Civil parishes are small divisions used for statistical purposes and formerly for local government inScotland.
Civilparishes gained legal functions in 1845 when parochial boards were established to administer thepoor law. Their local government functions were abolished in 1930 with their powers transferred to county or burgh councils. Since 1975, they have been superseded as the smallest unit of local administration in Scotland bycommunity councils.
Civil parishes in Scotland can be dated from 1845, when parochial boards were established to administer thepoor law. While they originally corresponded to the parishes of theChurch of Scotland, the number and boundaries of parishes soon diverged. Where a parish contained aburgh, the area of the parish outside the burgh was termed thelandward area.
Until 1891 some parishes lay in more than onecounty. In that year, under the terms of theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1889, the boundaries of most of the civil parishes and counties were realigned so that each parish was wholly within a single county. In 1894 the parochial boards were replaced by more democratically elected parish councils.
Parish councils were in turn abolished in 1930, under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1929, with powers being transferred to county councils in landward areas of counties and burgh councils where they were within a burgh.
Their boundaries continued to be used to define some of the local authorities created by theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and they continue to be used for census purposes. They are used as part of the coding system for agricultural holdings under theIntegrated Administration and Control System (IACS) used to administer schemes within theCommon Agricultural Policy.
According to the website of theGeneral Register Office for Scotland, there are now 871 civil parishes.[1]
Civil parish boundaries originally corresponded with theecclesiastical parishes of theChurch of Scotland. As parishes used for religious functions diverged from civil parishes, the former became known asquoad sacra parishes.
Since 1975, Scotland has been divided intocommunity council areas which are often similar to civil parishes in their boundaries.
These community council are not equivalent toEnglish parish councils andWelsh community councils and do not have legal powers of their own but in some caseslocal authorities have a legal obligation to consult them.