Crickhowell Rural District was a

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

Brecknockshire Brecknockshire ( or ), also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon, was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was created in 1 ...

(or Breconshire), Wales from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the south-east of the county around the small town of Crickhowell.

Origins

The district had its origins in the Crickhowell

poor law union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

, which had been created in 1836, covering Crickhowell itself and several surrounding parishes. In 1872 sanitary districts were established, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing boards of guardians of poor law unions. Areas with existing urban authorities were excluded from the rural sanitary district, which covered the rest of the poor law union. Parts of the urban

local government districts The districts of England (officially, local authority districts, abbreviated LADs) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the structure of local government in England is not uniform, there ...

Brynmawr ; ; ; ) is a market town, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at above sea level at ...

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

Rhymney Rhymney (; ) is a town and a community (Wales), community in the county borough of Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshir ...

and

Tredegar Tredegar (; ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial R ...

fell within the Crickhowell poor law union, and were therefore excluded from the Crickhowell rural sanitary district. The town of Crickhowell itself had no urban authority, and so it was administered as part of the rural sanitary district. The rural sanitary district was administered from Crickhowell Union Workhouse, which had been completed in 1872 (on the site of an earlier workhouse) at the hamlet of Dardy in the parish of Llangattock, about a mile west of Crickhowell itself. Under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

, rural sanitary districts became rural districts from 28 December 1894 with their own elected councils. Crickhowell Rural District Council held its first meeting on 31 December 1894 at the workhouse. The first chairman was Joseph Bailey, a former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP who had also been the chairman of the Crickhowell Board of Guardians for some years previously.

Civil parishes

The parishes within the district were: * Crickhowell * Grwyne Fawr (absorbed into Partrishow 1934) *Grwyne Fechan (absorbed into Llanbedr Ystradwy 1934) * Llanbedr Ystradwy *

Llanelly Llanelly () is a village, Community (Wales), community, and parish in the county of Monmouthshire, South East Wales. It formerly existed in the historic county of Brecknockshire. The population of the community and ward at the 2011 United Kin ...

* Llanfihangel Cwmdu * Llangattock * Llangenny * Llangynidr * Partrishow

Premises

The council initially met at the workhouse, but in 1900 moved its meetings to Crickhowell Town Hall. A new office building called Beaufort Chambers was built on Beaufort Street in 1906. The rural district council initially took a small suite of offices there for some of its staff, but later expanded to take over the whole building. Council meetings transferred from the Town Hall to a new council chamber at Beaufort Chambers in 1930, and the council bought the building in 1936.

Abolition

Crickhowell Rural District was abolished in 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, with the area becoming part of the Borough of Brecknock in the new county of

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, with the exception of the parish of Llanelly, which was transferred to

Blaenau Gwent Blaenau Gwent (; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders the Local government in Wales, unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly County Borough ...

References

{{Reflist Crickhowell Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 Rural districts of Wales