History of the Parish Council

1111Parish Councils in England and Wales have been in existence in some form or another since Saxon and Norman times. However, they were only established in their modern form in 1894 when Gladstone introduced the Local Government Act.

Early recorded minutes from Eaton Parish Council date from 1906 when the Chairman at that time was a Mr Coutts Antrobus of Eaton Hall, These minutes indicate that meetings of the Parish Council had been going on for some years prior to this, but records of those previous meetings unfortunately do not appear to exist.

In the early days of the council items of business included the appointment of “overseers of the poor” and early records from around 1906 indicate that these posts were occupied by: William Rosson of Moss Farm and James Sydney Rosson of Eaton Cottage. It is somewhat ironic therefore that both these gentleman were soon to be declared bankrupt and were replaced!

Other records that exist of Eaton Parish Council can be found in the Parish Councillors’ Declarations book, where the earliest records from 1925 indicate that the council was made of the following individuals:

  • Crauford John Antrobus of Eaton Hall
  • Edwin Bebbington of Jack Fields Farm
  • Peter Ford of Fields Farm
  • William Gallimore of Tanhouse Farm
  • John Heath of Yew Tree Farm
  • Arthur Thomas Heath of Bell Farm
  • Cornelius Edwin Oakes of Eaton Cottage Farm

Early meetings of the Parish Council were held within the village Schoolroom until the closure of the school in 1967 when the meetings were transferred to the Church Hall.
Housing development within the village has always been and remains to this day a subject of great concern.