Pre-1974 Councils

Local Government Pre-1974

On 1 April 1974, the former system of local government in England changed substantially, but some of the effects are relevant today. In simple terms, at the district level, England was comprised mostly of urban district councils (UDCs) and rural district councils (RDCs).

Commons with Equestrian Access

Section 193(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 established that members of the public would have a right of access for air and exercise on any land which is:
   a metropolitan common within the meaning of the Metropolitan Commons Acts 1866 to 1898, or
   manorial waste, or
   a common, which is wholly or partly situated within an area which immediately before 1st April 1974 was a borough or urban district.

Boroughs and Urban Districts

In Hertfordshire, the following areas were urban districts or municipal boroughs prior to 1 April 1974. The modern parish names where different are given in brackets.

Baldock UD
Barnet UD (no longer in Hertfordshire)
Berkhamsted UD (there was also a Berkhamsted RD)
Bishop's Stortford UD
Bushey UD
Cheshunt UD
Chorleywood UD
Harpenden UD
Hemel Hempstead MB
Hertford MB
Hitchin UD (there was also a Hitchin RD)
Hoddesdon UD
Letchworth UD
Potters Bar UD (Potters Bar and South Mimms)
Rickmansworth UD (Rickmansworth, Croxley Green and Batchworth)
Royston UD
Sawbridgeworth UD
St Albans MB
Stevenage UD
Tring UD
Ware UD (there was also a Ware RD)
Watford MB (there was also a Watford RD)
Welwyn Garden City UD