Axbridge Rural District

Axbridge was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974. It was named after the town of Axbridge.

It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 as a successor to the Axbridge rural sanitary district.

In 1974 it was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972. The area was split between three districts. The civil parishes of Banwell, Bleadon, Butcombe, Churchill, Congresbury, Hutton, Kewstoke, Locking, Puxton, Wick St. Lawrence, Winscombe and Wrington, and part of the parishes of Blagdon, Burrington and Loxton became part of the Woodspring district in the new county of Avon, with the remainder of the district becoming part of the Sedgemoor district in Somerset.

References

Rural district

Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.

England and Wales

In England and Wales they were created in 1894 (by the Local Government Act 1894) along with urban districts. They replaced the earlier system of sanitary districts (themselves based on poor law unions, but not replacing them).

Rural districts had elected rural district councils (RDCs), which inherited the functions of the earlier sanitary districts, but also had wider authority over matters such as local planning, council housing, and playgrounds and cemeteries. Matters such as education and roads were the responsibility of county councils.

Until 1930 the rural district councillors were also poor law guardians for the unions of which they formed part. Each parish was represented by one or more councillors.

Axbridge

Coordinates: 51°17′13″N 2°48′54″W / 51.287°N 2.815°W / 51.287; -2.815

Axbridge is a small town in Somerset, England, situated in the Sedgemoor district on the River Axe, near the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. The town population according to the 2011 census was 2,057.

History

Axanbrycg is suggested as the source of the name, meaning a bridge over the River Axe, in the early 9th century.

Early inhabitants of the area almost certainly include the Romans (who are known to have mined lead on the top of the Mendips) and earlier still, prehistoric man, (who lived in the local caves) whose flint tools have been found on the slopes of the local hills. The history of Axbridge can be traced back to the reign of King Alfred when it was part of the Saxons' defence system for Wessex against the Vikings. In the Burghal Hidage, a list of burbs compiled in 910 it was listed as Axanbrycg. A listing of Axbridge appears in the Domesday survey of 1086 as Alse Bruge, meaning 'axe bridge' from the Old English isca and brycg. It was part of the royal manor of Cheddar and part of the Winterstoke Hundred.