Extra-parochial areas
| Extra-parochial area | |
|---|---|
|
Also known as: Extra-parochial place Extra-parochial district |
|
| Created | Mostly in antiquity |
| Abolished by |
Extra-Parochial Places Act 1857 Poor Law Amendment Act 1868 |
| Abolished | 1858 / 1868 |
| Number | 686 (as of 19th century) |
In England and Wales, an extra-parochial area, extra-parochial place or extra-parochial district was a geographically defined area considered to be outside any eccelesiastical or civil parish. Anomalies in the parochial system, they had no church or clergymen and were therefore exempt from payment of poor or church rates and usually tithes. They were formed for a variety of reasons, often because an area was unpopulated or unsuitable for agriculture, but also around institutions and buildings or natural resources. Extra-parochial areas caused considerable problems when they became inhabited as they did not provide religious facilities, local governance or provide for the relief of the poor. Their status was often ambiguous and there was demand for extra-parochial areas to operate more like parishes. Following the introduction of the New Poor Law, extra-parochial areas were effectively made civil parishes by the Extra-Parochial Places Act 1857 and were eliminated by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1868. This was achieved either by being integrated with a neighbouring or surrounding parish, or by becoming a separate civil parish if the population was high enough.
Extra-parochial areas formed in every county in England for a number of reasons. Often they were remote areas without population or areas covered by a particular resource such as commons, woodlands and fenlands. The names of some former extra-parochial areas such as Nowhere, Norfolk; Nomansland, Devon; and No Man's Heath, Warwickshire point to their isolation. Early institutions such as hospitals, almshouses and leper colonies were often made to be extra-parochial, as were houses of the gentry, depopulated villages, cathedral closes, castle grounds, Oxbridge colleges, and the Inns of Court.
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