Civil parishes in England
Civil parishes (English " communities " ) are the lowest local government unit in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which, however, in the United Kingdom has no formal meaning more, but as the counties and districts in the " unified management authority " ( Unitary Authority) have been merged. They have their origin from the parishes of the period before the secularization, the boundaries, however, have largely displaced by territorial reforms over time.
In England and Wales there are (usually within big cities ) still called unparished areas, ie areas that are not part of a civil parish and do not form a separate administrative unit. Civil parishes in Ireland have no administrative function and serve only as cadastral units.
England
Through the Local Government Act 1972 all were released since 1894 existing civil parishes and replaced by new ones on 1 April 1974. Since they form by the counties and districts ( districts or boroughs ), the lowest administrative unit in England.
Wales
Through the Local Government Act 1972 all existing civil parishes were dissolved and replaced by so-called communities on 1 April 1974. Since you are the counterpart to the English Civil parishes.
Scotland
In Scotland, the civil parishes as an administrative unit by the Local Government ( Scotland) Act 1929 were dissolved and then served only to collect statistics. Through the Local Government (Scotland ) Act 1973, although new communities were introduced, but they have no comparable power as the administrative units of the same level in England and Wales.
The civil parishes of Scotland dating from 1845, which were intended to follow closely the implementation of the Poor Law. They corresponded to the beginning of the parishes of the Church of Scotland, however, the limits and the number of communities changed very soon. Where within such an organizational entity existed a free city, a rural community for the part outside the city was formed in addition. Until 1891, many municipal areas were in different counties, but this was reversed by the Local Government ( Scotland) Act 1889. 1894 municipalities were introduced with democratically elected to municipal and city councils for the first time, this was in 1930 by the Local Government ( Scotland) Act 1929 in turn undone. Although the civil parishes since indeed have no administrative function more, they exist to this day. They are the basis for the conduct of censuses and for the coding of farms. According to the General Register Office for Scotland Currently, there are 871 civil parishes.
Ireland
In Ireland, the community areas corresponded originally to those of the Church of Ireland. The boundaries of the parishes changed by the Irish Church Disestablishment Act in 1869, but public communities remained unaffected. The communities of the Roman Catholic Church were at no time in relation to the state churches.
The civil parishes had a certain importance in tax collection and were in the 19th century in the maps of the Irish Survey Office ( Ordnance Survey Ireland) registered.