The Two Parishes
Until May 2011 Beckermet was split between two parishes: Beckermet St Bridget (2001 census population 385) to the south east, and Beckermet St John (pop. 1925) to the north west. Arguably, a third parish should be included, as the parish of Haile (to the northeast) extended to within a few yards of St John's parish church, however this extension contains only fields. St Bridget included most of the small village of Calder Bridge, and the hamlet of High Sella field, along with about half of the nuclear plant. A large portion of the population of St John lived in the former mining community of Thornhill, near Egremont. In May 2011 the parish boundaries were changed, and the parishes of St. Johns and St Bridgets were merged to form the new parish of Beckermet, which include Beckermet, Thornhill and the northern part of the Sellafied nuclear site.
On 22nd June 2012 Beckermet Parish Council was renamed Beckermet with Thornhill Parish Council. This was enacted to reflect the closer administrative ties between Beckermet and Thornhill.
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