Hatfield Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire,

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, covering an area in the south of the county.

Evolution

The district had its origins in the Hatfield

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 ...

. This had been created under the Public Health Acts of 1872 and 1875, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing boards of guardians of poor law unions. The Hatfield Rural Sanitary District covered the same area as the Hatfield Poor Law Union. 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 ...

, rural sanitary districts became rural districts from 28 December 1894. The link with the poor law union continued, with all the elected councillors of the rural district council being ''ex officio'' members of the Hatfield Board of Guardians. As there were no urban districts within the Hatfield Poor Law Union, the Hatfield Rural District Council and the Hatfield Board of Guardians were the same group of people. The council was granted a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

on 11 May 1945.

Parishes

Hatfield Rural District contained the following

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 ...

es.

Premises

In the early years, the Hatfield Rural District Council met at the board room in the Hatfield Union Workhouse, which stood on Wellfield Road (then called Union Lane). By 1933 the council had moved to purpose-built offices at 16 St Albans Road in Hatfield.

Abolition

Hatfield Rural District was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, merging with

Welwyn Rural District Welwyn Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the centre of the county. Evolution Welwyn Poor Law Union had been created in 1835 following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, cent ...

and the urban district of

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

to form the new

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Welwyn Hatfield The Borough of Welwyn Hatfield is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in southern Hertfordshire, England, governed by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. It covers the two towns of Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, Hertfordshire, ...

. The council's former offices at 16 St Albans Road continued to be used by the new council for some years, before being converted to flats and renamed Tudor House around 2011.Planning Application S6/2011/0708/FP: Former Council Offices Building, St Albans Road East, Hatfield: Change of use of former office building to residential and conversion to form 7 (4 x 1 and 3 x 2 bedroom) flats, new car parking, landscaping and ancillary works. Granted 31 May 2011.

References

{{reflist Rural districts of England Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 Local government in Hertfordshire