Identification info

Alternative title

census.GIS.PC_CIVIL_PARISH

Metadata Language

English

Character set

UTF8

Dataset Reference Date (Creation)

1965-06-01

Dataset Reference Date (Revision)

2012-05-01

Dataset Reference Date (Publication)

2012-09-01

Identifier

CivilParish1930

Maintenance and update frequency

As needed

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

• Statistical units

GEMET - Concepts, version 2.4

• administrative boundary

IPSV Subjects List

• Boundaries

Limitations on Public Access

Other restrictions

Other constraints

No limitations to public access

Use constraints

Other restrictions

Other constraints

Open Government Licence

Other constraints

The following statements must be used when reproducing or using this material: Copyright National Records of Scotland, contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (insert year).

Spatial representation type

Vector

Denominator

10000

Topic category

• Boundaries

Code

S92000003

 

Code

EPSG:4258

Code

EPSG:27700

Distribution Information

 

Data quality info

Quality Scope

Dataset

Statement

Geography Branch first began plotting postcode boundaries in 1973. In addition to the creation of postcode boundaries, Geography Branch also assigned each postcode to an array of Scottish boundary datasets including civil parish boundaries.

From 1845 to 1930, civil parishes formed part of Scotland’s local government system. The parishes, which had their origins in the ecclesiastical parishes of the Church of Scotland, often overlapped the then existing county boundaries, largely because they reflected earlier territorial divisions. Parishes have had no direct administrative function in Scotland since 1930. The civil parish boundaries were re-aligned by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (c.50) and formally abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (c.25).

In 1930, all parishes were grouped into elected district councils. These districts were abolished in 1975, and the new local authorities established in that year often cut across civil parish boundaries. In 1996, there was a further re-organisation of Scottish local government, and a number of civil parishes now lie in two or more council areas. There are 871 civil parishes in Scotland.

The civil parish boundary dataset is the responsibility of Geography Branch. The initial version of the boundaries was first created in the mid-1960s. The boundaries were plotted on to Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 maps using the written descriptions of the parishes.

In the late 1980s Geography Branch introduced a Geographic Information System (called “GenaMap”) to its working practices. At this point the manually-plotted civil parish boundaries were digitised using the GenaMap system.

In 2006, GenaMap was replaced by ESRI’s ArcGIS product, and the civil parish boundaries were migrated to the new system.

At this stage, the Ordnance Survey digital product MasterMap was made available as the background map for Geography Branch’s digitising requirements.

In March-April 2009 many of the coastal postcodes were edited to improve their alignment with MasterMap’s coastal detail.

After improving the coastal postcode alignment there was a requirement to check that all the individual postcode Gridlink points fell within the extent of the civil parish boundaries. It was discovered that some of the points were outside the limits of the some of the coastal parishes.

This version of the civil parish boundaries was edited (some coastal postcodes only) in May 2009 to ensure that all postcodes’ Gridlink points would fall within the limits of the civil parish boundaries.

In terms of provenance, the vast majority of the civil parish boundaries date back to the mid-1960s with their original drawing onto OS 1:10,000 maps.

For more information please visit the Geography policies and information notes page of the NRS website https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/geography-products/geography-policies-and-information-notes/ or contact NRS Geography Customer Services.

 

Metadata

File identifier

d93dbde9-6936-4245-9938-0ef41a5cc0e4 XML

Metadata Language

English

Resource type

Dataset

Metadata Date

2025-02-10T13:39:33.445Z

Metadata standard name

UK GEMINI

Metadata standard version

2.3