The Borough of Crewe and Nantwich was created on 1 April 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972 by the merger of the
borough of
Crewe (an industrial town), the
urban district of
Nantwich (a smaller market town), and
Nantwich Rural District. The new district was proposed to be called just "Crewe", but the shadow authority elected in 1973 to oversee the transition to the new system successfully petitioned the government to change the name to "Crewe and Nantwich" before the district came into being. The new district was awarded
borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor. In 2006 the
Department for Communities and Local Government considered reorganising Cheshire's administrative structure as part of the
2009 structural changes to local government in England. The decision to merge the boroughs of Crewe and Nantwich,
Congleton and
Macclesfield to create a single unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007, following a consultation period in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected. The Borough of Crewe and Nantwich was abolished on 1 April 2009, when the new
Cheshire East unitary authority was formed. ==Civil parishes==