# Civil parishes in Berkshire

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. Urban civil parishes continued to exist, and were generally coterminous with the Urban District, Municipal Borough or County Borough in which they were situated; many large towns contained a number of parishes, and these were usually merged into one. Parish councils were not formed in urban areas, and the only function of the parish was to elect guardians to Poor Law Unions; with the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930 the parishes had only a nominal existence.
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; and a civil parish can also gain city status, but only if that is granted by the Crown. The chairman of a town or city council is called a mayor. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 introduced alternative names: a parish council can now choose to be called a community; village; or neighbourhood council.

## List of civil parishes and unparished areas

| Name | Status | Population (2001 census) | District | Former local authority | Refs |
| Binfield | Civil parish | 7,475 | Bracknell Forest | Easthampstead Rural District | [12] [13] |
| Bracknell | Town | 50,131 | Bracknell Forest | Easthampstead Rural District | [12] [13] |
| Crowthorne | Civil parish | 6,711 | Bracknell Forest | Easthampstead Rural District | [12] [13] |
| Sandhurst | Town | 20,803 | Bracknell Forest | Easthampstead Rural District | [12] [13] |
| Warfield | Civil parish | 9,226 | Bracknell Forest | Easthampstead Rural District | [12] [13] |
| Winkfield | Civil parish | 15,271 | Bracknell Forest | Easthampstead Rural District | [12] [13] |
| Reading | Unparished area | 143,096 | Reading | Reading County Borough | [14] [15] |
| Britwell | Civil parish | 5,989 | Slough | Eton Rural District | [16] [17] [18] |
| Colnbrook with Poyle | Civil parish | 5,408 | Slough | Eton Rural District | [16] [17] [19] |
| Slough | Unparished area | 103,428 | Slough | Slough Municipal Borough | [20] [21] |
| Wexham Court | Civil parish | 4,242 | Slough | Eton Rural District | [16] [17] [18] |
| Aldermaston | Civil parish | 927 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Aldworth | Civil parish | 308 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Ashampstead | Civil parish | 398 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Basildon | Civil parish | 1,559 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Beech Hill | Civil parish | 311 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Beedon | Civil parish | 393 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Beenham | Civil parish | 1,175 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Boxford | Civil parish | 466 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Bradfield | Civil parish | 2,172 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Brightwalton | Civil parish | 322 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Brimpton | Civil parish | 613 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Bucklebury | Civil parish | 2,066 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Burghfield | Civil parish | 5,894 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Catmore | Civil parish | 28 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Chaddleworth | Civil parish | 482 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Chieveley | Civil parish | 2,710 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Cold Ash | Civil parish | 3,623 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Combe | Civil parish | 38 | West Berkshire | Hungerford Rural District | |
| Compton | Civil parish | 1,521 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| East Garston | Civil parish | 532 | West Berkshire | Hungerford Rural District | [26] [23] |
| East Ilsley | Civil parish | 519 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Enborne | Civil parish | 492 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Englefield | Civil parish | 303 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Farnborough | Civil parish | 100 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Fawley | Civil parish | 172 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Frilsham | Civil parish | 321 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Great Shefford | Civil parish | 896 | West Berkshire | Hungerford Rural District | [26] [23] |
| Greenham | Civil parish | 2,712 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Hampstead Marshall | Civil parish | 276 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Hampstead Norreys | Civil parish | 748 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Hermitage | Civil parish | 1,154 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Holybrook | Civil parish | 7,162 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Hungerford | Town | 5,559 | West Berkshire | Hungerford Rural District | [26] [23] |
| Inkpen | Civil parish | 877 | West Berkshire | Hungerford Rural District | [26] [23] |
| Kintbury | Civil parish | 2,593 | West Berkshire | Hungerford Rural District | [26] [23] |
| Lambourn | Civil parish | 4,017 | West Berkshire | Hungerford Rural District | [26] [23] |
| Leckhampstead | Civil parish | 315 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Midgham | Civil parish | 282 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Newbury | Town | 28,339 | West Berkshire | Newbury Municipal Borough | [27] [23] |
| Padworth | Civil parish | 548 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Pangbourne | Civil parish | 2,981 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Peasemore | Civil parish | 297 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| Purley on Thames | Civil parish | 4,232 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Shaw cum Donnington | Civil parish | 1,680 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Speen | Civil parish | 2,634 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Stanford Dingley | Civil parish | 209 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Stratfield Mortimer | Civil parish | 3,584 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Streatley | Civil parish | 974 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Sulham | Civil parish | 80 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Sulhamstead | Civil parish | 1,248 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Thatcham | Town | 22,824 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Theale | Civil parish | 2,771 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Tidmarsh | Civil parish | 391 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Tilehurst | Civil parish | 14,683 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Ufton Nervet | Civil parish | 321 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Wasing | Civil parish | 55 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Welford | Civil parish | 522 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| West Ilsley | Civil parish | 340 | West Berkshire | Wantage Rural District | [24] [23] |
| West Woodhay | Civil parish | 100 | West Berkshire | Hungerford Rural District | [26] [23] |
| Winterbourne | Civil parish | 206 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Wokefield | Civil parish | 325 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Woolhampton | Civil parish | 725 | West Berkshire | Newbury Rural District | [25] [23] |
| Yattendon | Civil parish | 378 | West Berkshire | Bradfield Rural District | [22] [23] |
| Bisham | Civil parish | 1,149 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Cookham Rural District | [28] [29] |
| Bray | Civil parish | 8,425 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Cookham Rural District | [28] [29] |
| Cookham | Civil parish | 5,519 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Cookham Rural District | [28] [29] |
| Cox Green | Civil parish | 7,203 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Maidenhead Municipal Borough | [30] [29] |
| Datchet | Civil parish | 4,646 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Eton Rural District | [16] [29] |
| Eton | Town | 4,980 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Eton Urban District | [31] [29] |
| Horton | Civil parish | 983 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Eton Rural District | [16] [29] |
| Hurley | Civil parish | 1,854 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Cookham Rural District | [28] [29] |
| Maidenhead | Unparished area | 42,827 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Maidenhead Municipal Borough | [30] [32] |
| New Windsor | Unparished area | 26,885 | Windsor and Maidenhead | New Windsor Municipal Borough | [33] [34] |
| Old Windsor | Civil parish | 4,775 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Windsor Rural District | [35] [29] |
| Shottesbrooke | Civil parish | 154 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Cookham Rural District | [28] [29] |
| Sunningdale | Civil parish | 4,875 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Windsor Rural District | [35] [29] |
| Sunninghill and Ascot | Civil parish | 11,603 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Windsor Rural District | [35] [29] [36] |
| Waltham St Lawrence | Civil parish | 1,232 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Cookham Rural District | [28] [29] |
| White Waltham | Civil parish | 2,875 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Cookham Rural District | [28] [29] |
| Wraysbury | Civil parish | 3,641 | Windsor and Maidenhead | Eton Rural District | [16] [29] |
| Arborfield and Newland | Civil parish | 2,228 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Barkham | Civil parish | 3,511 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Charvil | Civil parish | 2,990 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Earley | Town | 32,036 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Finchampstead | Civil parish | 12,334 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Remenham | Civil parish | 547 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Ruscombe | Civil parish | 1,027 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Shinfield | Civil parish | 8,136 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Sonning | Civil parish | 1,445 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| St Nicholas Hurst | Civil parish | 2,008 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Swallowfield | Civil parish | 1,961 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Twyford | Civil parish | 6,216 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Wargrave | Civil parish | 3,910 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Winnersh | Civil parish | 7,939 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Wokingham | Town | 30,403 | Wokingham | Wokingham Municipal Borough | [39] [38] |
| Wokingham Without | Civil parish | 7,099 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |
| Woodley | Town | 26,439 | Wokingham | Wokingham Rural District | [37] [38] |