Catalogue

Witton Gilbert Civil Parish

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• Witton Gilbert Civil Parish
  • Witton Gilbert Civil Parish (Ref: CP/WiG)
  • Witton Gilbert Parish Council (Ref: CP/WiG)
  • Minutes (Ref: CP/WiG Section 1)
  • Financial records (Ref: CP/WiG Section 2)

Catalogue Description

Changes in administration leading towards modern structures in the local government system, as we see them today, began before the Local Government Act 1894 came into life. The Representation of the People Act 1832 initiated the whole system of changes in English administration in the 19th Century. Many ancient parishes were turned into new administrative units following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866. Generally, ecclesiastical parishes were substituted by civil parishes, which became the smallest administrative units. Urban and Rural districts were also introduced in 1894 and, together with Municipal Boroughs already in existence, created a middle tier in the administrative system, each comprising several civil parishes. Therefore, at the end of the century, there were three main levels in the local government hierarchy: counties, districts and civil parishes.

Civil parishes at first were organised the way the old poor law union and ecclesiastical parishes were. Boundaries of most were identical with ecclesiastical parishes, but with time they changed due to several local government reorganisations.

The 1894 Act introduced elected councils on a parish level, having been established in counties first in 1888. Parishes with a population of over 300 had an obligation to elect a council, and parishes over 200 could decide whether they needed one or not. If they chose not to, then all decisions on their behalf were made by a relevant district council and the same procedure applied to small parishes. Initially, members of the parish council were elected from the local government electors for the parish during the parish annual meeting, but this changed after the Representation of the People Act 1948 came into force, making the election process more clear and transparent.

Parish council functions focus on everyday life of the local community and, as we can see in the records they create, they deal mainly with matters relating to footpaths, village greens, allotments, bus shelters, lighting, libraries and local entertainment and leisure centres. Occasionally they deal with cases of public order disturbances and rural crime. Some look after closed churchyards and manage burial grounds after burial boards were abolished under the 1894 Act.

The civil parish of Witton Gilbert was in Chester Ward and Chester-le-Street Poor Law Union. On 1 April 1937 (under the County of Durham Review Order, 1937) 908 acres of Witton Gilbert civil parish were divided off and created as Sacriston civil parish, which remained in Chester-le-Street Rural District, and the remaining part of Witton Gilbert was transferred to Durham Rural District. In 1974, the RDC was replaced by Durham District Council, and in 2009 all districts within the county were abolished to create Durham County Council as a single unitary authority.

When Sacriston civil parish was created many of the records of the old Witton Gilbert council continued in use by the new council, consequently for other documents prior to 1937 see CP/Sac.

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