Orsett Rural District was a local government district centred on Orsett in the south Essex part of the Thames Estuary in England. It was a rural district from 1894 to 1936, initially made up of seventeen civil parishes and the successor to the Orsett Rural Sanitary District. Parts of the district were split off to form Tilbury in 1912, Purfleet in 1929 and Billericay in 1934. Thurrock Urban District was the main successor district in 1936. Today it corresponds to the Thurrock unitary authority area with parts in Basildon, Essex and Havering, Greater London.

Background

The parishes which formed the rural district in 1894 had been grouped into the Orsett Poor Law Union since 1835 following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The area of the poor law union also became a rural sanitary district in 1875. In 1894 the rural sanitary district became Orsett Rural District as part of the Local Government Act 1894.

Coverage

The district comprised the parishes of:

Replacement

In 1902 the parish council of Chadwell St Mary made a request to be converted into an urban district council. Three schemes were considered at an inquiry in 1912: conversion of Chadwell St Mary parish to an urban district, amalgamation of Chadwell St Mary and Little Thurrock as a new urban district, and expansion of Grays Urban District to include Chadwell St Mary, Little Thurrock, West Thurrock and part of Stifford. Following the inquiry, the Chadwell St Mary parish was removed from the rural district in 1912 to form the Tilbury Urban District. In 1929 Purfleet Urban District was formed from the parishes of Aveley, South Ockendon and West Thurrock. In 1934 parts of Corringham, Fobbing and Laindon Hills became part of the new Billericay Urban District. In 1936 the rural district and its constituent parishes were abolished. Most of its former area became part of the new Thurrock Urban District. The greater part of North Ockendon was transferred to Hornchurch Urban District. The former rural district now corresponds to the Thurrock unitary authority area with parts in Basildon, Essex and Havering, Greater London.