| Ballingdon Bottom | |
|---|---|
  Ballingdon Bottom Location within Hertfordshire | |
| OS grid reference | TL0314 |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Hemel Hempstead |
| Postcode district | HP2 |
| Police | Hertfordshire |
| Fire | Hertfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
Ballingdon Bottom is a valley in Hertfordshire, England. [1] It forms part of the boundary between the civil parishes of Flamstead and Great Gaddesden.
Historically, Ballingdon Bottom was the name given to an area to the north of the valley which was a detached part of the parish of Whipsnade and an exclave of Bedfordshire, surrounded by Hertfordshire. In 1825 Parliament looked into detached parts of counties, with a report being compiled from information from the Clerks of the Peace for each county. It appears the clerks did not always have detailed local knowledge of the detached parts they reported upon. The Bedfordshire clerk opened his return by saying "I have no official knowledge of the boundaries of this county", but went on to say that based on a 1765 map by Thomas Jeffreys it appeared that "a small part of the Parish of Studham, in the Hundred of Manshead, in the County of Bedford, being part of Beachwood [sic] Park, belonging to Sir John Sebright, bart. is locally situate in the County of Hertford". [2] The Jeffreys map does not actually specify which parish the detached area was in, merely labelling it "Part of Bedford S[hire]"; the notion that it belonged to Studham seems therefore to have been a mistake by the clerk. [3] The Whipsnade tithe survey of 1844, which relied on more detailed local surveys and knowledge, confirmed that the detached area was in fact part of Whipsnade parish and that it was known as Ballingdon Bottom. [4]
The Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 identified certain detached parts of counties which should be treated for parliamentary constituency purposes as part of the county in which they were physically located. Schedule M of the act described this area as "Part of Studham Parish, partly in Beechwood Park in the County of Hertford", presumably being based on the mistaken clerk's report of 1825. For electoral purposes it was therefore to be treated as part of Hertfordshire rather than Bedfordshire. [5] [6] The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 transferred the detached areas identified in the 1832 Act for all other purposes. Ballingdon Bottom therefore became part of Hertfordshire on 20 October 1844. [7]
The 1844 Act only changed the county boundaries, and Ballingdon Bottom remained a detached part of the parish of Whipsnade. When district councils were established in December 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 Ballingdon Bottom became part of the Markyate Rural District, which covered the parts of the Luton Poor Law Union which were in Hertfordshire. The complicated boundaries in this area were rationalised in 1897 when Ballingdon Bottom was transferred from Whipsnade to become part of the parish of Flamstead in Hemel Hempstead Rural District on 30 September 1897. [8] [9]
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Luton (225,262), and Bedford is the county town.
Dagnall is a village in the parish of Edlesborough, in Buckinghamshire, England.
Studham is a village and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire. It has a population of 1,182. The parish bounds to the south of the Buckinghamshire border, and to the east is the Hertfordshire border. The village lies in the wooded south facing dip slope of the Chiltern Hills. The hamlet of Holywell is located to the north of Studham, and forms part of the same civil parish.
Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Ickleford is a large village situated on the northern outskirts of Hitchin in North Hertfordshire in England. It lies on the west bank of the River Hiz and to the east of the main A600 road. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 1,833.
Bedfordshire is an English ceremonial county which lies between approximately 25 miles and 55 miles north of central London.
The Diocese of St Albans forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England and is part of the wider Church of England, in turn part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Wing Rural District was a rural district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England. It was created in 1894 with the name Linslade Rural District, but was renamed Wing Rural District in 1897 when Linslade itself was removed from the district to become an urban district. Wing Rural District was abolished in 1974 to become part of Aylesbury Vale District.
Caddington is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England.
Luton Rural District was a local authority in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It covered an area which almost surrounded but did not include the towns of Luton and Dunstable.
Eaton Socon was a rural district in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1934.
Eaton Bray was a rural district in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1933.
The Counties Act 1844, which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. The changes were based on recommendations by a boundary commission, headed by the surveyor Thomas Drummond and summarized in a schedule attached to the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832. This also listed a few examples of civil parishes divided by county boundaries, most of which were dealt with by later legislation.
Whipsnade is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, about 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) south-south-west of Dunstable on the top of the Dunstable Downs, which drop away steeply to the south of the village.
Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county.
Kensworth is a village and civil parish located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The parish is located on the edge of Dunstable Downs, and includes the hamlets of California and Kensworth Lynch.
Holywell is a hamlet located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England.
Markyate Rural District was a short-lived rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1897, on the borders with Bedfordshire.
Parish, including detached portion called Ballingdon Bottom.
The Counties of Bedford and Hertford (Caddington, &c.) Order 1897
