26-495: Blakesley is a village in the West Northamptonshire , England. It is about 5 miles (8 km) west of Towcester. It is about 400 feet (120 m) above sea level according to Ordnance Survey . North-west of Blakesley, and now contiguous with it, is the hamlet of Quinbury End. The name is believed to have come from an Old English place-name meaning "Blaecwulf's wood or clearing" (or "black wolf's wood/clearing"). Over time
52-449: A new unitary authority called West Northamptonshire, whilst the second unitary authority North Northamptonshire consists of the former Corby , East Northamptonshire , Kettering and Wellingborough districts. West Northamptonshire Council provides both county-level and district-level services. The whole area is also covered by civil parishes , which form a second tier of local government. The West Northamptonshire population
78-449: A number of new counties were created, several of the new authorities (such as Cornwall or Northumberland) continued to have the boundaries set in 1974. The 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England have involved changes to the non-metropolitan county of Dorset (2019), and the abolition of the non-metropolitan counties Northamptonshire (2021) and Cumbria (2023). In addition,
104-453: A reform of local government in England and Wales , and were the top tier of a two-tier system of counties and districts . 21 non-metropolitan counties still use a two-tier system; 56 are unitary authorities , in which the functions of a county and district council have been combined in a single body. Berkshire has a unique structure. Non-metropolitan counties cover the majority of England with
130-619: A royal county. With the creation of numerous new non-metropolitan counties, the areas used for lieutenancy and shrievalty began to diverge from local government areas. This led to the development of ceremonial counties for these purposes, a fact recognised by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 . A further wave of unitary authorities were created in 2009 under the terms of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 . While
156-567: Is also common for ceremonial counties and non-metropolitan counties to share a name. Lancashire, for example, contains the non-metropolitan counties of Lancashire , Blackpool , and Blackburn with Darwen . Prior to 1974 local government had been divided between single-tier county boroughs (the largest towns and cities) and two-tier administrative counties which were subdivided into municipal boroughs and urban and rural districts . The Local Government Act 1972 , which came into effect on 1 April 1974, divided England outside Greater London and
182-483: Is dedicated to St Mary . Since 2006 it has formed part of the Lambfold benefice along with the parishes of Adstone , Maidford , Litchborough and Farthingstone . There are memorials to Matthew Swetenham (D.1416), Bowbearer to Henry IV , and also William Wattes (d.1614). The church building itself forms the centre of a number of obviously ecclesiastical buildings probably related to a religious community. South-east of
208-495: Is entirely covered by civil parishes , of which there are 166. The district includes the site of the Roman fortified town of Bannaventa , and the grade I listed stately home Althorp House and its estate. Non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county , or colloquially, shire county , is a subdivision of England used for local government . The non-metropolitan counties were originally created in 1974 as part of
234-681: The Sandy Heath transmitter. However, some southwestern parts of the area such as Brackley is served by BBC South and ITV Meridian broadcasting from the Oxford TV transmitter. Radio stations for the area are: The area is served by these local newspapers: Northampton Chronicle & Echo , Daventry Express and Banbury Guardian which covers Brackley . For a county-wide list for Northamptonshire see List of places in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire
260-513: The county town of Northampton , as well as Daventry , Brackley and Towcester ; the rest of the area is predominantly agricultural villages though it has many lakes and small woodlands. The West Coast Main Line and the M1 and M40 motorways pass through the district, and it includes the site of the Roman town of Bannaventa and the grade I listed Althorp House and its estate. West Northamptonshire
286-450: The administrative structure of the non-metropolitan counties. It was anticipated that a system of unitary authorities would entirely replace the two-tier system. The Commission faced competing claims from former county boroughs wishing to regain unitary status and advocates for the restoration of such small counties as Herefordshire and Rutland. The review led to the introduction of unitary local government in some areas but not in others. In
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#1733107082956312-431: The area, both called West Northamptonshire. There is no county council; instead the district council performs county-level functions, making it a unitary authority. West Northamptonshire remains part of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire for the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty . In March 2018, following financial and cultural mismanagement by the cabinet and officers at Northamptonshire County Council,
338-518: The church is a house dated 1689. Glebe farm, west of the church has a Perpendicular doorway and part of a Perpendicular window. The Sycamores, south of the church is dated 1670. Kendall House is 18th-century and a former Inn. Seawell farm is part of the Grafton Estate of 1840. The station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJ) served the village from 1873 to 1962. It
364-447: The exception of Greater London , the Isles of Scilly , and the six metropolitan counties : Greater Manchester , Merseyside , South Yorkshire , Tyne and Wear , West Midlands and West Yorkshire . The non-metropolitan counties are all part of ceremonial counties . Some ceremonial counties, such as Norfolk , contain a single non-metropolitan county, but many contain more than one and it
390-486: The majority of unitary authorities an existing district council took over powers from the county council. The 1972 Act required that all areas outside Greater London form part of a non-metropolitan county, and that all such counties should contain at least one district. Accordingly, the statutory instruments that effected the reorganisation separated the unitary districts from the county in which they were situated and constituted them as counties. The orders also provided that
416-405: The merger between Cumberland and Westmorland . The counties were adopted for all statutory purposes: a lord-lieutenant and high sheriff was appointed to each county, and they were also used for judicial administration, and definition of police force areas. The Royal Mail adopted the counties for postal purposes in most areas. A Local Government Commission was appointed in 1992 to review
442-569: The name contracted to the present form. The name of the brook running through the village, the Black Ouse, was derived from the name of the village, and not the other way round as sometimes claimed. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 492, increasing to 508 at the 2011 census. Blakesley has a pub named the Bartholomew Arms, a primary school and its own village shop with a post office. Blakesley Church of England Primary School in
468-547: The non-metropolitan counties of Buckinghamshire (2020), North Yorkshire (2023), and Somerset (2023) are unchanged, but their councils became unitary authorities as the existing non-metropolitan districts in these areas were consolidated and the district councils abolished. The following list shows the original thirty-nine counties formed in 1974, subsequent changes in the 1990s, and further changes since then. 1980: renamed Shropshire 1998: Renamed Telford and Wrekin In Wales there
494-403: The non-metropolitan counties were largely based on existing counties, although they did include a number of innovations. Some counties were based on areas surrounding large county boroughs or were formed by the mergers of smaller counties. Examples of the first category are Avon (based on Bath and Bristol) and Cleveland (based on Teesside ). An example of the second category is Cumbria , formed by
520-428: The provisions of the 1972 Act that every county should have a county council should not apply in the new counties, with the district council exercising the powers of the county council. An exception was made in the case of Berkshire , which was retained with its existing boundaries in spite of the abolition of its county council and the creation of six unitary authorities. This was done in order to preserve its status as
546-467: The six largest conurbations into thirty-nine non-metropolitan counties. Each county was divided into anywhere between two and fourteen non-metropolitan districts . There was a uniform two-tier system of local government with county councils dealing with "wide-area" services such as education, fire services and the police, and district councils exercising more local powers over areas such as planning, housing and refuse collection. As originally constituted,
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#1733107082956572-598: The then Secretary of State for Local Government, Sajid Javid , sent commissioner Max Caller into the council, who recommended the county council and all-district and borough councils in the county be abolished, and replaced by two unitary authorities, one covering the West, and one the North of the county. These proposals were approved in April 2019. It meant that the districts of Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire were merged to form
598-609: The village is in the catchment area of Sponne School in Towcester. The village was the location of Blakesley Hall, a 13th-century Manor House . It was owned by Charles William Bartholomew, but demolished in 1957-58. The parish church, built in the style of the Early English Period , dates from the late 13th century, the first parish priest having been recorded as a certain William of Melchbourne, who took office in 1275. The church
624-481: Was estimated to be around 406,733 people in 2020, in 2011, off of previous administrative boundaries, the population of the West Northamptonshire area was around 375,101 people, with it being 345,589 people in 2001. In 2020, there was around an estimated 202,004 men and 204,729 women. In terms of television, West Northamptonshire is served by BBC East and ITV Anglia with television signals received from
650-428: Was formed on 1 April 2021 through the merger of the three non-metropolitan districts of Daventry , Northampton , and South Northamptonshire . The new West Northamptonshire Council therefore absorbed the functions of those districts' councils, plus those of the abolished Northamptonshire County Council . These changes were implemented by creating a new non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county covering
676-406: Was linked to nearby Blakesley Hall by a miniature railway which ran from a terminal adjacent to the station. Nothing remains of the building. There is a Barrow at Woodend about 250 yards east of Green's Park Farm. West Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire , England, and was created in 2021. It contains
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