History of the Council

Before 1894, for many years, the affairs of the parishes had been administered by a vestry, or meeting of the village inhabitants. Inevitably the squire, the parson and the principal ratepayers dominated these meetings and some became ‘select vestries’, only open to those people deemed ‘suitable’ to serve. In many parishes, particularly rural ones, the system worked perfectly well; in others it was virtually non-existent or very inefficient.

For a variety of reasons, including a general movement towards greater ‘democracy’; and a desire to break the power of the Church of England over the lives of nonconformists and non-believers, a Bill was promoted to create Parish Councils.

Oldest known picture of Town Council

Cllr W H Wilkinson (old photo below) was a member of the Parish Council between 1925-1951 and Chairman of the parish council for the years 1926, 1933, 1943 1948.

After a difficult passage through parliament and many amendments, this Bill became an Act in 1894. Its effect was to transfer all non-ecclesiastical functions from the church to the elected Parish Councils. Some other functions were added, such as those relating to the burial of the dead, which had, many years before, been vested in Burial Boards, an early form of QUANGO. The regulations under which the first Parish Councils operated were not very tight at that stage and the influence of the church was not so easily to be diminished.