__NOTOC__ Downham Rural District was a rural district in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

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 formed under 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 ...

based on the Downham

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

. It completely encircled Downham Market Urban District. In 1930 a new parish of

Nordelph Nordelph is a civil parish near Downham Market in the English county of Norfolk. The parish covers an area of and had a population of 375 in 151 households at the 2001 census, increasing to 405 at the 2011 Census. In 1930 a new civil parish o ...

was created in Downham RD, taking land mostly out of the Marshland RD parish of

Upwell __NOTOC__ Upwell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Upwell village is on the A1101 road, as is Outwell, its conjoined village at the north. The nearest towns are Wisbech to the north-west and Downham Market to the ...

. Several changes were made to its boundaries in 1935. In particular, it took in four large (in area terms) parishes from the disbanded

Thetford Rural District Thetford Rural District was a rural district in Norfolk, England from 1894 to 1935. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Thetford rural sanitary district. It covered the lands which were in Norfolk and lay to the north ...

. In 1974, the district was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, and became part of the West Norfolk district, renamed King's Lynn and West Norfolk in 1981.

Welney Rural District

Welney Rural District was (at least nominally) a short-lived entity created in 1894 containing the only parish, West Welney, which had been in Downham RSD but lay in the

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures th ...

rather than

. Its population at the time was about 500. In 1895 the parish was transferred to Norfolk, and Welney RD was absorbed by Downham RD. There does not appear to be any evidence that it ever actually functioned.

Statistics

Parishes

References

{{coord, 52.58, 0.44, type:adm3rd_dim:25000_region:GB-NFK, display=title Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 Historical districts of Norfolk Rural districts of England