The
Highways Act 1555 made parishes responsible for the upkeep of roads. Every adult inhabitant of the parish was obliged to work four days a year on the roads, providing their own tools, carts and horses; the work was overseen by an unpaid local appointee, the
Surveyor of Highways. The poor were looked after by the
monasteries, until their
dissolution. In 1572, magistrates were given power to 'survey the poor' and impose taxes for their relief. This system was made more formal by the
Poor Law Act 1601, which made parishes responsible for administering the
Poor Law; overseers were appointed to charge a
rate to support the poor of the parish. The 19th century saw an increase in the responsibility of parishes, although the
Poor Law powers were transferred to
Poor Law Unions. The
Public Health Act 1872 grouped parishes into Rural Sanitary Districts, based on the Poor Law Unions; these subsequently formed the basis for
Rural Districts. Parishes were run by
vestries, meeting annually to appoint officials, and were generally identical to ecclesiastical parishes, although some
townships in large parishes administered the
Poor Law themselves; under the
Divided Parishes and Poor Law Amendment Act 1882, all
extra-parochial areas and
townships that levied a separate rate became independent civil parishes. Civil parishes in their modern sense date from the
Local Government Act 1894, which abolished
vestries; established elected parish councils in all rural parishes with more than 300 electors; grouped rural parishes into Rural Districts; and aligned parish boundaries with county and borough boundaries. The
Local Government Act 1972 retained civil parishes in rural areas, and many former
Urban Districts and
Municipal Boroughs that were being abolished, were replaced by new successor parishes; urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes became
unparished areas. ==The current position==