Chester was a rural district of Cheshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, from 1894 to 1974. It was located near the city and

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

of Chester but did not include it. The district saw various boundary changes throughout its life. It included the small

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Chester Castle Chester Castle is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is sited at the southwest extremity of the area bounded by the city walls. The castle stands on an eminence overlooking the River Dee. In the castle complex are the remaining part ...

, an exclave of the rural district within the boundaries of the county borough of Chester.

Creation

The 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 level un ...

as the successor to Chester Rural Sanitary District. It initially consisted of the following civil parishes: ‡ In 1901 the two parishes were merged to form a single civil parish of Mollington. † In 1910 the parish of Great Stanney was removed from the rural district and became part of an enlarged

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

and Whitby Urban District. ¶ In 1933 the parish of Ince and part of Thornton le Moors were added to an enlarged Ellesmere Port Urban district.

1936 boundary changes

In 1936 the boundaries of the rural district were substantially altered under a

county review order The Local Government Act 1929 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 and Wales and their boar ...

: *The County Borough of Chester and

Hoole Hoole is a suburb in the east of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The area is contiguous with Newton to the north and Vicars Cross to the south. The A41 road marks ...

Urban District were extended to take in six parishes: Blacon cum Crabwall, Claverton, Great Boughton, Little Saughall, Marlston cum Lache, and Newton by Chester. *The boundary with the neighbouring Tarvin Rural District was adjusted and nine parishes were added: * Aldford * Barrow * Buerton *

Churton Heath Churton Heath is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Aldford and Saighton, in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. In 2001 it had a population of 8. Listed building The parish contains o ...

Guilden Sutton Guilden Sutton is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies approximately to the east of Chester and is south of the village of Mickle Tr ...

* Huntington *

Lea Newbold Lea Newbold is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Aldford and Saighton, in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares ...

* Rowton * Saighton

Further changes and abolition

In 1954 Hoole Urban District was abolished. The bulk of its area was added to the county borough of Chester, but were added to the rural district. There were exchanges of very small areas of land with neighbouring districts in 1963 due to the diversion of the

River Gowy The River Gowy is a river in Cheshire, England, a tributary of the River Mersey. It rises in western Cheshire in the hills near Peckforton Castle, very close to the source of the River Weaver. While the Weaver flows south initially, the Gowy ...

. The final change in the district's boundaries came in 1967, when passed to the Borough of Ellesmere Port. The Local Government Act 1972 completely reorganised council boundaries throughout England and Wales. On 1 April 1974, Chester Rural District was merged with the city of Chester and Tarvin Rural District to form the new

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shi ...

of Chester.

References

{{Reflist Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 History of Cheshire Rural districts of England