A Brief History of the Box Parish Council Alan Payne July 2021
Celebrating the centenary of the Box Parish Council (courtesy Carol Payne)
If you ever attend a parish council meeting you might think that some of the items are tending towards humdrum minutiae. That’s because we aren’t always interested in every aspect of local life and determine that our elected local representatives should do this work for us. The establishment of Box Parish Council was part of a wholesale democratisation of local authority in England and Wales, which shifted authority away from personal appointment (often at the instigation of the lord of the manor or the parish church) to control by councils elected by local people.
Reform of English Local Government
The changes started with the Local Authority Act of 1888 which established county councils. The Conservative Government of the day were in coalition with the Liberal Unionists who demanded the act to set up democratically-elected county councils to take over the old Quarter Session Courts. The councils’ role was broad ranging: responsibility for levying rates, maintaining bridges and roads, controlling county police forces, licensing pubs, providing asylums for the mentally ill and controlling public health infections.
A further sub-division of the county areas followed in 1894 when the Liberals under Gladstone had won a full majority in parliament. They enacted the creation of Rural District Councils (RDCs) and locally-elected civil parish councillors. With responsibility for sanitation, the RDCs began a project of modernising residences in their area. The parish councils took over some responsibility previously exercised by church parish vestries, such as maintenance of closed burial grounds (including Box churchyard) and the appointment of overseers of the poor. Parish Councils were authorised to hold assets on behalf of the local community (village greens, allotments, local fire engines and libraries), were responsible for local street lighting and maintaining footpaths. Because the old Ditteridge parish vestry was small, it was amalgamated with Box, and both were put into modern Wiltshire, initially in the Chippenham RDC and later Calne & Chippenham RDC.
Reform of English Local Government
The changes started with the Local Authority Act of 1888 which established county councils. The Conservative Government of the day were in coalition with the Liberal Unionists who demanded the act to set up democratically-elected county councils to take over the old Quarter Session Courts. The councils’ role was broad ranging: responsibility for levying rates, maintaining bridges and roads, controlling county police forces, licensing pubs, providing asylums for the mentally ill and controlling public health infections.
A further sub-division of the county areas followed in 1894 when the Liberals under Gladstone had won a full majority in parliament. They enacted the creation of Rural District Councils (RDCs) and locally-elected civil parish councillors. With responsibility for sanitation, the RDCs began a project of modernising residences in their area. The parish councils took over some responsibility previously exercised by church parish vestries, such as maintenance of closed burial grounds (including Box churchyard) and the appointment of overseers of the poor. Parish Councils were authorised to hold assets on behalf of the local community (village greens, allotments, local fire engines and libraries), were responsible for local street lighting and maintaining footpaths. Because the old Ditteridge parish vestry was small, it was amalgamated with Box, and both were put into modern Wiltshire, initially in the Chippenham RDC and later Calne & Chippenham RDC.
Mead Field before it became The Rec showing the cricket pitch left and the football pitch sloping away right (courtesy Box Parish Council)
Box Parish Council, 1894
Elections for Box parish council took place in October 1894 and the first meeting of the council took place at Box School in March 1895.[1] The main item was how to provide street lights in the village (powered by town gas) and who should pay the cost as the lights were only in the centre of Box (eventually resolved as payable equally by each resident). It set the tone for how the village was to be administered in future. The people who were elected to the first council were instrumental in determining the direction that the village was moving. Of the sixteen original members, 6 people representing the stone industry and 3 were local shopkeepers or publicans. The vicar Rev GE Gardiner came 31st in the vote and lord of the manor Col Northey 39th; neither was elected.[2] The first election by the people of Box clearly expressed a divergence from the old established order of privilege and the established church.
The first chairman of the council in 1894-95 was something of an outsider, Joseph Hill Fry (1843-1911), a farmer at Hazelbury Farm on the outskirts of the village. He was the second son of a wealthy Marshfield farming family. The second chairman (and afterwards many others) also came from under-represented village interests, HRN Pictor, a Methodist and stone quarry-owner who chaired the council from 1896 until 1907.
There were numerous demands for issues to be referred to the council. In the early years James Vezey, landlord of The Chequers pub, suggested the council should be approached about forming a village recreation ground (not achieved until 50 years later) and a large dispute arose later that year over the damage being done to Box roads by ponderous, enormous steam traction engines, as well as arguments over the closure of footpaths in Alcombe.[3]
Elections for Box parish council took place in October 1894 and the first meeting of the council took place at Box School in March 1895.[1] The main item was how to provide street lights in the village (powered by town gas) and who should pay the cost as the lights were only in the centre of Box (eventually resolved as payable equally by each resident). It set the tone for how the village was to be administered in future. The people who were elected to the first council were instrumental in determining the direction that the village was moving. Of the sixteen original members, 6 people representing the stone industry and 3 were local shopkeepers or publicans. The vicar Rev GE Gardiner came 31st in the vote and lord of the manor Col Northey 39th; neither was elected.[2] The first election by the people of Box clearly expressed a divergence from the old established order of privilege and the established church.
The first chairman of the council in 1894-95 was something of an outsider, Joseph Hill Fry (1843-1911), a farmer at Hazelbury Farm on the outskirts of the village. He was the second son of a wealthy Marshfield farming family. The second chairman (and afterwards many others) also came from under-represented village interests, HRN Pictor, a Methodist and stone quarry-owner who chaired the council from 1896 until 1907.
There were numerous demands for issues to be referred to the council. In the early years James Vezey, landlord of The Chequers pub, suggested the council should be approached about forming a village recreation ground (not achieved until 50 years later) and a large dispute arose later that year over the damage being done to Box roads by ponderous, enormous steam traction engines, as well as arguments over the closure of footpaths in Alcombe.[3]
Notable Box Parish Councillors
It is probably true that the work done by councillors is under-appreciated. At times, even their health has been put in danger. In 1911 the first chairman, Joseph Hill Fry, was proposing extra funds to the poor to celebrate the coronation of King George V, when he suddenly fell dead of an apoplectic fit.[4] By then he had retired from farming and settled at Sunnyside, Middlehill, describing himself as a valuer. The second chairman Herbert Robert Newman (usually called HRN) Pictor led the Bath Stone Company as befitted the family which previously had owned the Clift Quarry Works on Box Hill. He lived at Rudloe Towers (now Rudloe Park Hotel) but fell dramatically in status in the years before the First World War. His wife left him and he became something of a recluse at home. His personal financial disgrace came in 1907 when he went bankrupt.
Obviously, it is not possible to mention all those who have served on the council and there is no disrespect intended to those not mentioned. Box’s greatly-respected medical practitioner, Dr James Pirie Martin, is still the longest-serving chairman from 1908 until 1936, ahead of Bill Chaffey of Charlotte Cottage from 1950 to 1969. Penny Newboult was the first female chairman in 1982 and led the way for a number of other women since. Some councillors have mixed local professional interest with council work, such as auctioneer Charles William Bond Oatley (chairman 1945-48) and village postmaster Richard Fudge (chairman 1970-75). The vast majority have simply wanted to improve Box, particularly in areas of their direct, personal interest, such as the outlying hamlets, ground maintenance or children’s facilities.
It is probably true that the work done by councillors is under-appreciated. At times, even their health has been put in danger. In 1911 the first chairman, Joseph Hill Fry, was proposing extra funds to the poor to celebrate the coronation of King George V, when he suddenly fell dead of an apoplectic fit.[4] By then he had retired from farming and settled at Sunnyside, Middlehill, describing himself as a valuer. The second chairman Herbert Robert Newman (usually called HRN) Pictor led the Bath Stone Company as befitted the family which previously had owned the Clift Quarry Works on Box Hill. He lived at Rudloe Towers (now Rudloe Park Hotel) but fell dramatically in status in the years before the First World War. His wife left him and he became something of a recluse at home. His personal financial disgrace came in 1907 when he went bankrupt.
Obviously, it is not possible to mention all those who have served on the council and there is no disrespect intended to those not mentioned. Box’s greatly-respected medical practitioner, Dr James Pirie Martin, is still the longest-serving chairman from 1908 until 1936, ahead of Bill Chaffey of Charlotte Cottage from 1950 to 1969. Penny Newboult was the first female chairman in 1982 and led the way for a number of other women since. Some councillors have mixed local professional interest with council work, such as auctioneer Charles William Bond Oatley (chairman 1945-48) and village postmaster Richard Fudge (chairman 1970-75). The vast majority have simply wanted to improve Box, particularly in areas of their direct, personal interest, such as the outlying hamlets, ground maintenance or children’s facilities.
Box Parish Council Achievements
Of course, any list of Box Council successes reflects mostly on the individual interest of the compiler. So, this is no more than my personal view, starting with the establishment of The Rec in the centre of Box, admired by almost every visitor. It was donated to the village by the generosity of George Jardine Kidston and George Edward Northey in 1925. Previously, village celebrations were held on private land, such as Fete Field (now developed as Bargates residential area) and depended on the generosity of the owner. Since 1925 Box Rec has been the centre of village summer family pleasure. Cricket and football on The Rec have occupied many of our young men and women and now, with the creation of the bowls green, some of the not-quite-so-young villagers have enjoyed our local facilities, including Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, in 2009.
Not everyone realises that The Rec is not an historic area but was been deliberately created in its present form in the decades after the Second World War. The lower field was levelled in the 1960s by depositing the debris from wartime prefabs at Boxfields, sown with grass and the division of the upper and lower field achieved by the grassy slope. The car park beyond the Selwyn Hall was another masterstroke in alleviating parked traffic on the roads of Box.
Speaking personally, the council’s help in starting the Box Revels in 1984 is a highlight. Incidentally, our longest-serving parish clerk, Margaret Carey, was instrumental in helping to sort out the first two years of the village fair (Medieval Revels with Lady Godiva and Victorian Revels with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) originally held in The Market Place and thereafter on The Rec. All the funds raised in those first two years went towards rebuilding Box School entrance and some classrooms.
It would be remiss to ignore the council’s success in entering the village Best Kept Village competitions where it twice emerged as a winner in 1988 and 1990. In 1998 it was named as one of the country’s top villages in a national contest. In 1999 Littlemead, Ashley competed in the North Wiltshire Flower Festival for the Best Kept Street and the Council Offices for Best Kept Public Building.[5] Many of the competitions were an entire village effort with front gardens decorated as well as public areas and an enormous amount of work from the parish groundsmen.
Of course, any list of Box Council successes reflects mostly on the individual interest of the compiler. So, this is no more than my personal view, starting with the establishment of The Rec in the centre of Box, admired by almost every visitor. It was donated to the village by the generosity of George Jardine Kidston and George Edward Northey in 1925. Previously, village celebrations were held on private land, such as Fete Field (now developed as Bargates residential area) and depended on the generosity of the owner. Since 1925 Box Rec has been the centre of village summer family pleasure. Cricket and football on The Rec have occupied many of our young men and women and now, with the creation of the bowls green, some of the not-quite-so-young villagers have enjoyed our local facilities, including Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, in 2009.
Not everyone realises that The Rec is not an historic area but was been deliberately created in its present form in the decades after the Second World War. The lower field was levelled in the 1960s by depositing the debris from wartime prefabs at Boxfields, sown with grass and the division of the upper and lower field achieved by the grassy slope. The car park beyond the Selwyn Hall was another masterstroke in alleviating parked traffic on the roads of Box.
Speaking personally, the council’s help in starting the Box Revels in 1984 is a highlight. Incidentally, our longest-serving parish clerk, Margaret Carey, was instrumental in helping to sort out the first two years of the village fair (Medieval Revels with Lady Godiva and Victorian Revels with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) originally held in The Market Place and thereafter on The Rec. All the funds raised in those first two years went towards rebuilding Box School entrance and some classrooms.
It would be remiss to ignore the council’s success in entering the village Best Kept Village competitions where it twice emerged as a winner in 1988 and 1990. In 1998 it was named as one of the country’s top villages in a national contest. In 1999 Littlemead, Ashley competed in the North Wiltshire Flower Festival for the Best Kept Street and the Council Offices for Best Kept Public Building.[5] Many of the competitions were an entire village effort with front gardens decorated as well as public areas and an enormous amount of work from the parish groundsmen.
Groundsman Bob Hancock beautifying flower display at the War Memorial for Best Kept Village entry (photo courtesy Bob Hancock)
Conclusion
But probably none of the above is the most important council contribution to our modern village life. Arguably it is the small grants and items of local help given to people and organisations in the village which helps support the community in which we all wish to live. Because Box parish council is steeped in the village’s modern history, it is an organisation that understands what our community wants and can help us achieve it.
But probably none of the above is the most important council contribution to our modern village life. Arguably it is the small grants and items of local help given to people and organisations in the village which helps support the community in which we all wish to live. Because Box parish council is steeped in the village’s modern history, it is an organisation that understands what our community wants and can help us achieve it.
References
[1] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 30 March 1895
[2] The Bath Chronicle, 6 December 1894
[3] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 24 August 1895
[4] The Daily Mirror, 16 May 1911 and Central Somerset Gazette, 19 May 1911
[5] Chippenham News, 24 September 1999
[1] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 30 March 1895
[2] The Bath Chronicle, 6 December 1894
[3] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 24 August 1895
[4] The Daily Mirror, 16 May 1911 and Central Somerset Gazette, 19 May 1911
[5] Chippenham News, 24 September 1999