Rural District
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In the British Isles rural districts were a historic type of local government district which covered predominantly rural areas. They were sub-divisions of administrative counties.
England and Wales
In England and Wales they were created in 1894 (by the Local Government Act 1894) along with urban districts. They replaced the earlier system of sanitary districts (themselves based on Poor Law Unions, but not replacing them).
Rural districts had elected Rural District Councils (RDCs), which inherited the functions of the earlier sanitary districts, but also had wider authority over matters such as local planning, council housing, and playgrounds and cemeteries. Matters such as education and roads were the responsibility of county councils.
Until 1930 the rural district councillors were also poor law guardians for the unions of which they formed part. Each parish was represented by one or more councillors.
Originally there were 787 rural districts in England and Wales, as they were based directly upon the sanitary districts and poor law unions which had preceded them. However many rural districts proved to be too small or poor to be viable, and following the passing of the Local Government Act 1929, 236 rural districts were abolished and merged and amalgamated into larger units. Further mergers took place over following decades and by 1965 their numbers had been reduced to 473.
The typical shape of a rural district was a doughnut shaped ring around a town (which would be either an urban district or a municipal borough). A good example of this is Melton and Belvoir Rural District [map]. They would often be, or become fragmentary, consisting of a number of detached parts, such as Wigan Rural District [map]. Some rural districts had a more rounded shape and had a small town or village as the administrative centre.
A few rural districts consisted of only one parish (for example, Tintwistle Rural District, Alston with Garrigill Rural District, South Mimms Rural District, King's Lynn Rural District, Disley Rural District and Crowland Rural District). In such districts there was no separate parish council, and the rural district council exercised its functions.
All rural districts in England and Wales were abolished in 1974 (by the Local Government Act 1972) and were typically merged with nearby urban districts or boroughs to form a uniform pattern of districts, which contained urban and rural areas.
See List of Rural Districts in England and Wales 1894 - 1930 for the districts created in 1894; List of rural and urban districts in England, and List of rural and urban districts in Wales for a list of rural districts at abolition in 1974.
Ireland
In what is now the Republic of Ireland (then a part of the United Kingdom) rural districts were created in 1898 by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. They were subdivided into District Electoral Divisions.They were abolished in the early days of the Irish Free State in 1925, by the Local Government Act 1925, amid widespread accusations of corruption, and their functions transferred to the county councils. [link] They were retained in County Dublin only until 1930. [link]
Rural districts continued in use in the Republic into the 1970s for statistical purposes and for defining constituencies. [link] [link].
In Northern Ireland they were abolished (along with all other local government of the old pattern), in 1973 and replaced with a system of unitary districts.
See: List of rural and urban districts in Northern Ireland.
Germany
In Germany an equivalent of the rural district, the Landkreise still exists, see Districts of Germany.
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