LevelCollection
TitleSwallowcliffe St Peter
DescriptionRecords of the parish of Swallowcliffe. St Peter church is part of the Upper Nadder benefice. Other chapels/churches in this group will have their own series in the collection.

Swallowcliffe parish united with Ansty in 1924. The parishes combined with Tisbury in 1975, and the benefice united with Chilmark in 1976 to form a team ministry now known as the Nadder Valley.
Place Name/Swallowcliffe/Wiltshire
Administrative HistoryBefore 1894 parishes had responsibility for both civil and ecclesiastical matters having taken on greater responsibility for civil functions previously under the jurisdiction of manors. In 1894 the Local Government Act reformed local government and created civil parish councils which took over responsibility for the secular duties of the parish.

Responsibility as the formal administrative unit responsible for relief of the poor lay with the parish following the 1601 Poor Relief Act. The next most significant change in poor relief was the 1834 Poor Law amendment Act which formed Poor Law Unions from groups of parishes managed by an elected Board of Guardians. For records of Poor Law Unions see catalogues H1-19) Powers were then transferred to local councils following acts of 1926, 1927 and 1929.

Note that some post-1894 material now falling under the responsibility of civil parish councils may appear within parish collections (the relevant parish council collection makes note of this where instances occur).
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