1894 trying to reach agreement as to how best to deal with Royston. No solution that would keep

1225-472: Was likewise split into a North Royston Special Drainage District and a South Royston Special Drainage District, with the latter being administered by the new Ashwell Rural District Council. The link between the new rural district and the poor law union continued, with all the elected councillors of the rural district council being ex officio members of the Royston Board of Guardians. The Ashwell Rural District Council held its first meeting on 1 January 1895 at

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