Editing Ambleside (section)

===Administrative history===
Ambleside was historically a [[Township (England)|township]] in the [[ancient parish]] of [[Kendal]] in the [[Historic counties of England|historic county]] of [[Westmorland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/place/998|title=History of Ambleside, in South Lakeland and Westmorland|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref> After the [[Reformation]] in the 16th century, the very large parish of Kendal was subdivided into smaller parishes, and Ambleside township thereafter straddled the parishes of [[Grasmere (village)|Grasmere]] and [[Windermere, Cumbria (town)|Windermere]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume 2 |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0 86193 127 0 |page=460}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Census of England and Wales, 1871: Volume 2 |date=1872 |publisher=Census Office |page=509 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Census_of_England_and_Wales_1871/oQQ4AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA509&printsec=frontcover |access-date=19 April 2025}}</ref> The boundary between the two new parishes followed the stream of [[Stock Ghyll]] through the middle of Ambleside.<ref>{{cite web |title=Westmorland Sheet XXVI |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/102347868 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=19 April 2025 |date=1863}}</ref>

[[File:Former chapel on Kirkstone Road - geograph.org.uk - 6029336.jpg|thumb|Former St Anne's Church]]
The township of Ambleside took on civil functions under the [[poor laws]] from the 17th century onwards. As such, the township also became a [[civil parish]] in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II, Northern England |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0861931270 |page=xv}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10059458|title=Relationships and changes Ambleside CP/Ch through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref> In ecclesiastical terms, Ambleside township was served by a [[chapel of ease]] dedicated to St Anne, which was rebuilt in 1812.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=St Anne's Court|num=1313425|grade=II}}</ref> St Anne's was replaced by a much larger church dedicated to St Mary on a new site west of the town centre, which was completed in 1854.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Church of St Mary|num=1244784|grade=II*}}</ref> The township of Ambleside was subsequently also made an [[ecclesiastical parish]] in 1863.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22771|page=4491|date=15 September 1863}}</ref><ref name=Kelly's>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Westmorland |date=1906 |page=15 |url=https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/42467/rec/3 |access-date=19 April 2025}}</ref>

Ambleside was made a [[Local Government Act 1858|local government district]] in 1884, administered by an elected local board.<ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1885 |page=265 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Annual_Report_of_the_Local_Government_Bo/VRYwAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA265&printsec=frontcover |access-date=19 April 2025}}</ref> Such districts were reconstituted as [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban districts]] under the [[Local Government Act 1894]].<ref name=Kelly's/> Ambleside Urban District was abolished in 1935, when the area was merged with Grasmere Urban District and the civil parishes of [[Langdale|Langdales]], [[Patterdale]], [[Rydal, Cumbria|Rydal and Loughrigg]], and [[Troutbeck, Lakes|Troutbeck]] to form Lakes Urban District. Ambleside was the largest settlement in the district and where the council was based.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=45749|page=9656|date=11 August 1972}}</ref> After the 1935 reforms, Ambleside continued to form a civil parish within Lakes Urban District between 1935 and 1974, but as an [[urban parish]] it had no separate council.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lakes Urban District |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10042525#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=19 April 2025}}</ref>

Lakes Urban District was abolished in 1974. Patterdale was transferred to [[Eden District]], and the remainder of the old Lakes Urban District, including Ambleside, became a [[successor parish]] called Lakes within the [[South Lakeland]] district of the new county of [[Cumbria]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/westmorland%20south.html|title=Westmorland South Registration District|publisher=Ukbmd.org.uk|access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|accessdate=3 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973|year=1973|number=551|accessdate=3 March 2023}}</ref> South Lakeland was in turn abolished in 2023 when the new Westmorland and Furness Council was created, also taking over the functions of the abolished Cumbria County Council in the area.<ref name=2022order>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022|year=2022|number=331|access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref>