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Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of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

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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....

 when it became part of South Somerset

South Somerset

South Somerset is a local government district in Somerset, England.The South Somerset district covers and area of ranging from the borders with Devon and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 158,000...

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The parishes that it included were: Ashill

Ashill, Somerset

Ashill is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Taunton, and three miles north-west of Ilminster in the South Somerset district...

, Broadway

Broadway, Somerset

Broadway is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Ilminster and north of Chard in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 616...

, Buckland St Mary

Buckland St Mary

Buckland St Mary is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated to the west of Ilminster and south of Taunton in the South Somerset district, close to the A303. The village has a population of 559...

, Chaffcombe

Chaffcombe

Chaffcombe is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north east of Chard in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 194.-History:...

, Chillington

Chillington, Somerset

Chillington is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Crewkerne and east of Chard in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 96. The parish includes the hamlet of Coombe.-History:...

, Combe St Nicholas

Combe St Nicholas

Combe St Nicholas is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Chard and from Taunton in the South Somerset district on the edge of the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The parish, which includes Wadeford and Scrapton, has a population of...

, Cricket Malherbie, Cricket St Thomas

Cricket St Thomas

Cricket St Thomas is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated in a valley beside the A30 road between Chard and Crewkerne in the South Somerset district.The village has a population of 50...

, Cudworth

Cudworth, Somerset

Cudworth is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated north east of Chard in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 69.-History:The parish of Cudworth was part of the South Petherton Hundred....

, Dinnington

Dinnington, Somerset

Dinnington is a village and civil parish in English county of Somerset, situated north of Crewkerne in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 65.-History:The name Dinnington means the settlement of Dynne's people....

, Donyatt

Donyatt

Donyatt is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at the source of the River Isle north of Chard in the South Somerset district...

, Dowlish Wake

Dowlish Wake

Dowlish Wake is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Ilminster and north-east of Chard in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 293 and is home to several thatched houses....

, Hinton St George

Hinton St George

Hinton St George is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated outside of Crewkerne, south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 404....

, Ilminster

Ilminster

Ilminster is a country town and civil parish in the countryside of south west Somerset, England, with a population of 4,781. Bypassed a few years ago, the town now lies just east of the intersection of the A303 and the A358...

, Ilminster Without, Ilton

Ilton

Ilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south-east of Taunton, and north of Ilminster in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 849...

, Kingstone

Kingstone, Somerset

Kingstone is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated near Ilminster, north east of Chard in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 83....

, Knowle St Giles

Knowle St Giles

Knowle St Giles is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England, situated on the River Isle south of Ilminster and north east of Chard...

, Lopen

Lopen

Lopen is a village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset, situated eight miles west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 248.-History:The name of the village means Lufa's pen or fold....

, Merriott

Merriott

Merriott is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Crewkerne and west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 2,020....

, Misterton

Misterton, Somerset

Misterton is a village and civil parish south-east of Crewkerne, Somerset, England.-History:The village was previously known as Minsterton as a result of its links with the "mother church" in Crewkerne....

, Seavington St Mary

Seavington St Mary

Seavington St Mary is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated next to the village of Seavington St Michael, about east of Ilminster, within the South Somerset district and had a population of 365 inhabitants at the 2001 census....

, Seavington St Michael

Seavington St Michael

Seavington St Michael is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated next to the village of Seavington St Mary, about east of Ilminster, within the South Somerset district....

, Shepton Beauchamp

Shepton Beauchamp

Shepton Beauchamp is a village and civil parish, from Barrington and north east of Ilminster between the Blackdown Hills and the Somerset Levels in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England.-History:...

, Stocklinch

Stocklinch

Stocklinch is a village and civil parish north-east of Ilminster in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England.-History:The village is one Somerset's nine Thankful Villages , in which all the men who served in World War I came home, and one of only 14 doubly-thankful villages in the country...

, Stocklinch Magdalen, Stocklinch Ottersey, Wambrook

Wambrook

Wambrook is a village and civil parish in the Blackdown Hills, , south of Chard in Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Higher Wambrook and Lower Wambrook which is sometimes known as Haselcombe.-History:...

, Wayford

Wayford

Wayford is a village and civil parish on the River Axe, south-west of Crewkerne, in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. The parish contains the hamlets of Oathill and Clapton.-History:The parish was part of the hundred of Crewkerne....

, West Crewkerne, West Dowlish, Whitelackington

Whitelackington

Whitelackington is a village and civil parish on the A303 one mile north east of Ilminster, in Somerset, England. The parish includes Dillington Park and the hamlets of Atherstone and Ashwell.-Etymology:...

, Whitestaunton

Whitestaunton

Whitestaunton is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England.-History:The parish of Whitestaunton was part of the South Petherton Hundred....

 and Winsham

Winsham

Winsham is a village and civil parish south-east of Chard, Somerset, in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Whatley.-History:The name Wincham means Wine's settlement....

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