List of the most populous civil parishes in England

This is a list of the most populous civil parishes in England.^[1] It includes all civil parishes with populations over 30,000, representing less than 1% of all civil parishes but almost 3% of the population.

Lichfield, Hereford and Salisbury are in addition to being some of the most populous civil parishes in England, among the smallest cities.

The first civil parish councils were created in 1894, mostly in rural areas, replacing the duties of local church authorities.

Many large parishes have been created during the 21st century, due in part to new procedures making their creation easier, and also the ongoing creation of large unitary authorities, which has led to the desire to retain a more local tier of government.

In 2020, Northampton became the largest civil parish in England due to local government reorganisation in 2021 which saw it become part of the larger West Northamptonshire unitary authority.^[2]

Rank	Parish	District	Population	Status	Parish council created	Council
1	Northampton	West Northamptonshire	137,387^[3]	Town	2020	Northampton Town Council
2	Sutton Coldfield	Birmingham	95,107	Town	2016	Sutton Coldfield Town Council
3	Weston-super-Mare	North Somerset	80,162	Town	2000	Weston-super-Mare Town Council
4	Shrewsbury	Shropshire	76,782	Town	2009	Shrewsbury Town Council
5	Aylesbury	Buckinghamshire	57,285	Town	2001	Aylesbury Town Council
6	Kettering Town	North Northamptonshire	57,100	Town	2021	Kettering Town Council
7.	Lowestoft	East Suffolk	56,932	Town	2017	Lowestoft Town Council
8	Kidderminster	Wyre Forest	55,530	Town	2015	Kidderminster Town Council
9	Crewe	Cheshire East	55,318	Town	2013	Crewe Town Council
10	Keighley	Bradford	55,133	Town	2002	Keighley Town Council
11	Bracknell	Bracknell Forest	54,265	Town	1955	Bracknell Town Council
12	Weymouth	Dorset	53,000	Town	2019	Weymouth Town Council
13	Central Swindon South	Swindon	52,515	Parish	2017	South Swindon Parish Council
14	Macclesfield	Cheshire East	52,044	Town	2015	Macclesfield Town Council
15	Hereford	Herefordshire	50,537	City	2000	Hereford City Council
16	Royal Leamington Spa	Warwick	49,563	Town	2002	Royal Leamington Spa Town Council
17	Banbury	Cherwell	45,052	Town	2000	Banbury Town Council
18	Folkestone	Folkestone and Hythe	42,058	Town	2004	Folkestone Town Council
19	Salisbury	Wiltshire	39,896	City	2009	Salisbury City Council
20	Ramsgate	Thanet	39,858	Town	2009	Ramsgate Town Council
21	Farnham	Waverley	39,167	Town	1984	Farnham Town Council
22	Canvey Island	Castle Point	38,941	Town	2007	Canvey Island Town Council
23	Hatfield	Welwyn Hatfield	38,600	Town	1894	Hatfield Town Council
24	Bishop's Stortford	East Hertfordshire	37,873	Town	1974	Bishop's Stortford Town Council
25	Bury St Edmunds	West Suffolk	37,854	Town	2003	Bury St Edmunds Town Council
26	Elstree and Borehamwood	Hertsmere	37,084	Town	1894	Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council
27	Leighton–Linslade	Central Bedfordshire	37,081	Town	1974	Leighton-Linslade Town Council
28	Andover	Test Valley	36,977	Town	2010	Andover Town Council
29	Morecambe	Lancaster	36,530	Town	2009	Morecambe Town Council
30	Billingham	Stockton-on-Tees	36,424	Town	2007	Billingham Town Council
31	Blyth	Northumberland	36,379	Town	2009	Blyth Town Council
32	Bridlington	East Riding of Yorkshire	36,324	Town	2000	Bridlington Town Council
33	Bridgwater	Sedgemoor	35,625	Town	2003	Bridgwater Town Council
34	Chippenham	Wiltshire	35,155	Town	1984	Chippenham Town Council
35	Dunstable	Central Bedfordshire	35,068	Town	1985	Dunstable Town Council
36	Exmouth	East Devon	34,441	Town	1995	Exmouth Town Council
37	Earley	Wokingham	33,755	Town	1974	Earley Town Council
38	Central Swindon North	Swindon	33,495	Parish	2017	Central Swindon North Parish Council
39	Ecclesfield	Sheffield	32,903	Parish	1894	Ecclesfield Parish Council
40	Abingdon-on-Thames	Vale of White Horse	32,183	Town	1974	Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council
41	Rayleigh	Rochford	31,982	Town	1996	Rayleigh Town Council
42	Morley	Leeds	31,832	Town	2000	Morley Town Council
43	Stanley	County Durham	31,673	Town	2007	Stanley Town Council
42	Trowbridge	Wiltshire	31,392	Town	1974	Trowbridge Town Council
45	Loughton	Epping Forest	31,218	Town	1996	Loughton Town Council
46	Newbury	West Berkshire	31,200	Town	1997	Newbury Town Council
47	Lichfield	Lichfield	31,068	City	1980	Lichfield City Council
48	Winsford	Cheshire West and Chester	31,038	Town	1974	Winsford Town Council
49	Bicester	Cherwell	30,474	Town	1974	Bicester Town Council

Notes edit

References edit

^ Mid-2010 Population Estimates for Parishes in England and Wales
^ "England's 'largest' town council set for Northampton". BBC. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
^ "NORTHAMPTON Parish in East Midlands". City Population. Retrieved 25 November 2022.

[1] Mid-2010 Population Estimates for Parishes in England and Wales

[2] "England's 'largest' town council set for Northampton". BBC. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.

[3] "NORTHAMPTON Parish in East Midlands". City Population. Retrieved 25 November 2022.

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