parish

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parishes, origins of. Traditional theories that the English parish system was the brainchild of Archbishop Theodore of Tarsus (668–90) are no longer held. English dioceses, geographically much larger than Italian counterparts, could not be administered from the centre and needed more local oversight, but origins of the parochial system remain obscure. Paulinus, bishop of York (627–34), built some local churches and so did the 7th-cent. Celtic mission to Northumbria. Bede (d. 735) mentions houses of prayer. His advice to Archbishop Egbert (734) shows that no organized system then existed; he advised him to seek aid by ‘ordaining priests and instituting teachers who may devote themselves to preaching the word of God in the individual villages, and to celebrating the celestial mysteries and especially to performing the sacred rites of baptism’. Some of the injunctions of the Synod of Clofesho (746) speak of bishops' instituting priests to local churches. Thus the parish system gradually and unobtrusively evolved in the 8th cent. probably by a two-way process, from the diocesan centre outwards and from local private churches towards the centre. Soon after the conversion period the only ‘parish’ was that surrounding the bishop's cathedral or ‘head-minster’, with his clergy journeying out to convert and minister to the flock. Distances demanded the development of more remote local centres, ‘ordinary minsters’ (large collegiate churches) subsidiary to the cathedral, whose districts were the size of the modern rural deanery. In turn from these there spread groups of ‘field-churches’, usually already built by thegns as chapels to their private halls. These were the centres of embryo parishes. Some may have been pagan temples newly blessed as the thegn was converted or replaced. Little is known about these, because the thegn had no formal charter from the king and his church was simple and wooden, thus leaving no trace. It was his own property, served by a poor priest in return for glebe land of 2 virgates, twice as much as a ceorl. In addition the priest was allowed fees for baptisms, marriages, or supervising ordeals. Private churches became normal appurtenances for thegns. Other ‘field-churches’ developed like the minsters as royal or episcopal foundations within minsters' districts, especially on newly cultivated territory. Yet others, founded by kings or bishops as their own, were later known as ‘peculiars’, withdrawn from ordinary diocesan jurisdiction. Founders could sell or bequeath the church at will. The parish system developed as churches continued to be built in villages throughout the Anglo-Saxon period and by the Norman Conquest it was for the most part fully developed. The tension, however, between the lord's dominance of his priest and the rightful desire by the bishop for oversight had to be partly alleviated by the third Lateran Council's injunction (1179), giving the bishop the right of institution to the benefice. In the course of time, governments found the parish a very useful administrative unit, particularly for dealing with poor relief. It then became even more necessary to establish the exact boundaries of parishes, and the annual perambulation, or ‘beating the bounds’, usually done on Rogation Day, became an important event. Nevertheless, until well into the 19th cent. the pattern of the 10,000 parishes remained chaotic, with separated pockets, disputed areas, and countless idiosyncrasies.

Revd Dr William M. Marshall

parishes, origins of Traditional theories that the English parish system was the brainchild of Archbishop Theodore of Tarsus (668–90) are no longer held. English dioceses, geographically much larger than Italian counterparts, could not be administered from the centre. Paulinus, bishop of York (627–34), built some local churches and so did the 7th‐cent. Celtic mission to Northumbria. Bede (d. 735) mentions houses of prayer. His advice to Archbishop Egbert (734) shows that no organized system then existed; he advised him to seek aid by ‘ordaining priests and instituting teachers who may devote themselves to preaching the word of God in the individual villages. Thus the parish system gradually evolved in the 8th cent. probably by a two‐way process, from the diocesan centre outwards and from local private churches towards the centre. Little is known about these local churches because the thegn had no formal charter from the king and his church was simple and wooden, leaving no trace. It was his own property, served by a poor priest in return for glebe land of 2 virgates, twice as much as a ceorl. In addition the priest was allowed fees for baptisms, marriages, or supervising ordeals. Private churches became normal appurtenances for thegns. Others, founded by kings or bishops as their own, were later known as ‘peculiars’, withdrawn from ordinary diocesan jurisdiction. The parish system developed as churches continued to be built in villages throughout the Anglo‐Saxon period and by the Norman Conquest it was for the most part fully developed. In the course of time, governments found the parish a useful administrative unit, particularly for dealing with poor relief. It then became even more necessary to establish the exact boundaries of parishes, and the annual perambulation, or ‘beating the bounds’, usually done on Rogation Day, became an important event. Nevertheless, until well into the 19th cent. the pattern of the 10,000 parishes remained chaotic, with separated pockets, disputed areas, and countless idiosyncrasies.

parish, a territorial subdivision with both ecclesiastical and civil significance. An ecclesiastical parish structure came relatively late to Ireland, following the creation of a diocesan structure as part of the 12th‐century reform. The first parishes were probably conterminous with the lands of Gaelic family groups. English settlement began before the pattern was complete, and in colonized areas parishes became coincident with the new feudal tenureships. A divergence in the Catholic and Church of Ireland parish structures may have begun from the 16th century. The established church took over the medieval pattern, while the Catholic church created its own network, only partially based on the pre‐Reformation predecessor. Both systems were then modified in response to social and demographic change. Civil parishes were originally coincident with the medieval parishes, which in turn became those of the established church, but they did not change along with their religious counterparts. Civil parish divisions served as bases for surveys, and in later years for censuses, but for little else. They frequently transgressed county and barony borders, and by the 19th century were essentially irrelevant to settlement patterns. There are 2,445 civil parishes in Ireland.

Neal Garnham

parish. In England, an area under the spiritual care of a C of E clergyman (the incumbent), to whose religious ministrations all the inhabitants are entitled. The earliest English parishes were large territories controlled from monastic churches, mostly founded in the late 7th and 8th cents. In the 10th cent. these parishes of ‘old ministers’ were starting to fragment, as private manorial lords built churches on their estates and diverted to them the tithes and parochial allegiance of their tenants. In the 12th cent. the parochial network crystallized as bishops applied the principles of canon law at a local level and restricted the rights of lay patrons. The Third Lateran Council of 1179 gave the bishop the right of institution and strengthened the position of the incumbent against the patron.

From an early date the English parish was also a unit of civil administration and the creation of new parishes was controlled by Parliament. With the abolition of Church Rates in 1868 the civil importance of the parish declined. Diocesan Pastoral Committees and the Church Commissioners now virtually control the establishment of new parishes and team and group ministries.

parish district for administrative purposes, orig. township having its own church and priest. XIII. ME. paro(s)che, -osse, -isshe — AN., OF. paroche and (O)F. paroisse — ecclL. parochia, alt. (after parochus — Gr. párokhos public purveyor) of parœcia — Gr. paroikíā sojourning, f. pároikos dwelling near, sojourner, stranger, f. PARA-1 + oîkos dwelling, house; it is doubtful whether the notion ‘neighbour’ or ‘sojourner’ was prevalent in determining the application of parœcia, parochia.
So parishioner inhabitant of a parish XV; superseded earlier parishion, -shen (XIV), alt., after PARISH, of †paroschian, -ien (XIII) — OF. parochien, -ossien (mod. paroissien); -ER1 was added to suggest more clearly a personal designation.

parish The smallest unit of ecclesiastical and administrative organization in England. In the 7th and 8th centuries regional churches (‘minsters’) were founded, staffed by teams of priests who served large ‘parochiae’ covering the area of perhaps five to 15 later parishes. These were broken up during the 10th to 12th centuries as landowners founded local churches for themselves and their tenants, though it was only in the 12th century that the territories which these served crystallized into a formal parochial system.

parish (in the Christian Church) a small administrative district typically having its own church and a priest or pastor. Also, a small country district; the smallest unit of local government, constituted only in rural areas.
parish pump the pump supplying water to a parish, regarded as an informal place for meeting and discussion; used allusively to refer to matters of limited scope and interest, especially in politics.

par·ish / ˈparish/ • n. (in the Christian Church) a small administrative district typically having its own church and a priest or pastor: [as adj.] a parish church. ∎  (in Louisiana) a territorial division corresponding to a county in other states.

Parish (Gk., dwelling near). A geographically designated area having its own church and minister; hence the people and work of that area. From this derives the (usually pejorative) sense of ‘parochial’, being too narrowly or locally concerned.

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