What is a Parish?

There are two sorts of parishes, whose boundaries do not always coincide. These are a) Ecclesiastical parishes centred on an Anglican church with a parochial church council, and b) the Civil Parishes, which are part of local administration.

A civil parish is an independent local democratic unit for villages, smaller towns and cities and suburbs of urban areas. Each parish has a Parish (or Town) Meeting, and where the electorate exceeds 200, have a Parish or Town council.

The Parish Council

The Parish Councils have their origins in feudal times with the old parochial parishes. Villages were ruled by the Lord of the Manor and villagers were given the opportunity to air grievances to make decisions which affected the whole community at annual Parish Meetings. As time progressed the power of the feudal lords waned and Parish Priests took on roles of leadership. By 1601 Church Vestry Meetings were given the responsibility of levying the poor rate. These were the first effective local taxes. Parishes were grouped together into Hundreds for tax, military and judicial purposes. Black Torrington was the centre of  the Black Torrington Hundred.

By the nineteenth century demographic changes were starting to expose the limitations of this system of Parishes and Hundreds. Having their roots in land holdings of Lords of the Manor many Parishes were split into discontinuous parts, not necessarily even in the same County. Urbanisation and the increasing importance of non-established religions meant that reforms were needed. Parish Councils in their modern form  were founded by Gladstone’s 1894 Local Government Act as the first tier of government. District Councils taking over the role of the old Hundreds. Its councillors are elected for four years at a time. Vacancies occurring between elections are filled by bye-election (if requested) or co-option. There is still an Annual Parish Meeting where the views of the Parishioners are sought. In addition Black Torrington Parish Council normally holds bi-monthly Meetings which are open to the public. The council is the corporation of the village. Each year the councillors choose a chairman from amongst their number. There is also a vice-chairman and a clerk, who is the Proper Officer. Details of all your Councillors and the Clerk can be found by clicking the link on the right of this page.

The Parish Council has a number of formal powers. For example, it has the power to maintain and guard things such as rights of way, bus shelters, public seats, small scale street lighting, and provides the village hall and playing fields. The Parish council can do these things by actually providing them itself, or by helping someone else (such as a charity or volunteers) financially to do so. Parish councils have the power to improve the quality of community life by spending sums of money on things which, in their opinion, are in the interests of the parish or it’s inhabitants. There are many things which are outside the the Parish Council remit and are properly the business of District, County or Central government. A list of the Parish Council’s main Powers and Duties is given below.

What has the Parish Council ever done for me?

Bins, Playing field, Events, Footpaths, benches, link to other authorities….

How much does it cost?

Parish councils are the most un bureaucratic and cheapest kind of local authority in existence. Their funds are a tiny part of the council tax. They get no general government grant, and so have every incentive to be economical. The accounts are strictly audited every year by an internal auditor and the Audit Commission. Like all Parish records the accounts are open to Public inspection.

Who controls the Parish Council?

You do! You elect its members every four years and you are entitled to go to the annual parish meeting and say what you think. Members of the public are encouraged to sit in on the monthly council meetings, and participate when there is a public session.