Winchcombe was, from 1894 to 1935, 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rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom.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 ...

in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

area of

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 ...

. It included parts of two administrative counties:

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

Formation

The rural district was created by 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 ...

as the successor to the Winchcombe Rural Sanitary District. The rural district was governed by a directly elected rural district council (RDC), which replaced the rural sanitary authority that had comprised the

poor law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

guardians for the area.

Parishes

The district consisted of twenty-nine

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es. Twenty-eight parishes were in Gloucestershire, while the parish of Cutsdean was a detached part of Worcestershire. In 1931 the county boundaries were altered and Cutsdean was transferred to Gloucestershire. However another parish in the rural district, Beckford, was transferred from Gloucestershire to Worcestershire at the same time. Two years later Beckford was transferred back to Worcestershire and to Evesham Rural District. The following parishes were in the district: * Alderton * Alstone * Beckford (until 1931) * Bishop's Cleeve * Buckland * Charlton Abbots * Cutsdean * Didbrook * Dumbleton * Gotherington * Great Washbourne * Guiting Power * Hailes * Hawling * Little Washbourne * Pinnock and Hyde * Prescott * Roel * Snowshill * Southam and Brockhampton * Stanley Pontlarge * Stanton * Stanway * Sudeley Manor * Temple Guiting * Toddington *

Winchcombe Winchcombe () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the county of Gloucestershire, England, situated northeast of Cheltenham. The population was recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census and ...

* Woodmancote * Wormington

Abolition

Under the

Local Government Act 1929 The Local Government Act 1929 ( 19 & 20 Geo. 5. c. 17) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The act abolished the system of poor law unions in England ...

county councils were given the duty of reviewing the districts within their county. ''The County of Gloucester Review Order 1935'' came into effect on 1 April 1935, and led to the abolition of a number of small urban and rural districts in the county. Winchcombe Rural District was dissolved, with its area redistributed between Cheltenham Rural District and a new North Cotswold Rural District.

References

{{Reflist Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 History of Gloucestershire Rural districts of England 1935 disestablishments in England