West Dean Rural District was a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, from 1894 to 1974. It comprised a number of

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 authority ...

es, including, confusingly, one called West Dean, and gained further territory in 1935. It was formed from the part of the

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

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 ...

that was in Gloucestershire (the rest, in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, becoming part of Monmouth Rural District). It consisted of the following civil parishes, listed with their population in 1961: *

English Bicknor English Bicknor is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of west Gloucestershire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the population as 408. The village is near the county boundary with Herefordshire, opposite which is the vi ...

: 457 * Coleford (1935–1974): 3,546 *

Lydbrook Lydbrook is a civil parish in the Forest of Dean, a local government district in the English county of Gloucestershire and is located in the Wye Valley. It is on the north west edge of the Forest of Dean's present legal boundary proper. It compri ...

(1935–1974): 2,465 * Newland: 963 * Staunton: 206 * West Dean: 9,939 Coleford parish, gained in 1935, was previously an

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 ...

. The parish of Lydbrook was a new creation; it had previously formed part of the East Dean civil parish and was transferred from the East Dean and United Parishes Rural District. The district was abolished in 1974 when its former area became part of the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

district, under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

References

{{coord, 51.782, -2.577, display=title, region:GB_scale:100000 History of Gloucestershire Rural districts of England Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894