Vale Royal


Vale Royal was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It contained the towns of Northwich, Winsford and Frodsham.

Creation

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 by merging Northwich and Winsford urban districts, Northwich Rural District and part of Runcorn Rural District.
It took its name from Vale Royal Abbey, formerly one of the largest in England, which was situated near the village of Whitegate near the centre of the district.

Civil parishes

The district comprised the following civil parishes:
The political composition of the council at its abolition in 2009 was:

Abolition

In 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government considered reorganising Cheshire's administrative structure as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. The decision to merge Vale Royal with the districts of Chester and Ellesmere Port and Neston to create a single unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007, following a consultation period in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected.
Vale Royal was abolished on 1 April 2009, when the new Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority was formed.