Congleton was, from 1974 to 2009, a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

with borough status in Cheshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It included the towns of Congleton,

Alsager Alsager ( ) is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located to the north-west of Stoke-on-Trent and east of Crewe. The town's population was 13,389 at the 2021 census. ''The Mere'' is a ...

Middlewich Middlewich is a town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, east of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,595 ...

and

Sandbach Sandbach (pronounced ) is the name of a historic market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach itself as the largest, Elworth, Ettiley Heath a ...

. The headquarters of the borough council were located in

History

Chairmen of Congleton Rural District Council (1894-1974)

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 by the merger of the former

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of Congleton, the

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

s of

and

, and the Congleton Rural District. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor. In 2006 the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local governme ...

considered reorganising Cheshire's administrative structure as part of the

2009 structural changes to local government in England Structural changes to local government in England were effected on 1 April 2009, whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in parts of the country which previously operated a "two-tier" system of counties and districts. In five s ...

. The decision to merge the boroughs of Congleton, Macclesfield, and

Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 civil parishes and one unparished area: the town of Crewe. It now fo ...

to create a single unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007, following a consultation period in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected. The Borough of Congleton was abolished on 31 March 2009, with the area becoming part of the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

of Cheshire East on 1 April 2009.

Civil parishes

Congleton was divided into 23 civil parishes and included no

unparished areas In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

. Of the 23 civil parishes, four were administered at this level of local government by

town councils A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

: Alsager, Middlewich, Sandbach, and Congleton; with the remainder having parish councils. There are two pairs of civil parishes that are grouped together so that they share a parish council. These are

Hulme Walfield Hulme Walfield is a small village and civil parish, just north of Congleton, in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It is home to most of Westlow Mere. According to the 2001 census, the population of ...

and

Somerford Booths Somerford Booths is a small civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In the census of 2001 it was recorded as having a population of 175. increasing to 181 at the 2011 Census. The c ...

, whose single parish council is called "Hulme Walfield and Somerford Booths Parish Council", and

Newbold Astbury Newbold Astbury (often just Astbury) is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in the north-west of England. Newbold Astbury is situated to the south-west of Congleton on t ...

and Moreton cum Alcumlow, whose single parish council is called "Newbold Astbury-cum-Moreton Parish Council". The following civil parishes were included in the borough: *

''(town)'' * Arclid * Betchton * Bradwall * Brereton *

Church Lawton Church Lawton is a village and located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. Its location is such that its eastern boundary forms part of the county boundary between Cheshire and Staffords ...

* Congleton ''(town)'' * Cranage *

Goostrey Goostrey is an old farming village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located in open countryside, 14 miles NE of Crewe and 12 miles W of Macclesfield. Goostrey Par ...

Hassall Hassall is a village and civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or ...

Holmes Chapel Holmes Chapel is a large village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Until 1974 the parish was known as Church Hulme. Holmes Chapel is about north of Crewe and south of ...

''(town)'' * Moreton cum Alcumlow * Moston *

Odd Rode Odd Rode is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It borders the Staffordshire parish of Kidsgrove, and includes the settlements of: * Scholar Green Scholar Green () is a ...

''(town)'' * Smallwood * Somerford *

* Swettenham * Twemlow

Demographics

The resident

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of the borough, as measured in the 2001

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, was 90,655, of which 49 per cent were male and 51 per cent were female.

Religion

The percentage of people of each religion in the borough (trom the

Census 2001 2001 census may refer to a census covered by: * Census in Australia#2001 * 2001 Bangladesh census * 2001 Bolivian census * Canada 2001 Census * 2001 census of Croatia * 2001 Census of India * Lithuanian census of 2001 * 2001 Nepal census * 2001 New ...

Political control

The town of Congleton had been a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

from 1836 to 1974 with a borough council. The first elections to the new Congleton Borough created under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:

Leadership

The leaders of the council from 1987 were:

Composition

The political composition of the council at its abolition in 2009 was:

Premises

The council was based at Westfields on Middlewich Road in Sandbach. This was a large nineteenth century house which had been bought in 1960 by the Congleton Rural District Council, one of the council's predecessors. In 2005–2007 a replacement headquarters building, also called Westfields, was built in front of the old house, which was then demolished. The new building was formally opened on 25 January 2008. After Congleton Borough Council's abolition, Westfields became the headquarters for the new

Cheshire East Council Cheshire East Council is the local authority of the Borough of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government ...

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units received the

Freedom of the Borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Congleton.

Individuals

Mr G. Chambers:2009

Military Units

* The

Cheshire Yeomanry The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France. Its lineag ...

: 1906. * The

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. ...

: 1969. *First Battalion of the Mercian Regiment:???

Council elections

*1973 Congleton Borough Council election *1976 Congleton Borough Council election (New ward boundaries) *1979 Congleton Borough Council election *1980 Congleton Borough Council election *1982 Congleton Borough Council election *1983 Congleton Borough Council election *1984 Congleton Borough Council election *1986 Congleton Borough Council election *1987 Congleton Borough Council election *1988 Congleton Borough Council election *1990 Congleton Borough Council election *1991 Congleton Borough Council election (Borough boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same) *1992 Congleton Borough Council election *1994 Congleton Borough Council election *1995 Congleton Borough Council election *1996 Congleton Borough Council election *1998 Congleton Borough Council election *1999 Congleton Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)legislation.gov.uk
The Borough of Congleton (Electoral Changes) Order 1998
Retrieved on 4 October 2015. *2000 Congleton Borough Council election *2002 Congleton Borough Council election *2003 Congleton Borough Council election *2004 Congleton Borough Council election *2006 Congleton Borough Council election *2007 Congleton Borough Council election

By-election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Congleton (Borough) English districts abolished in 2009 Districts of England established in 1974 Former non-metropolitan districts of Cheshire Former boroughs in England Borough of Council elections in Cheshire Congleton Borough of Cheshire East District council elections in England