Civil parishes

Geography

Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in the other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet, while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare, with a population of 82,225 as of the 2021 census, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages, localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church.