In Norman times villages and small towns were generally ruled by the local Lord of the Manor because at that time with poor communications and the distance from the Sovereign’s jurisdiction, there was little national control. Over time parish priests and sometimes schoolmasters and other literate men joined the Lord of the Manor to form a kind of ruling body. These groups were the first effective local councils and their meetings became known as Vestry Meetings.

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By the year 1601, church vestry meetings were so organised and workable that it was quite natural for legislators to give them the responsibility of levying the poor rate. These were the first effective local taxes. Everyone in the parish was entitled to attend church vestry meetings but in practice the work fell to a few individuals, rather like parish councils today.

 

Although the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act removed from parish vestries the responsibility for poor relief and handed it to Poor Law Unions, parishes had naturally accumulated responsibility for administering local charities, managing commons and other land as a consequence of the 18th century Enclosure Acts.

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Until 1894 the affairs of the parishes continued to be administered by the vestry meeting dominated as they were by the squire, the parson and the principal landowners. Although theoretically open to all inhabitants these meetings were in effect open mainly to those deemed suitable to serve. In 1894 for a variety of reasons, including better education, 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.

 

The great Victorian Prime Minister, W. E. Gladstone, piloted the 1894 Local Government Act through the House of Commons. After a difficult passage through Parliament and many amendments, this Bill became law and parish councils were formed. The effect was to transfer all non-ecclesiastical functions from the church to 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.

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Under the 1894 Act parish councils were to receive their income from rates levied on agricultural land, but this was a time of agricultural depression and the money raised was so very low that soon this system was abandoned. Householders were then rated; something householders had never experienced before, and unsurprisingly this lead to some opposition to parish councils. It wasn’t until after the First World War that central government began to give serious responsibilities to parish councils, the earliest among them being the provision of allotments and playing fields.

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After the Second World War the National Association of Parish Councils was formed, and by 1952 half of all parishes in the country were members. The Association became a national force and raised the profile and consequently the activity of parish councils.

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Much has changed since 1894, and parish councils are now closely regulated. The amount of administrative bureaucracy and red tape has increased exponentially in the past few years, with an accompanying rise in the costs of audit and insurance. Lines of responsibility are more clearly drawn and church and parish councils often work together.