South Wight was a non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 with the status of a borough

Borough status in the United Kingdom

Borough status in the United Kingdom is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district...

 on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 from 1974 to 1995.

The district was formed by 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....

, and was a merger of Sandown-Shanklin

Sandown-Shanklin

Sandown-Shanklin was an urban district on the Isle of Wight, England, from 1933. It was created by the merger of Shanklin and Sandown urban districts along with part of Isle of Wight Rural District. It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, to form part of the South Wight...

 and Ventnor

Ventnor

Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...

 urban district

Urban district

In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

s and Isle of Wight Rural District

Isle of Wight Rural District

The Isle of Wight Rural District was a rural district on the Isle of Wight from 1894 to 1974 covering most the island, part from urban areas. In 1933, the district was reduced by the creation of the Sandown-Shanklin and Ventnor urban districts....

. It was one of two districts on the island formed in 1974 - the other was Medina

Medina, Isle of Wight

Medina was a non-metropolitan district with the status of a borough on the Isle of Wight in England from 1974 to 1995.The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the municipal boroughs of Newport and Ryde along with the urban district of Cowes...

.

Following a review by the Local Government Commission for England

Local Government Commission for England (1992)

The Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992, replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England...

, the borough was abolished on 1 April 1995, when a single Isle of Wight Council

Isle of Wight Council

The Isle of Wight Council is a local council. It is a unitary authority covering the Isle of Wight, South East England. It is currently made up of 40 seats, with the Conservatives as ruling party with 24 councillors at the latest local election in June 2009....

replaced the island's county council and two district councils.