Bridgwater was a rural district

Rural district

Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England, from 1894 to 1974.

It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894

Local Government Act 1894

The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...

.

In 1974 it was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

 becoming part of Sedgemoor

Sedgemoor

Sedgemoor is a low lying area of land in Somerset, England. It lies close to sea level south of the Polden Hills, historically largely marsh . The eastern part is known as King's Sedgemoor, and the western part West Sedgemoor. Sedgemoor is part of the area now known as the Somerset Levels...

.

It contained the civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

es of Aisholt, Ashcott

Ashcott

Ashcott is a small village and civil parish located in the Sedgemoor area of Somerset in the south-west of England. The village has a population of 1,280. The parish includes the hamlets of Buscott, Berhill and Ashcott Corner....

, Bawdrip

Bawdrip

Bawdrip is a village and civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. The village is on the south side of the Polden Hills about north-east of Bridgwater. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 498. The parish includes the hamlets of Bradney and Horsey...

, Bridgwater Without

Bridgwater Without

Bridgwater Without is a civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.It lies to the east and south west of Bridgwater. The parish includes the villages and hamlets of Dunwear, Horsey, Slape Cross and Sydenham...

, Broomfield

Broomfield, Somerset

Broomfield is a village and civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England, situated about five miles north of Taunton. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 224....

, Cannington

Cannington, Somerset

Cannington is a village and civil parish north-west of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It lies on the west bank of the River Parret, and contains the hamlet of Edstock.-History:...

, Catcott

Catcott

Catcott is a rural village and civil parish, situated close to Edington to the east of Bridgwater on the Somerset Levels to the north of the Polden Hills in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.-History:...

, Charlynch, Chedzoy

Chedzoy

Chedzoy is a civil parish village east of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.-History:The village is at the western end of King's Sedgemoor and lies on an 'island' of Burtle marine sands, close to King's Sedgemoor Drain. The area was settled possibly in the Mesolithic...

, Chilton Common, Chilton Polden

Chilton Polden

Chilton Polden is a rural village and civil parish, situated close to Edington on the Somerset Levels to the north of the Polden Hills in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.-History:...

, Chilton Trinity

Chilton Trinity

Chilton Trinity is a village and civil parish on the River Parrett, north of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.-History:Iron age and Roman pottery have been found at Chilton village...

, Cossington

Cossington, Somerset

Cossington is a village and civil parish close to Woolavington and north of Bridgwater, in the Sedgemoor district in Somerset, England. The village lies on the north side of the Polden Hills.-History:...

, Durleigh

Durleigh

Durleigh is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. According to the 2001 Census, it had a population of 609...

, East Huntspill, Eddington

Edington, Somerset

Edington is a rural village, situated on the north side of the Polden Hills in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.Either side of it lie the villages of Chilton Polden and Catcott, and north of it is the small village of Burtle...

, Enmore

Enmore, Somerset

Enmore is a village and civil parish west of Bridgwater on the Quantock Hills in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Bare Ash.-History:The parish name means Duck marsh....

, Fiddington

Fiddington

Fiddington is a village and civil parish north-east of Nether Stowey, and north-west of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England...

, Goathurst

Goathurst

Goathurst is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset, around 3 miles from the town of Bridgwater. The parish includes the hamlets of Andersfield and Huntstile.-History:Goathurst was part of the hundred of Andersfield....

, Greinton

Greinton

Greinton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the Somerset Levels and Moors at the foot of the Polden Hills, west southwest of Glastonbury and east of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district...

, Huntspill

Huntspill

West Huntspill and East Huntspill are villages and civil parishes on the Huntspill Level, near Highbridge, Somerset, West of England. The civil parish of West Huntspill contains the hamlet of Alstone, and East Huntspill includes Cote....

, Lyng

Lyng, Somerset

Lyng is a civil parish in Somerset, England, comprising the villages of West Lyng and East Lyng and the hamlet of Bankland.-History:The name derives from the Old English hlenc, meaning hill....

, Middlezoy

Middlezoy

Middlezoy is a village and civil parish on the River Parrett as it crosses the Somerset Levels in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.-History:...

, Moorlinch

Moorlinch

Moorlinch is a village and civil parish where the Polden Hills meet the Somerset Levels in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.-History:...

, Nether Stowey

Nether Stowey

Nether Stowey is a large village in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills , just below Over Stowey...

, North Petherton

North Petherton

North Petherton is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks, and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels.The town has a population of 5,189...

, Othery

Othery

The parish and village of Othery, established in 1515, sits on a detached extension of Sowy island on the Somerset Levels. It is east of Bridgwater and north-west of Langport. It borders the hamlets and villages of Pathe, Burrowbridge, Middlezoy, Westonzoyland and Aller, which it meets at Beer Wall...

, Otterhampton

Otterhampton

Otterhampton is a village and civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England, between Bridgwater and the Steart Peninsula.The village lies on Combwich Reach as the River Parrett flows to the sea.-History:...

, Over Stowey

Over Stowey

Over Stowey is a small village and civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills, just below Nether Stowey and north-west of Bridgwater...

, Pawlett

Pawlett, Somerset

Pawlett is a small village north of Bridgwater, in the Sedgemoor district of the English county of Somerset.The village has Roman or Saxon origins...

, Puriton

Puriton

Puriton is a village and a parish, at the westerly end of the Polden Hills, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, UK. The parish has a population of 2,124. The local parish church is named after St Michael...

, Shapwick

Shapwick, Somerset

Shapwick is a village on the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It is situated to the west of Glastonbury.-History:Shapwick is the site of one end of the Sweet Track, an ancient causeway dating from the 39th century BC....

, Spaxton

Spaxton

Spaxton is a small village and civil parish on the Quantocks in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England.-History:Spaxton was part of the hundred of Cannington....

, St Michaelchurch, Stawell

Stawell, Somerset

Stawell is a village and civil parish miles north east of Bridgwater, and north west of Moorlinch, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.The parish includes the village of Sutton Mallet.-Governance:...

, Stockland Bristol

Stockland Bristol

Stockland Bristol is a village and civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, between Bridgwater and the Steart Peninsula. The parish includes the village of Steart.-History:...

, Sutton Mallet, Thurloxton

Thurloxton

Thurloxton is a village and civil parish north east of Taunton, and south west of Bridgwater on the south-eastern slopes of the Quantock Hills in the Sedgemoor district of the county of Somerset, in England...

, Wembdon

Wembdon

Wembdon is a rural village near Bridgwater, in Somerset, England.Wembdon is now home to an Anglican church, a small shop , a pub, a small garage and a fruit juice processing and packaging plant.-History:...

, West Huntspill, Westonzoyland

Westonzoyland

Westonzoyland is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated on the Somerset Levels, south east of Bridgwater.-History:The name of the parish derives from its location on the "island" of Sowy, an area of slightly higher ground on the Somerset Levels between the River Cary and...

 and Woolavington

Woolavington

Woolavington is a village and civil parish on the Somerset Levels in the English county of Somerset. It forms part of the District of Sedgemoor, and is north east of Bridgwater, south east of Burnham on Sea and west of Glastonbury...

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