Oswestry

The Borough of Oswestry was a local government district with borough status in Shropshire, England, from medieval times until its abolition in 2009. Until 1974 the borough just covered the town of Oswestry itself. The borough was enlarged in 1974 to also include the surrounding rural area. Its council was based in Oswestry, the only town and largest settlement in the borough. Villages in the borough included Morda, St Martin's, Whittington, Gobowen, Pant, Trefonen and Ruyton XI Towns. The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2009 when the new Shropshire unitary authority was established, as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. History The town of Oswestry was an ancient borough, governed under the terms of various charters dating back to at least 1398. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. By the mid-twentieth century some municipal boroughs were considered too small to efficiently provide all the services expected of them, and so the government introduced the concept of rural boroughs under the Local Government Act 1958. This allowed a small municipal borough to merge with a neighbouring rural district, whilst allowing the former municipal borough to retain some of its privileges, such as the ability to appoint a mayor. In other regards, such rural boroughs were comparable to parish councils. Oswestry became a rural borough on 1 April 1967, becoming part of the surrounding Oswestry Rural District.