40-770: Ebchester is a village in County Durham , England. It is situated to the north of Consett and to the south east of Whittonstall and the hamlet of Newlands . The village sits at the intersection of the A694, which runs from Consett to Swalwell , and the B6309, which connects the A696 north of Belsay and runs through Whittonstall and Newlands, across the River Derwent (forming a border between County Durham and Northumberland ), up Chare Bank then through Ebchester itself then past Medomsley into
80-514: A county council. It thus is not a unitary authority as those are such authorities created under the Local Government Act 1992 . The 36 metropolitan borough councils are also the sole elected local government units in their areas (except for parish councils in a few locations), but share strategic functions with joint boards and arrangements. On the other hand, the City of London Corporation and
120-408: A foundation, described as being pre- Conquest . Much of the stone in the walls and doorway had been taken from Roman rubble of the fort of Vindomora , on which most of the village is located. The church was restored in 1876 and a vestry was added in 1893 at the north-west end. It stands in the southern corner of the site of the fort. There has been relatively little research on the fort, though it
160-448: A high degree of autonomy as counties corporate . Some smaller settlements also enjoyed some degree of autonomy from regular administration as boroughs or liberties . The Local Government Act 1972 created areas for local government where large towns and their rural hinterlands were administered together. The concept of unitary units was abandoned with a two-tier arrangement of county and district councils in all areas of England, except
200-579: A local government authority which combines the functions of a county council and a district council. Strictly speaking, the term does not necessarily mean a single level of local government within an area, because in some cases there are also parish councils in the same area. Although the term was not applied to them, county boroughs between 1889 and 1974 were effectively unitary authority areas, that is, single-tier administrative units. Before 1889, local government authorities had different powers and functions, but from medieval times some cities and towns had
240-524: A number of multiple member wards from which councillors are elected in the same way as in two-tier district council elections. The exceptions, which are divided into electoral divisions as in county council elections, are Cornwall, County Durham, the Isle of Wight, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire. Districts are usually named after a town, city, geographical area or county (historic and or ceremonial). With no effect on powers or functions, districts can have
280-459: A section of river behind a weir across the Derwent for practice. The small Embleton Pond can be found approximately 400 metres along a public footpath into the woods behind the rowing club, this footpath joining the A694 just to the north east of East Law . The Chelmsford pub can be found near the junction of the B6309 and A694. The Derwent Walk Inn can be found up the bank from Ebchester on
320-448: A single district covering the non-metropolitan county, with Durham County Council as the sole local authority. The district has multiple hamlets and villages. Settlements with town status include Consett , Barnard Castle , Peterlee , Seaham , Bishop Auckland , Newton Aycliffe , Middleton-in-Teesdale , Shildon , Chester-le-Street , Crook , Stanley , Willington , Stanhope , Spennymoor , Ferryhill and Sedgefield while Durham
360-415: A sixpence.” He soon made up with his son and many years later, when he was on his deathbed, he left all his land and property to him. This would all have been quite unremarkable except for events that occurred before the funeral. The house was full of guests paying their last respects and the body lay in a coffin in the front room. Suddenly the guests smelled burning and on investigation found that it came from
400-535: A structure based on unitary authorities is called 'restructuring'. The Secretary of State responsible for local government invites proposals from local areas to restructure into unitary authorities, and the Secretary decides whether or not the change should be implemented. The restructuring is carried out by an Order. There are no examples in the UK of councils restructuring back into a two-tier system. Unitary authorities combine
440-555: A type of local authority responsible for all local government services in an area. They combine the functions of a non-metropolitan county council and a non-metropolitan district council, which elsewhere in England provide two tiers of local government. Unitary authorities are constituted under the Local Government Act 1992 , which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of non-metropolitan counties that do not have multiple districts. Most were established during
SECTION 10
#1732854742853480-514: Is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of County Durham , England. It is governed by Durham County Council . The district has an area of 2,226 square kilometres (859 sq mi), and contains 135 civil parishes . It forms part of the larger ceremonial county of Durham , together with boroughs of Darlington , Hartlepool , and the part of Stockton-on-Tees north of the River Tees . Between 1974 and 1 April 2009, County Durham
520-505: Is known that a simple mosaic was found here in the 1950s. Several Roman altars and other carved stones are known from the site of the church. Until the creation of the separate parish of Shotley Bridge in the 19th century, many people from there were christened, married and buried in St Ebba's Church. Quite notably, these include many of the sword-makers from Shotley Bridge . Ebchester Hall (an 18th-century house with 19th century additions)
560-634: Is now St Mary's Convent and old people's home served by the Order of the Good and Perpetual Succour. The fort was known by the Roman name of Vindomora but sadly there is now little to be seen as most of the site has been built over. Although the fort went out of use by the end of the 4th century it is probable that the site was reused in the 7th century. During the medieval period the area remained rural. The isolated yet attractive landscape encouraged many hermits to come here and
600-572: Is the only city in the district. Following the 2021 United Kingdom local elections , the council is now under control of a coalition of the Liberal Democrats , Conservative Party , Independents and North East Party . The main industries where people in County Durham work are retail, health and social work, and manufacturing. The three largest industry groups for jobs based in the district are education, health, and manufacturing, while
640-489: The 2024 general election , and in her Autumn budget statement , Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves outlined that a forthcoming English Devolution Bill would include plans for "working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas", suggesting that a new round of local government reorganisation could be likely. The process of changing from a two-tier local government to
680-630: The Isles of Scilly where the small size and distance from the mainland made it impractical. In 1986 a broadly unitary system of local government was introduced in the six metropolitan counties and Greater London , where the upper-tier authorities were abolished and their functions were split between central government, the borough councils and joint boards. A review in the 1990s was initiated to select non-metropolitan areas where new unitary authorities could be created. The resulting structural changes were implemented between 1995 and 1998. Bristol, Herefordshire,
720-415: The 'bigger is better' assumption and highlight that larger councils breed mistrust of councillors and reduction in public engagement and voter turnout. Outside the UK, multi-level local government is the prevailing system, with major towns normally having a local authority. The average size of a local authority in England is 170,000, three times that of Europe. Most unitary authority areas are divided into
760-498: The 1990s , with more created in 2009 and 2019–23 . The size of the areas governed by unitary authorities varies greatly; the authorities created in the 1990s were generally created from single districts and covered a single large town or city, while those created since 2009 often cover entire non-metropolitan counties. The term " unitary authority " was first used in the Redcliffe-Maud Report in 1969 in its current sense of
800-509: The A691 immediately south of the village of Leadgate . Chopwell and Blackhall Mill lie to the north, on the opposite side of the River Derwent . To the north east of Ebchester lies Derwentcote Steel Furnace . The River Derwent runs along the north west edge of the village. Ebchester Rowing Club is based on the banks of the Derwent adjacent to the B6309 at the bottom of Chare Bank , using
840-599: The B6309. This second pub is adjacent the Derwent Walk (national cycle route 14) running north east to south west to the south east of Ebchester and parallel to the A694, also running between Consett and Swawell. The Derwent Walk, a spur of the C2C cycle route, follows the route of the former Derwent Valley Railway and Ebchester railway station used to stand just to the north of the Derwent Walk Inn. Chester derives from
SECTION 20
#1732854742853880-489: The Isle of Wight and Rutland were established as counties of a single district; the district councils of Berkshire became unitary; the counties of Avon , Humberside and Cleveland were broken up to create several unitary authorities; and a number of districts were split off from their associated counties. The changes caused the ceremonial counties to be defined separately, as they had been before 1974. The review caused 46 unitary authorities to be created. A further review
920-467: The Old English word for a Roman fortification. There have been some attempts to identify the first element with a Roman place name but on the available evidence it is safest to regard it as coming from an Old English personal name Ebba , thus 'Ebba's fortification'. It is possible that the ‘Ebba’ element refers to Æbbe (c. 615 – 683), an Anglian abbess and noblewoman. Æbbe was the daughter of Æthelfrith, who
960-481: The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, proposed structural changes to local government in Northamptonshire . These changes would see the existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place. One authority, West Northamptonshire , would consist of the existing districts of Daventry , Northampton and South Northamptonshire and
1000-514: The area was once known as the 'place of the anchorites'. The River Derwent played an important part in the history of the village. Several water-powered mills are recorded in the 18th and 19th century. A corn mill stood in Mill Lane and a fulling mill and a stick mill are also known. Several bridges are also known. As well as the surviving bridges there was once a wooden bridge and another footbridge, though both have now disappeared. The rural nature of
1040-399: The coffin. They opened the lid and found that, as he had sworn, Robert Johnson's arm was burning off! There is just one tier of local government covering Ebchester, the unitary authority of Durham County Council . Ebchester was historically a chapelry in the ancient parish of Lanchester but became a separate parish in 1743. In 1931 the parish had a population of 823. On 1 April 1937
1080-428: The daughter of Æthelfrith , the first king of Northumbria. Ebba soon moved on to be abbess of Coldingham , where she died in 683. The monastery was destroyed by Danish invaders. Consequently, there are no remains of this date, and the present church was mainly built in the early 11th century, using stone re-used from the Roman fort. The parish church is dedicated to St. Ebba , being of partly Norman construction with
1120-514: The non-metropolitan districts of Aylesbury Vale , Chiltern , South Bucks , and Wycombe in Buckinghamshire were replaced by a single unitary authority known as Buckinghamshire Council on 1 April 2020. The existing unitary authority of Milton Keynes was not affected; from 1 April 2020, therefore, the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire has been composed of two unitary authority areas. In March 2018, an independent report commissioned by
1160-844: The other authority, North Northamptonshire would consist of Corby , East Northamptonshire , Kettering and Wellingborough districts. This was confirmed in May 2019, with the new councils being created in April 2021. In July 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan counties of Cumbria , North Yorkshire and Somerset would be reorganised into unitary authority areas. The new authorities, Cumberland , Westmorland and Furness , North Yorkshire Council and Somerset Council were first elected in May 2022 and formally assumed their powers on 1 April 2023. The Labour Party returned to power following
1200-494: The parish was abolished and merged with Consett. Jarrett, Michael G. (1960). The Roman fort at Ebchester, County Durham. Archaeologia Aeliana Series 4 . Vol 38, pp. 193-229. Longstaffe, W. Hylton Dyer. (1970). Early history of Ebchester, Friarside, and Medomsley.. Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland 2 . Vol 2, pp. 125-133. County Durham (district) County Durham
1240-508: The powers and functions that are normally delivered separately by the councils of non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. These functions are housing, waste management, waste collection, council tax collection, education, libraries, social services, transport, planning, consumer protection, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria. The breakdown of these services is as follows: Unitary government has been criticised for damaging local democracy. Opponents to unitary authority criticise
Ebchester - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-597: The schools in the other districts having sixth forms. Local TV coverage is provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees . Local radio stations include BBC Radio Newcastle , BBC Radio Tees , Capital North East , Heart North East , Smooth North East , Greatest Hits Radio North East , Nation Radio North East , TFM ; and community radio stations Durham On Air , Bishop FM in Bishop Auckland, and Darlo Radio serving Darlington. Unitary authorities of England The unitary authorities of England are
1320-464: The status of royal borough , borough or city . A district having a charter is dependent on the charter's wording: as a charter trustee to a place in the district; having joint charter to the place and district or to the district itself. Notes The Council of the Isles of Scilly is a sui generis single-tier authority, created in 1890 and since 1930 has held the "powers, duties and liabilities" of
1360-664: The three largest for businesses are construction, retail, and professional, scientific, and technical services. Durham LEA has a comprehensive school system with 36 state secondary schools (not including sixth form colleges ) and five independent schools (four in Durham and one in Barnard Castle). Easington district has the largest school population by year, and Teesdale has the smallest with two schools. Only one school in Easington and Derwentside districts have sixth forms, with about half
1400-487: The village continued throughout the post-medieval period and to the present day. The remains of several post-medieval buildings still survive, such as Demesne Farm and West Law and the large St Mary's Convent, formerly called Ebchester Hall. Ebchester is also the location of a curious ghost story. The tale tells that in the early 18th century a local gentleman, Robert Johnson, had a row with his son and swore an oath, saying “I hope my right arm will burn off before I give my son
1440-493: Was "minded to approve the proposals" and a final decision to implement the two unitary authority model was confirmed in February 2018. Statutory instruments for the creation of two unitary authorities, to be named Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and Dorset Council , have been made and shadow authorities for the new council areas were formed ahead of their creation on 1 April 2019 . Buckinghamshire County Council and
1480-427: Was governed as a two-tier non-metropolitan county , with a county council and district councils. The original eight districts were Chester-le-Street , Darlington , Derwentside , Durham (city), Easington , Sedgefield , Teesdale , and Wear Valley . In 1997 Darlington was removed from the non-metropolitan county and became a separate unitary authority. In 2009 the remaining districts were abolished and replaced by
1520-461: Was initiated in 2007 and was enacted in 2009. The review established Cornwall and Northumberland as counties of a single district; established unitary authorities in County Durham , Shropshire and Wiltshire covering the part of the county that was not already split off in the 1990s review; and divided the remainder of Bedfordshire and Cheshire into two unitary authority areas. The review caused nine unitary authorities to be created. In 2017, it
1560-495: Was king of Bernicia from c. 593 to 616. Æbbe founded monasteries at Ebchester and St Abb's Head, near Coldingham, in Scotland. At Coldingham it is thought she founded her monastery in the remains of a 6th-century fort. If the same was true at what is now known as Ebchester, this could explain the name Ebba's fortification. It is thought that the church of St Ebba was originally a monastery founded about this time by Æbbe of Coldingham ,
1600-416: Was proposed that two unitary authority areas be formed to cover the ceremonial county of Dorset . One of the authorities would consist of the existing unitary authorities of Bournemouth , Poole and the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch , the other would be composed of the remainder of the county. In November 2017, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid stated that he
#852147