Largest village in England

Many villages claim to be the largest village in England. This title is essentially a meaningless one, as it cannot be verified because of the lack of a common definition of a village, the absence of any particular benefits associated with the status, and the vagueness of 'largest' (population or area?).

A typical contender is Kidlington in Oxfordshire, which has a population of around 17,000. Whilst Kidlington might be described as a town in colloquial use due to its sheer size, it has not formally taken on this status and still has a parish council rather than a town council. Also, Kidlington has never in its past had a town charter. Many other villages are in a similar position. Some of the claimants below (Cottingham and Lancing included) are part of larger urban areas, and it can be contended that such claimants are now suburbs rather than villages.

The claim is complicated by disputes over what exactly constitutes a "village". Definitions can refer to population, area, a key building (e.g. school, retail outlet, church or village hall), a village nameplate or a minimum number of houses (e.g. 20).

The definition of a town is equally complex. One definition is a settlement with a town charter (see the list of towns in England). Another is that a town has a regular market. One thing that confuses popular definitions is the complicated system in Britain of "postal towns". Many Britons presume that anywhere that needs to be linked to a nearby city/town in an address is a village. However this not the case: for example, West Yorkshire's address system sees Liversedge count as a postal town despite being considered a village whilst Hemsworth, which is a town, comes under the postal town of Pontefract.

The typical English local government district contains a variety of settlements and their boundaries are not formally determined. Civil parishes do exist, but parishes can contain several distinct villages or hamlets. Informally, many settlements are described both as a town and a village by different people. Furthermore, settlements have a tendency to become larger and, when they do, many residents tend to prefer to think of their home as a village rather than a town, and institutions such as a village green or village hall will tend to retain the name that they were given when the settlement was smaller. Since 1974, drawing the precise definition of town boundaries has not been important for local government. Somewhere such as Bessacarr in South Yorkshire was not part of Doncaster prior to 1974; it is often spoken of as a suburb of Doncaster now, but, if it is still a village, then it is one of the largest in England. Such difficulties in measurement mean that it is most unlikely that any definitive answer to the question could ever be obtained.

Contenders

Places for which this claim has been made, and the reported population in the 2001 census (most recent available figures) include:

Totton used to claim the title, but is now part of the town of Totton and Eling.

The most populous civil parish in England not to have town status is Ecclesfield, with 31,609 people at the 2001 census.

imilar claims

There are also claimants to the titles of smallest and largest village, town and city in England.

*Smallest village claimants: Ault Hucknall, Duncannon (Devon)
*Largest council estate: Becontree, Wythenshawe. Depends largely on whether Becontree is considered a town or an estate.
*Smallest town claimants: Fordwich, Manningtree
*Largest town claimants: Northampton, Dudley, Reading, Milton Keynes, Warrington, Huddersfield, Bolton
*Largest town without a railway station: Corby [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/3005842.stm ] , Gosport [http://www.gosport.gov.uk/EasySiteWeb/GatewayLink.aspx?alId=10233] , Newcastle under Lyme [http://www.haverhillecho.co.uk/news/Myth-surrounding-Haverhill39s-lack-of.3965139.jp] , WashingtonOr|date=August 2008
*Smallest city claimant: Wells, City of London, St David's

An interesting oddity is Llandaff, a small district of Cardiff in South Wales. Llandaff contains its own cathedral, quite separate from Cardiff's Cathedral, that is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff. As a consequence the district was historically and widely referred to as the "City of Llandaff". If the claim was still current and valid Llandaff would be the smallest UK city by a very long way, however the parish of Llandaff was gradually absorbed administratively first into the Borough and now into the city and county of Cardiff during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Ashington, Northumberland has claimed to be the "world's largest coal mining village". Although now considered a town by many, and far from its peak as a coal mining centre, its current population of over 27,000 would place it third in the list above if it was classed as a village.

References

External links

* [http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_027964.pdf UK government definition]