Melford Rural District was a rural district in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...

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 ...

. It was created in 1894, 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 ...

from that part of the Sudbury

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 ...

in West Suffolk (the rest becoming

Belchamp Rural District Belchamp was a rural district in Essex in England. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 from that part of the Sudbury rural sanitary district which was in Essex (the rest going to form the Melford Rural District in West Suffolk). T ...

in Essex). It was named after

Long Melford Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, ...

and administered from Sudbury. Shortly after its creation, in 1896, the parish of

Glemsford Glemsford is a village in the Babergh district in Suffolk, England, near the town of Sudbury. Glemsford is located near the River Glem and the River Stour also flows nearby. Glemsford is surrounded by arable farmland and is not far from his ...

was made a separate

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

. On 1 April 1935 it lost the parishes of

Cavendish Cavendish may refer to: People * The House of Cavendish, a British aristocratic family * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), British poet, philosopher, and scientist * Cavendish (author) (1831–1899), pen name of Henry Jones, English au ...

and

Hawkedon Hawkedon is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around south-south-west of Bury St Edmunds, the parish also contains the hamlet of Thurston End, and in 2005 had a population of 120. Th ...

to the

Clare Rural District Clare Rural District was a rural district in the county of West Suffolk, England. It was created in 1894, comprising those parishes in the Risbridge rural sanitary district which were in Suffolk. On 1 April 1935 it was enlarged by the additi ...

. At the same time the Glemsford Urban District was abolished and restored to the district. Since 1 April 1974 it has formed part of the District of Babergh.

Parishes

At the time of its dissolution it consisted of the following 21

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. * Acton *

Alpheton Alpheton is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. Located on the A134 road about six miles north of Sudbury, in 2005 it had a population of 260, reducing to 256 at the 2011 Census. According to Eilert Ekwall t ...

Assington Assington is a village in Suffolk, England, south-east of Sudbury. At the 2011 Census it had a population of 402, estimated at 445 in 2019. The parish includes the hamlets of Rose Green and Dorking Tye. History According to Eilert Ekwall, the ...

* Boxted * Bures St. Mary * Chilton *

Great Cornard Great Cornard is a large village and civil parish that is part of the town of Sudbury, in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. History The area now called Great Cornard has been occupied since pre-history, with evidence of ...

Great Waldingfield Great Waldingfield is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England about two miles (3 km) north-east of Sudbury and two miles (3 km) south-west of its sister village, Little Waldingfield. The village is spli ...

Hartest Hartest is a small village and civil parish in the Babergh district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located halfway between Bury St. Edmunds and Sudbury on the B1066 road in the Glem valley. Brockley is two miles north. The villag ...

Lawshall Lawshall is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located around a mile off the A134 between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury, it is part of Babergh district. The parish has nine settlements comprising the three main settlements of The St ...

* Leavenheath *

Little Cornard Little Cornard is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located around from its larger sibling, Great Cornard, on the B1508 road between Sudbury and Colchester, it is part of Babergh district, and has a population of 305, reducing ...

* Little Waldingfield *

Nayland-with-Wissington Nayland-with-Wissington is a civil parish which comprises the larger village of Nayland and the adjoining rural village of Wissington (these days usually referred to as 'Wiston' by local residents (Knox, 2001) ). They were originally two separate ...

* Newton *

Shimpling Shimpling is a village and civil parish in south Suffolk, England. About from Bury St Edmunds, it is part of Babergh district. The village is formed from two halves, the newer Shimpling Street and about away the old village of Shimpling. T ...

Somerton Somerton may refer to: Places Australia * Somerton, New South Wales * Somerton Park, South Australia, a seaside Adelaide suburb ** Somerton Man, unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead in 1948 on the Somerton Park beach * Somerton, Victoria ...

* Stanstead * Stoke-by-Nayland

Statistics

References

{{Former local government areas in Suffolk History of Suffolk Local government in Suffolk Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Rural districts of England