Crowmarsh is a fairly large, mostly rural

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

South Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a planned move to Didcot, the district's largest town. The ...

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 ...

east and southeast of the town of Wallingford on the opposite bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

and may also refer to its larger district council ward which extends to

Ipsden Ipsden is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, about southeast of Wallingford. It is almost equidistant from Oxford and Reading, Berkshire. Parish church The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the ...

and Nuffield.

Formation and constituent settlements

The civil parish was formed on 1 April 1932 by the amalgamation of four existing parishes. The four parishes retain their individual identities.

Crowmarsh Gifford Crowmarsh Gifford, commonly known as Crowmarsh, is a village in the civil parish of Crowmarsh in South Oxfordshire. It is beside the River Thames opposite the market town of Wallingford, the two linked by Wallingford Bridge. Crowmarsh parish ...

and

Newnham Murren Newnham Murren is a hamlet in the Thames Valley in South Oxfordshire, about east of the market town of Wallingford. Newnham Murren is in the civil parish of Crowmarsh and is now contiguous with the village of Crowmarsh Gifford. History Newnh ...

are contiguous villages divided by ''The Street'', the road which leads to Wallingford Bridge. In the south of the parish are the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

-size villages of North Stoke and Mongewell.

Governance

As a civil parish, Crowmarsh has three tiers of local government. The lowest tier is Crowmarsh Parish Council, which has responsibility for minor matters such as

allotment Allotment may refer to: * Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887 * Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed s ...

s, open spaces and community halls. The parish council has 12 members, elected for a four-year term. The middle level is

South Oxfordshire District Council South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sun� ...

(with responsibility for matters such as

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and housing authority, assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of Shelter (building), shelter. Housing ensures that members of so ...

, planning and waste collection). The district is divided into 19 wards for the elections of councillors. Crowmarsh ward also comprises the parishes of Ipsden and Nuffield and elects one councillor to the 48 member authority. The upper tier of local government is

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, incl ...

, which administers "wide area" strategic services such as education, highways and social services. Crowmarsh forms part of the Benson electoral division, returning one councilor to the 74 member body.

Formation and constituent settlements

Governance

External links

References

Sources