Limehurst Rural District

Limehurst was, from 1894 to 1954, a rural district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England.

Limehurst
Area
• 1911	4,775 acres (19.32 km^2)
• 1951	3,085 acres (12.48 km^2)
Population
• 1901	10,341
• 1951	8,447
History
• Origin	Rural sanitary district
• Created	1894
• Abolished	1954
• Succeeded by	County Borough of Oldham Municipal Borough of Ashton-under-Lyne Droylsden Urban District Failsworth Urban District Municipal Borough of Mossley Lees Urban District
Status	Rural district
Government	Limehurst Rural District Council
• HQ	Ashton-under-Lyne
Subdivisions
• Type	Civil parishes

History

Ashton-under-Lyne Rural Sanitary District was created in 1872 and included parishes in both Cheshire and Lancashire.[1] The Local Government Act 1894 redesignated rural sanitary districts as rural districts, and where they crossed county boundaries they were generally divided. Accordingly the area of Ashton RSD was divided with the Lancashire parishes forming Limehurst Rural District and the Cheshire parishes becoming Tintwistle Rural District.[1]

Over time the rural district became increasingly urbanised, and it lost areas to surrounding boroughs and urban districts in 1914, 1935 and 1951. In 1954 the district was abolished, with its area passing to five neighbouring towns.[2]

Parishes

The rural district originally consisted of seven parishes:[1]

• Alt
• Bardsley
• Crossbank
• Hartshead
• Little Moss
• Waterloo
• Woodhouses

Six of the parishes formed an area bounded to the north by Failsworth and Oldham and to the south by Ashton-under-Lyne, Mossley and Droylsden. The parish of Crossbank formed an exclave, lying to the north of Lees Urban District.[3]

Contraction and abolition

The rural district was altered as follows:[2]

• The County of Lancaster (Lees and Crossbank) Confirmation Order 1914 abolished the parish of Crossbank and transferred its area to Lees Urban District.
• The parish of Hartshead was transferred to the Borough of Ashton-under-Lyne in 1935.
• In 1951 the Oldham Extension Act 1950 transferred 605 acres (2.45 km²) to the County Borough of Oldham
• On abolition in 1954 the rural district was divided between the Borough of Ashton-under-Lyne (1,154 acres), County Borough of Oldham (1,052 acres), Failsworth Urban District (606 acres), Droylsden Urban District (235 acres) and the Borough of Mossley (37 acres).

References

1. F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume II: Northern England, London, 1991
2. "Relationships / unit history of Limehurst". Vision of Britain. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
3. "Limehurst RD: Historical Boundaries". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 23 July 2008.