Civil parishes in Berkshire

thumb|right|A map of [[Berkshire, showing the districts: (1) West Berkshire; (2) Reading; (3) Wokingham; (4) Bracknell Forest; (5) Windsor and Maidenhead; and (6) Slough]]

A civil parish is a country subdivision, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 104 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, most of the county being parished; Reading is completely unparished; Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire and Wokingham are entirely parished. At the 2001 census, there were 483,882 people living in the 104 parishes, accounting for 60.5 per cent of the county's population.

History

Parishes arose from Church of England divisions, and were originally purely ecclesiastical divisions. Over time they acquired civil administration powers.

The Highways Act 1555 made parishes responsible for the upkeep of roads. Every adult inhabitant of the parish was obliged to work four days a year on the roads, providing their own tools, carts and horses; the work was overseen by an unpaid local appointee, the Surveyor of Highways.

The poor were looked after by the monasteries, until their dissolution. In 1572, magistrates were given power to 'survey the poor' and impose taxes for their relief. This system was made more formal by the Poor Law Act 1601, which made parishes responsible for administering the Poor Law; overseers were appointed to charge a rate to support the poor of the parish. The 19th century saw an increase in the responsibility of parishes, although the Poor Law powers were transferred to Poor Law Unions. The Public Health Act 1872 grouped parishes into Rural Sanitary Districts, based on the Poor Law Unions; these subsequently formed the basis for Rural Districts.

Parishes were run by vestries, meeting annually to appoint officials, and were generally identical to ecclesiastical parishes, although some townships in large parishes administered the Poor Law themselves; under the Divided Parishes and Poor Law Amendment Act 1882, all extra-parochial areas and townships that levied a separate rate became independent civil parishes.

Civil parishes in their modern sense date from the Local Government Act 1894, which abolished vestries; established elected parish councils in all rural parishes with more than 300 electors; grouped rural parishes into Rural Districts; and aligned parish boundaries with county and borough boundaries.

The Local Government Act 1972 retained civil parishes in rural areas, and many former Urban Districts and Municipal Boroughs that were being abolished, were replaced by new successor parishes; urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes became unparished areas.

The current position

Recent governments have encouraged the formation of town and parish councils in unparished areas, and the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 gave local residents the right to demand the creation of a new civil parish.

A parish council can become a town council unilaterally, simply by resolution;

List of civil parishes and unparished areas

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! class="unsortable" | Image

! Name

! Status

! Population (2001 census)

! District

! Former local authority

! class="unsortable" | Refs

| 100px || Binfield || Civil parish || align="right"|7,475 || Bracknell Forest || Easthampstead Rural District ||

| 100px || Bracknell || Town || align="right"|50,131 || Bracknell Forest || Easthampstead Rural District ||

| 100px || Britwell || Civil parish || align="right"|5,989 || Slough || Eton Rural District ||

| 100px || Colnbrook with Poyle || Civil parish || align="right"|5,408 || Slough || Eton Rural District ||

| 100px || Slough || Unparished area || align="right"|103,428 || Slough || Slough Municipal Borough ||

| 100px || Wexham Court || Civil parish || align="right"|4,242 || Slough || Eton Rural District ||

| 100px || Aldworth || Civil parish || align="right"|308 || West Berkshire || Wantage Rural District ||

| 100px || Compton || Civil parish || align="right"|1,521 || West Berkshire || Wantage Rural District ||

| 100px || Bray || Civil parish || align="right"|8,425 || Windsor and Maidenhead || Cookham Rural District ||

| 100px || New Windsor || Unparished area || align="right"|26,885 || Windsor and Maidenhead || New Windsor Municipal Borough ||

| 100px || Old Windsor || Civil parish || align="right"|4,775 || Windsor and Maidenhead || Windsor Rural District ||

| 100px || Waltham St Lawrence || Civil parish || align="right"|1,232 || Windsor and Maidenhead || Cookham Rural District ||

| 100px || Barkham || Civil parish || align="right"|3,511 || Wokingham || Wokingham Rural District ||