Kempston was an

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between 1896 and 1974.

Formation

The historic parish of

Kempston Kempston is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, situated around south-west of Bedford town centre. It had a population of 19,330 in the 2011 census, and forms part of the wider Bedford built-up area. The ...

covered a large area to the south-west of the town of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

. From 1835 Kempston had been part of the Bedford

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 ...

, and therefore became part of the Bedford

Rural Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

under the

Public Health Acts Public Health Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom for legislation relating to public health. List *The Public Health Act 1848 ( 11 & 12 Vict. c. 63) *The Sanitary Act 1866 ( 29 & 30 Vict. c. 90) is sometimes called the Public H ...

of 1872 and 1875. The Bedford Rural Sanitary District became the

Bedford Rural District Bedford Rural District was a rural district in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It surrounded but did not include the Municipal Borough of Bedford and Kempston Urban District. Evolution The district had its origins in the Bedford Rura ...

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 ...

. By this time, the north-eastern part of Kempston parish (closest to Bedford) was becoming increasingly urbanised. Within months of the Bedford Rural District being established, work began to create an urban district council for the more built-up part of the parish. In June 1895 Bedfordshire County Council decided that the parish of Kempston should be split between a Kempston Urban District and a new parish for the remainder called

Kempston Rural Kempston Rural is a civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. History Kempston Rural was formed in 1896 when the old parish of Kempston was split into two parts - Kempston Urban District (now the town of Kempston), and K ...

which was to stay in the Bedford Rural District. These changes came into force on 1 April 1896. The first meeting of the Kempston Urban District Council was held on 18 May 1896 at the Bedford Road School in Kempston, with Paul Williams Wyatt being appointed the first chairman. He was a clergyman, being the chaplain of the

Savoy Chapel The King's Chapel of St John the Baptist in the Precinct of the Savoy, also known as the King's Chapel of the Savoy (called The Queen's Chapel during much of modern history in the reigns of Victoria and Elizabeth II), is a church in the City of ...

at the time, but had previously served between 1889 and 1894 as the first vicar of St Leonard's Church, just over the borough boundary into Bedford.

Premises

For the first few years of its existence, Kempston Urban District Council met at Bedford Road School in Kempston. New offices and a council chamber were built in 1904 at 104 Bedford Road, Kempston, being officially opened on 13 October 1904. The council stayed at 104 Bedford Road until 1970 when it moved to The Manor on Manor Drive in Kempston.

Abolition

Kempston Urban District was abolished 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 ...

, becoming part of Bedford District on 1 April 1974. A

successor parish Successor parishes are Civil parishes in England, civil parishes with a parish councils in England, parish council, created in England in 1974. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of Urban district (England and Wales), urban d ...

was created covering the area of the former urban district, with its council taking the name Kempston Town Council, which continued to be based at The Manor until 1996 when it returned to 104 Bedford Road. A community centre was built behind 104 Bedford Road at the time, which was named Centenary Hall, marking the anniversary of the creation of the Urban District Council a hundred years earlier.

References

{{Bedfordshire administrative county Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 History of Bedfordshire Local government in Bedfordshire Urban districts of England