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87-769: Woldingham is a village and civil parish high on the North Downs between Oxted and Warlingham in Surrey, England, within the M25 , 17.5 miles (28.2 km) southeast of London. The village has 2,141 inhabitants, many of whom commute to London, making Woldingham part of the London commuter belt . The village is served by the Oxted line and central London can be reached in 33 minutes by train. Two bronze fibulae, some stone arrow-heads and celts were found here about 1800. The place-name 'Woldingham'

174-513: 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

261-589: A Whig between 1679 and his death in 1707. He was knighted in 1671. Clayton made a considerable fortune. In 1697 he lent the king £30,000 to pay for the army. In the mid-1650s Clayton purchased Brownsea Island and its castle. He was president of the St Thomas' Hospital in London which was then located in the Borough . He employed Thomas Cartwright to rebuild the hospital and St Thomas Church nearby. Robert Clayton

348-515: 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

435-576: 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

522-472: 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

609-456: 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

696-548: 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

783-440: 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

870-481: 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

957-568: 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

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1044-417: A conveyance of Marden, together with the manor of Flower in this parish, to one Mary Gittings, with whom he had lived for several years prior to his death. She sold the manor in 1672 to Robert Clayton (afterwards Sir Robert) and John Morris, partners in business. Morris afterwards released to Clayton, in whose family Marden remained until it was sold shortly before 1911 to Sir Walpole Greenwell . Marden Park

1131-437: A large recreation ground with tennis courts, Woldingham Golf Club and North Downs Golf Club. Woldingham School is an independent Catholic school that provides education for girls between the ages of 11 and 18; the architecture of the school building is described above under its old name, Marden Park. The school has extensive grounds in the valley between Woldingham and similarly high, but steeper and narrower, Tillingdown across

1218-517: 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

1305-431: 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

1392-713: 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. Robert Clayton (Lord Mayor) Sir Robert Clayton (1629–1707)

1479-416: 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

1566-503: 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

1653-1079: 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

1740-532: 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

1827-409: 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

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1914-540: 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

2001-938: 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

2088-514: 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

2175-562: Is a half-hourly service northbound to London Victoria and a half-hourly service southbound to East Grinstead. A train journey to Oxted takes 5 minutes and one to Edenbridge (change at Oxted for an Uckfield train) takes 19 minutes. The main access to the M25 is via the A22 from a large roundabout in the north-west, the Wapses Lodge Roundabout, which is a tripoint between Warlingham, Woldingham and Caterham. This passes over

2262-408: Is about a mile and a half to the north of Godstone, and was formerly the seat of Sir Robert Clayton , Lord Mayor of London , who died in 1707. From him it passed to his nephew Sir William Clayton, 1st Baronet and thence to the latter's son Sir Kenrick Clayton, 2nd Baronet . William Wilberforce lived here towards the close of the 18th century, several of his letters being dated from the house. It

2349-636: Is along The Ridge, a road which is parallel to the North Downs Way , which is 261m AOD and is a continuation of the highest point of the North Downs, Botley Hill , 6 metres (20 ft) higher. From the nearby areas of high ground impressive views can be enjoyed – and from some places one can see much of Greater London as far as the Chilterns , or looking south the Vale of Holmesdale , Greensand Ridge and woods of

2436-507: 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

2523-539: 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

2610-763: Is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Wallingeham . It appears as Waldingham in the Close Rolls of 1232, and as Waldingeham in 1242 in the Book of Fees . The name means "the village or homestead of the people of the Weald or wood". The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred , and was held by John in 1086 from Richard Fitz Gilbert . Its Domesday assets were: 1 hide . It had 4½ ploughs . It rendered £1. No church

2697-581: Is free-draining, slightly acid, loamy soil beside this free-draining, lime-rich, loamy soil, i.e. alkaline . In 2011, Woldingham over 10 years had seen an increase in housing, yet it had fewer residents than in 2001. In 2001 Woldingham had 2,326 residents in 732 households, of which 14.1% were aged over 65; 15.6% of the population were in full-time further education; 78.0% of all men were economically active, whereas 2.7% were unemployed and 4.6% worked part-time; 44.7% of all women were economically active, whereas 2.3% were unemployed and 33.3% worked part-time. In

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2784-669: Is mentioned in Woldingham in the Domesday Survey. A chapel, now rebuilt as St Agatha's Church, is first mentioned in 1295 as appurtenant to Gilbert de Clare's part of Woldingham; there has always been a vicar rather than a rector. Upper Court Manor was owned by a series of high-profile nobles indicating its wealth: including Gilbert de Clare ; Ralph, Earl of Stafford ; grandson Hugh of Woldingham; Humphrey Earl of Stafford then created first Duke of Buckingham ; his third son John, Earl of Wiltshire and son; Edward, Duke of Buckingham , who

2871-405: 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

2958-411: Is predominantly a service sector economy reflected by one end of the official categorisation table of occupation given, compiled from the 2001 census: 32.3% of the working-age population worked in middle or higher professional occupations and 7.6% of the population worked as large employers or in higher management. The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, and

3045-470: Is still in regular use). First mentioned in 1270, St. Agatha's is the county's smallest church with dimensions of 30 ft 3 in by 20 ft 2 in (9.2 by 6.1 m), and at 797 ft (243 m) above sea level is the third highest old parish church in Surrey. Buildings lie at 150–248m AOD ; the lowest point is at the Croydon Road roundabout at the foot of Woldingham Road, which is 106m AOD ; the highest point

3132-627: Is still known as the Pest House. The railway or Croydon and East Grinstead line was opened in 1884 including a station then named Marden Park (as it was in Godstone parish then), and a tunnel was built to take the line under the high wolds (or rolling uplands) that make up most of the village. The Garden Village is a former army camp. The bungalow called "Funny Neuk" was home to the Czechoslovak military intelligence radio station from 1940 to 1942, and

3219-504: 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

3306-512: The 2011 census , for ethnicity Woldingham was White or White British (89.6%), Asian or Asian British (6.1%), Mixed/multiple ethnic groups (2.2%), Black or Black British (1.6%), and Other ethnic group (0.3%). The largest single ethnicity was White British (81.9%). In terms of religious affiliation, residents stated Christian (65.6%) followed by No religion (23.2%), Religion not stated (7.9%), Buddhist (1%), Hindu (1%), Muslim (0.3%), and Other religion (0.3%). Woldingham's economy

3393-742: 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

3480-1010: 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

3567-510: The M25 , 17.5 miles (28.2 km) south-by-southeast of London. Situated high on the North Downs in its Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty between Oxted and Warlingham , a straight line to Oxted measures 2.6 miles (4.2 km) to the southeast, the Tandridge 's administrative town. Woldingham is home to one of the smallest churches in the country – St. Agatha's (it only seats 40 but it served as Parish Church of Woldingham until 1934 and

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3654-437: The Weald . An impressive view over Oxted and The Weald from the North Downs Way above the works of lime quarries reflects the geology of the North Downs, with rolling or very gradual north slopes and a steep south slope. Relatively wide bands of chalky soil intersperse the brick-earth topping of the downs, all of which is relatively quick draining making some agriculture challenging. A majority of this Downs-topping soil

3741-438: 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 the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on

3828-472: 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

3915-517: The "Top Ten Richest Suburbs in Britain". Woldingham Civil Parish operate a village website with events, meetings and information about the facilities offered by the third-tier local council. Its location in Tandridge District is shown above. Woldingham has a small parade of shops (known as "The Crescent") in the centre of the village next to St Paul's Church, constructed in 1933. Woldingham has

4002-463: 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

4089-564: 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

4176-584: 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

4263-505: 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

4350-682: The Americas than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade . Clayton married Martha Trott, who was the daughter of a Bermuda merchant, and also acted as Factor in Bermuda. The tomb of Sir Robert and Lady Clayton is in St Mary's church, Bletchingley . A statue of Clayton stood at the North Entrance to Ward Block of North Wing at St Thomas' Hospital and is Grade I listed. On 11 June 2020,

4437-650: The Customs (1689–1697), an Assistant to the Royal African Company (1672–1681) and a director of the Bank of England (1702–1707). In the 1690s, Clayton was the head of the earliest known Freemason lodge entirely made-up of non-working masons in London. As a member of the Court of Assistants to the Royal African Company , Clayton was essentially on the board of directors. The Royal African Company shipped more African slaves to

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4524-669: The Tillingdown and cuts through some of its upper slopes to reach the Godstone Hill junction (J6) of the M25 motorway; the village has three exits to its north, one to the east and one to the south. Civil parishes in England In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to

4611-724: 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

4698-531: The average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining portion is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible percentage of households living rent-free). In December 2007, the Sunday Telegraph announced that Woldingham ranked second in its list of

4785-399: 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

4872-529: 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

4959-464: 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

5046-466: 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

5133-453: 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

5220-463: 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

5307-439: 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

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5394-521: 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

5481-638: 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

5568-455: 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

5655-430: The hands of James Altham and John Elliott successively, came to Thomas Powle in 1561. During his tenure a petition was lodged against him by Henry son of John Owen, who stated that the latter's conveyance to Altham was a mortgage and that Owen had redeemed this estate, but the appeal was apparently dismissed, as Thomas Powle continued to hold and sold the manor to George Evelyn in 1588. George settled it on his son Robert on

5742-471: 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

5829-544: The latter's marriage in 1590. Robert apparently conveyed Marden, as he did Walkhampstead, to his brother John, whose son George afterwards held, and died seised in 1636. Sir John Evelyn (George's son), conveyed Marden to his younger brother Arthur, and it was conveyed by Arthur to his uncle Sir John. John Evelyn , eldest son of the latter, created a baronet in 1660, married first Mary Farmer and secondly Anne Glynne. He died without issue in 1671, his brother George Evelyn (1641–1699) being his heir, but before his death he had made

5916-694: The manor of Walkhampstead held by Richard de Lucy, had also come into the possession of the St. Johns of Lagham by the middle of the 13th century. They held it of the king in chief as of the honour of Boulogne by the service of a quarter of a knight's fee. Marden followed the same descent as Lagham Manor until after the death of Thomas St. Clare, when this manor went to Eleanor, one of his daughters and co-heirs, who married John Gage; then held by William Gage, their son and heir, at his death in 1497. In 1506 John Gage sold it to Sir David Owen, who also held Lagham. His son John Owen afterwards owned Marden, which, after passing through

6003-465: 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

6090-465: 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

6177-552: The original mansion still remain. The mill mentioned in the Domesday Book as being in the manor of Walkhampstead became appurtenant to Marden on the division; it was generally said to be worth 20s. or 30s. a year, but an inquisition taken in 1349 after the Black Death stated that the mill was out of repair and had brought in nothing that year, as all who used to come there to grind were dead. The same inquisition gives further proof of

6264-488: 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

6351-401: 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

6438-404: 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

6525-562: 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

6612-499: 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

6699-411: 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

6786-502: The railway line. The village also has Woodlea Primary School, which converted to academy status in 2017. Central London is just over thirty minutes by train and the village is served by the Oxted lines that have a franchise currently held exclusively by Southern . During peak hours there are four trains per hour in each direction with northbound services alternating between London Bridge and London Victoria and southbound services terminating at East Grinstead . Outside peak hours there

6873-429: The ravages worked here by the plague; perquisites of court both here and at Lagham were this year nothing, as the tenants who owed suit were nearly all dead, the capital messuages (houses and land) of both had deteriorated in value owing to the pestilence, and the pasture was valueless because it had not been let to farm. An old cottage standing back from the high road to the station near the entrance to Bullbeggar's Lane

6960-438: 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

7047-461: The same name and rank (not inherited), Edward Duke of Buckingham and John Gresham of London. It appears that the manor-houses of Marden and Lagham were centres of population until the inhabitants were nearly exterminated by the Black Death of 1349. Marden Park, formerly a manor, owned much of the area, however it was until some point after 1911 part of the parish of Godstone . This was half of

7134-450: 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 the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have

7221-621: Was a member of the Scriveners and Drapers Company, an Alderman of Cheap Ward in the City of London (1670–1683), a Sheriff in 1671, Lord Mayor of London (1679–1680), a member of parliament for the City of London or Bletchingley for most of the years 1679 to 1707, Colonel of the Orange Regiment, London Trained Bands (various times, 1680–1702), President of the Honourable Artillery Company (1690–1703), Commissioner of

7308-477: Was an English merchant banker , politician and Lord Mayor of London . Robert Clayton was born in Northamptonshire , England. He became an apprentice to his uncle, a London scrivener , where he met a fellow apprentice, Alderman John Morris. They became successful businessmen and established the bank, Clayton & Morris Co. Clayton entered politics, representing London and Bletchingley alternately as

7395-448: Was attainted and beheaded in 1521 leaving it for Henry VIII to grant; John Bourchier Lord Berners, Deputy of Calais; Sir John Gresham and his family held until sale to Henry Bynes; William Bryant who purchased it for £3,600 in 1795; followed by a Mr Withers, Jones and Gifford. This manor started similarly with Gilbert de Clare. Less notable nobles followed generally except for: Sir Guy Ferre's wife, Sir Thomas Uvedale and great-grandson of

7482-502: Was in 1911 the residence of Sir Walpole Lloyd Greenwell. Today's mansion was re-erected to the west of the original site. It is built in the style of a French chateau and is approached by a drive a mile in length through the park. The grounds, to quote from the inscription on Clayton's monument in Bletchingley Church, are "a remarkable instance of the politeness of his Genius, and how far Nature may be improv'd by Art". The stables of

7569-524: Was used for communications concerning the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich . In 1942 the radio station moved to Hockliffe , near Dunstable in Bedfordshire. On Friday 25 May 1951, Donald Duart Maclean , Soviet spy and then resident of nearby Tatsfield, is said to have left from Woldingham station on the night of his escape to the coast and defection to Russia. Woldingham is a village and civil parish in Surrey; its buildings lie at 150–248m AOD within

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