88-575: Little Bytham is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire , England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 384. It lies on the B1176 road, 4 miles (6 km) south from Corby Glen and 6 miles (10 km) north from Stamford . The East Coast Main Line railway cuts through the eastern side of the village over viaducts . On the edge of Little Bytham to
176-493: A Green Man surrounded by oak leaves, similar to examples at nearby Kirkby Underwood and Greatford , also dates from c.1300. It is no longer in position, having been built into a wall, face inwards, and rediscovered during later restoration work. The stone base of the pulpit is dated 1590, and has a Latin inscription Orate et parate ("Pray and prepare"). Pevsner mistakenly gives this as Orate et Arate . Download coordinates as: The Great Northern Railway main line (now
264-513: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
352-514: A dormitory , although a number of farming families remain with a much reduced workforce. The name 'Bytham' is first recorded in 1067 (as a monastery that rapidly translated to Vaudey Abbey ), and comes from the Old English word bythme meaning Valley bottom, broad valley . In the Domesday survey of 1086 the village was known as West Bytham as the castle had yet to be built. People have named
440-521: A motor engineer , a stonemason and a garden nursery . The village telephone box has been earmarked for closure The former Mallard pub in the centre of the village, named after the record-breaking locomotive , closed in 2002; it was previously called the Green Man. Civil parishes in England In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It
528-468: A Christmas lunch for pensioners and a children's party, and village infrastructure improvements. Efforts are currently being made to improve the village recreation ground for the benefit of local young people and a 2010 Parish Plan suggested wider improvements. The former RAF Coningsby station commander (1974–60) and Commandant of the Central Flying School (1979–83) lives in the village, and
616-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
704-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
792-472: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
880-456: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
968-548: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
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#17329141512841056-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under
1144-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
1232-568: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by
1320-430: A former resident on Glen Road was Harold Wilson 's press secretary, Trevor Lloyd-Hughes . There is a village shop on Pinfold Road. Castle Bytham Post Office was closed in 2008 despite local opposition. It had served Creeton , Swinstead , Swayfield , Little Bytham and Clipsham , and other nearby small villages – it has now been replaced by a mobile 'outreach' service. There are two remaining public houses in
1408-405: A good site for buttercups and yellow rattle , and are managed to encourage butterflies, including the ringlet , and the meadow brown . The wood is mainly oak and ash , but includes field maple , midland hawthorn and the uncommon wild service tree ; woodland flora such as wood anemone , woodruff and early purple orchid also found there. Fallow deer and red deer are frequently seen in
1496-517: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
1584-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
1672-681: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Castle Bytham Castle Bytham
1760-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
1848-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
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#17329141512841936-661: A raid on Turin , Italy . Half the aircrew were in the RCAF . Overlooking the village is an 11th-century Norman castle mound . The site of the castle in Saxon times was owned by Morcar , also known as Morkere, who was the brother of Ealdgyth , wife of King Harold . The castle, which gave its name to the village, was built soon after the Norman conquest and was given by the Conqueror to his half brother Odo , Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent; it
2024-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
2112-508: A river bridge across the River Glen within a quarter of a mile 52°44′52″N 0°29′29″W / 52.7478°N 0.4914°W / 52.7478; -0.4914 ( Little Bytham - Bridge over River Glen ) , with an E&LBR cutting and road bridge a little further up the hill 52°44′45″N 0°28′57″W / 52.7459°N 0.4825°W / 52.7459; -0.4825 ( Little Bytham - E&LBR cutting ) to
2200-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
2288-589: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
2376-938: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
2464-514: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
2552-520: A trial return run between London and Leeds was made with modified A1 locomotive number 4472, Flying Scotsman on the return trip with 6 coaches weighing 208 tons; it achieved 100 mph (160 km/h) just outside Little Bytham in Lincolnshire for just over 600 yards (550 m). There were earlier claims to this speed, notably by the Great Western locomotive 3440 City of Truro , but this 1933 run
2640-547: Is a Grade I listed building . It is dedicated to two 6th-century French saints, St Medard and St Gildard (or Medardus and Gildardus ); the dedication is unique in the UK. Virtually unknown in Britain, St Medard is still well known in France, with at least 25 towns or villages named after him (as St Médard or St Méard). Gildard, thought to be his brother, is less well known. The village fête
2728-439: Is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through
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2816-399: Is a village and civil parish of around 300 houses in South Kesteven , Lincolnshire , England. It is located 9 miles (14 km) north of Stamford and 9 miles (14 km) west of Bourne . The population was measured at 768 in 317 households at the 2011 census. At one time the village was an important commercial centre for the surrounding agricultural communities, but it is now largely
2904-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
2992-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
3080-405: Is generally considered to be the first reliably recorded instance. On a later trial run to Newcastle upon Tyne and back in 1935, A3 number 2750 Papyrus reached 108 miles per hour (174 km/h) hauling 217 tons at the same spot, maintaining a speed above 100 mph (160 km/h) for 12.5 consecutive miles (20.1 km), the world record for a non-streamlined locomotive. A brickworks north of
3168-423: Is held annually on or near St Medard's feast day , 8 June. The earliest parts of the building are some Anglo-Saxon "long-and-short" stonework, visible externally at the southeast and southwest corners ( quoins ) of the nave. The church also has several Romanesque details dating from the Norman era, including a Priest's Door ("uncommonly ornate", according to Nikolaus Pevsner ) with a finely carved tympanum ;
3256-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
3344-582: Is very close to the Rutland boundary. The civil parish extends much to the north-west of the village, up to Woolley's Lane , including Red Barn Quarry , owned by Bullimores. It also extends westwards to include all of Morkery Wood (originally named Morkerhaw – named after the Saxon earl Morcar mentioned above). South of the A1 interchange to Woolley's Lane, the parish boundary is with North Witham , including Park House Farm. The eastern buildings of Stocken Hall Farm lie in
3432-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
3520-523: The Castle Bytham with Creeton group of the Deanery of Beltisloe . The incumbent is Revd S. M. Evans. Castle Bytham's community supports several events each year in the village hall. Every year Castle Bytham holds a midsummer fair and street market, with stalls, a duck grand prix, dog show, funfair, children's games, beer tents and barbecues. The fair has raised over £40,000 for local causes including
3608-617: The East Coast Main Line ) and the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (closed 1959) crossed here. The GNR had powers to make a junction but never did so. Little Bytham railway station on the GNR closed in 1959, and most of its buildings have since been demolished. There was no station here on the M&;GNJR, the nearest being Castle Bytham railway station . From 1857 to 1884, Little Bytham station
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3696-621: The English Restoration : a ladder, formerly used in the tower, with a carved inscription which reads "THIS WARE THE MAY POVL 1660" ( see photograph ), suggesting that May celebrations were held in the village (as they were throughout the country) to mark the Restoration of King Charles II . There was at one time a Methodist chapel in High Street (now a private house), served by visiting ministers from Stamford . On its closure in 1972
3784-742: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were
3872-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
3960-411: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as
4048-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
4136-687: The communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007
4224-463: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
4312-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
4400-584: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
4488-505: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
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#17329141512844576-613: The Royal Family; also to the principal Nobility of this and Foreign Countries." The works are now demolished and houses have been built on the site. Former clay workings, an uneven area now overgrown with woodland, has been developed as The Spinney, a nature reserve, picnic site and children's adventure playground, through a grant from the Millennium Commission . A Heritage Orchard, with historic, mainly local, cultivars of apples, pears, plums, cherries and gages , has been planted at
4664-724: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
4752-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
4840-529: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
4928-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
5016-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
5104-453: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
5192-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
5280-534: The east is the West Glen River . Further east lie Witham on the Hill and Grimsthorpe Castle estate . To the west is Castle Bytham and, over the Rutland county boundary, is Clipsham . Careby is just to the south. The name 'Bytham' is first recorded in 1067 (as a monastery that rapidly translated to Vaudey Abbey ), and comes from the Old English word bythme meaning Valley bottom, broad valley . The church
5368-402: The east window of the south aisle shows that it is slightly later, dating from around 1300, as does the nearby piscina . The chancel arch is probably also from the late 13th century, and the double piscina in the chancel may be of a similar age. The Easter Sepulchre in the chancel is in the slightly later ( Decorated ) style, but is a fairly crude example. A finely sculpted capital depicting
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#17329141512845456-487: The east. The LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard locomotive made its record-breaking run south through the village on 3 July 1938. It reached 126 mph (203 km/h), the fastest ever officially recorded for a steam locomotive, just south of the village at milepost 90¼, where a sign beside the track was erected in 1998 to mark the 60th anniversary of the event, and the exact spot (between Aunby and Carlby ) in Lincolnshire where The Mallard reached its highest speed. In 1933
5544-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
5632-413: The empty circular niche in the tympanum is said to have held a relic ; the birds in roundels to either side are probably eagles, as one is legendarily supposed to have sheltered Medard from the rain. Also Norman are the plain, undecorated arch into the tower, and the north door (late 12th century). The south aisle and the upper parts of the tower and spire are 13th century work; the intersecting tracery of
5720-521: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
5808-641: The former rebel William de Coleville . The castle was burnt in the 15th century during the Wars of the Roses . In the 16th century John Leland described remnants of the castle: "yet remained great walls of buildings". The nearest town is Stamford (even though Castle Bytham is in the Grantham postal area, with a Nottingham postcode ). It is at the apex of the NG (Grantham), LE (Rutland) and PE (Stamford) postcodes. The village
5896-638: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
5984-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
6072-471: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
6160-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
6248-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
6336-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
6424-528: The parish (with an LE15 postcode), with the rest in Stretton . To the east, Little Haw Wood is also in the parish. Southwards, the civil parish extends to (and includes) Pillowsyke Holt, a piece of woodland near Holywell . Eastwards, the parish extends for about half a mile, where it includes the 30 acre Lawn Wood which has been a nature reserve since 1995, joining two neighbouring meadows that were donated to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust in 1993. The meadows are
6512-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
6600-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
6688-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
6776-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
6864-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
6952-453: The railway, but was added after considerable local lobbying. It remained open, as did the goods yard on the other side of the road, until the line closed in 1959. West of the village the line of the railway now forms a road crossing under the A1. The church, started in the 12th century, and restored in 1900, is dedicated to St James and is one of a group of parishes in the rural deanery of Beltisloe . It contains an unusual memento of
7040-714: The reserve. About 1 mile (2 km) to the east lies Little Bytham . The two villages used to be called West and East Bytham. To the west, on the western side of the A1 road, is South Witham near the source of the River Witham . The village's vicar, and that of the Bythams Group, is also the wife of the vicar of South Witham. Between the village and the A1 the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust maintains an important wildlife reserve at Tortoiseshell Wood (which borders on to
7128-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of
7216-599: The river that runs through the village the Tham or Am as a back-formation from the village name. Morkery Wood housed a former bomb dump during the Second World War for the nearby airfields. In the early hours of 19 November 1942 Handley Page Halifax BB209 NP-G of 158 Sqn , from RAF Rufforth in North Yorkshire , crashed near Stocken Hall Farm (in the wood). It had been hit by flak south-east of Paris coming back from
7304-469: The site and a small sensory garden is also being developed. Stanton's Pit, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of the village, is a former gravel pit operated as a wetland Nature Reserve by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust . Mixed arable farming is still carried out around the village. In 2000–02, a local farm suffered cross contamination from nearby GM trials. There is a village hall,
7392-515: The village, established in 1850 and active into the early 20th century, made small, high-fired paving bricks, called " Adamantine Clinkers" (because of their hardness), for paving stables and other floors. The works are mentioned in the Lincolnshire article in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica . They advertised that they had won Gold and Silver medals, and supplied "His Majesty the King and other members of
7480-504: The village: the Fox & Hounds and the Castle Inn. The New Inn on Station Road was converted to housing in the 1960s. The village had a railway station on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway , the remains of which can still be seen. This railway station was rather unusual, being a single platform in a deep cutting through the village. The railway station was not originally planned by
7568-469: The west of the civil parish) and some of the road verges are protected for wildlife by Lincolnshire County Council . Tortoiseshell Wood is in the parish of North Witham , although the edge lies on the parish boundary. West of the village, towards Clipsham , is a Yew Tree Avenue maintained by the Forestry Commission , the trees cut into large topiary forms. The Ecclesiastical parish is part of
7656-514: Was later owned by William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle , and passed to the family of Coleville . During the First Barons' War it was occupied by William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle aided by William d'Aubigny , Sir Richard Siward, Henry de Hastings and William de Hastings . . In 1221, after a siege, the castle was captured by Henry III with the help of Hugh de Mortimer and William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey and restored to its lord,
7744-528: Was the junction for the Edenham & Little Bytham Railway branch line to Edenham . Remains of the M&GNJR and E&LBR are still visible, most obviously near the junction of the road from Little Bytham to Witham on the Hill , where there is a large M&GN embankment with a road bridge across the B1176 52°44′50″N 0°29′40″W / 52.7473°N 0.4944°W / 52.7473; -0.4944 ( Little Bytham - M&GN embankment ) and
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