Ware 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 east of the county.

Evolution

The district had its origins in the Ware

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 Act 1872 In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing boards of guardians of poor law unions. The Ware Rural Sanitary District covered the area of the Ware Poor Law Union excluding the town of

Ware Ware may refer to: People * Ware (surname) * William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian Places Canada * Fort Ware, British Columbia United Kingdom * Ware, Devon *Ware, Hertfordshire * Ware, Kent United States * Ware, Elmore County ...

. 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. Prior to the act coming into force, Hertfordshire County Council made an order directing that the town of

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

, which was in the Ware Rural Sanitary District, should become an urban district in its own right rather than be included in the Ware Rural District. The link with the poor law union continued, with all the elected councillors of the rural district council being ''ex officio'' members of the Ware Board of Guardians.

Parishes

Ware 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

From the council's foundation until 1960 it met at the board room of the Ware Union Workhouse, later known as Western House, on Collett Road. Administrative office functions were carried out until 1934 at 8 West Street, which was shared with the Ware Urban District Council and the solicitors who acted as clerks to both councils. In 1934 the council acquired a house called The Laurels at 97 New Road, converting it to serve as offices. A council chamber was built to the rear of 97 New Road in 1960, after which the building served as both meeting place and offices for the council until its abolition. The council also built additional office space at 103 New Road in the mid 1960s.

Abolition

Ware Rural District was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming part of 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 ...

East Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and the other main towns are Ware, Bunti ...

on 1 April 1974. The old Ware Rural District Council main office at 97 New Road was subsequently converted into flats, whilst its other office at 103 New Road was used for various local authority functions for some years, with the site being redeveloped for houses in 2015.

References

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