History
The Metropolitan Police District was defined in the schedule of the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 as an approximately circular area within a seven-mile (11-kilometre) radius of Charing Cross, which was divided into four districts and 17 police divisions.
It consisted of parts of:
| Middlesex | The Liberty of Westminster, The Holborn division, the inner parishes of the Finsbury division, the Tower division, the Kensington division, the township of New Brentford, the Inns of Court and the liberty of Ely Place |
| Kent | The parishes of St Paul and St Nicholas, Deptford, and the parish of Greenwich |
| Surrey | The parishes of Bermondsey, Camberwell, Clapham, Lambeth, Newington, Putney, Rotherhithe, Streatham, Tooting, Wandsworth, and Christchurch, Southwark, The Liberty of the Clink, The hamlet of Hatcham, and the Borough of Southwark |
There have been numerous changes to the boundaries of the MPD, and of the divisions therein. The Metropolitan Police Act 1839 recognised that the "boundary is... very irregular" and made it lawful to add any place in the Central Criminal Court District and also "any part of any parish, township, precinct or place" not more than 15 miles (24 km) from Charing Cross. The enlarged district encompassed the metropolitan area and some parts of Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica notes that it included "those civil parishes of which any part is within twelve miles (19 km) of, or of which no part is more than fifteen miles (24 km) from, Charing Cross".
| Metropolitan Police District 1840 - 1946 | |
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The map shows the MPD boundary in red. At the centre is the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works 1855–1889, which became the County of London in 1889. The other dashed lines show the boundaries of Essex (containing Loughton), Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, and Hertfordshire (going clockwise). |
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The enlargement under the 1839 Act was carried out by Order in Council issued on January 3, 1840, which listed the following "parishes, townships, precincts, and places" ... "should be added to, and form part of, the metropolitan police district":
| County of Middlesex | Ashford, Bedfont (East), Cowley, Cranford, Drayton (West), Edgware (sic) including Whitchurch, Edmonton, Enfield, Feltham, Finchley, Fryern Barnet, Greenford, Hadley (Monken), Hampton (Town and Court), Hamptonwick liberty (sic), Hanwell, Hanworth, Harefield, Harlington, Harmondsworth, Harrow, Hayes, Hendon, Heston, Hillingdon, Hornsey, Ickenham, Isleworth, Kingsbury, Laleham, Littleton, Northolt, Norwood precinct, Perivale, Pinner, Ruislip, Shepperton, South Mimms, Staines, Stanmore (Great and Little), Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Tottenham, Twickenham, Twyford Abbey, Uxbridge township and chapelry, Wilsden (sic) |
| County of Surrey | Addington, Banstead, Beddington and Wallington hamlet, Carshalton, Cheam, Chessington, Croydon, Cuddington, Epsom, Ewell exclusive of part near Walton, Farley, Kew, Kingston upon Thames, Ham-with-Hatch hamlet, Hook hamlet, Long Ditton, Maldon (sic), Merton, Mitcham, Morden, Mortlake, Moulsey (East), Moulsey (West), Petersham, Richmond, Roehampton, Sanderstead, Sutton, Thames Ditton including hamlet of Ember, hamlet of Weston, and hamlet of Claygate, Warlingham, Wimbledon, Woodmansterne, Worcester Park (extra-parochial) |
| County of Kent | Beckenham, Bexley, Bromley, Charlton, Chislehurst, Crayford, Down (sic), Eltham including Mottingham, Erith, Farnborough, Foots Cray, Hayes, Keston, Kidbrooke, Lee, Lewisham, North Cray, Orpington, Plumstead, St Mary's Cray, Wickham (East), Wickham (West), Woolwich |
| County of Essex | Barking (Town Ward, Chadwell Ward, Great Ilford Ward, Ripple Ward), Chigwell, Chingford, Dagenham, East Ham, Little Ilford, Loughton, Low Leyton, Waltham Abbey (Holyfield hamlet, Sewardstone hamlet, Upshire hamlet, Waltham Town hamlet), Walthamstow, Wanstead, West Ham (Church-street Ward, Plaistow Ward, Stratford Ward), Woodford |
| County of Hertford | Aldenham, Bushey, Cheshunt, Chipping Barnet, East Barnet, Elstree, Northaw, Ridge, Shenley, Theobald-street, Totteridge |
In 1946 the Metropolitan Police District was somewhat redrawn by the Police Act 1946, to match the then local government boundaries. The boroughs of Dartford and Watford, the urban district of Caterham and Warlingham and the parish of St. Peter Rural were wholly excluded from the District; whilst the borough of Epsom and Ewell, the urban districts of Banstead, Cheshunt, Coulsdon and Purley, Crayford, Esher and Orpington were brought wholly within the district. The definition, in the Fourth Schedule is as follows:
| County of London except the City of London | |
| Middlesex | |
| County Borough of Croydon, County Borough of East Ham, County Borough of West Ham | |
| Essex | Municipal Borough of Barking, Municipal Borough of Chingford, Municipal Borough of Dagenham, Municipal Borough of Ilford, Municipal Borough of Walthamstow, Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford, Chigwell Urban District, Waltham Holy Cross Urban District |
| Hertfordshire | Barnet Urban District, Bushey Urban District, Cheshunt Urban District, East Barnet Urban District, Elstree Rural District the parish of Northaw from Hatfield Rural District Aldenham from Watford Rural District |
| Kent | Municipal Borough of Beckenham, Municipal Borough of Bexley, Municipal Borough of Bromley, Municipal Borough of Erith, Chislehurst and Sidcup, Crayford Urban District, Orpington Urban District, Penge Urban District |
| Surrey | Municipal Borough of Barnes, Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington, Municipal Borough of Epsom and Ewell, Municipal Borough of Kingston, Municipal Borough of Malden and Coombe, Municipal Borough of Mitcham, Municipal Borough of Richmond, Municipal Borough of Surbiton, Municipal Borough of Sutton and Cheam, Municipal Borough of Wimbledon, Banstead Urban District, Carshalton Urban District, Coulsdon and Purley Urban District, Esher Urban District, Merton and Morden Urban District |
In 1965 the administrative boundaries of London were extended. After 1965 the newly-created Greater London more closely matched the MPD, and the MPD was defined again by section 76 of the London Government Act 1963. The former area of the Municipal Borough of Romford and Hornchurch Urban District, which had not previously been covered by the MPD but were now in Greater London, were added. However, a number of anomalies continued to exist.
In 1974 it was again restated, by S.I. 1974/482:
- Greater London, excluding the City of London and the Temples
- Essex: Epping Forest : former Chigwell Urban District and parish of Waltham Holy Cross
- Hertfordshire: Broxbourne : former Cheshunt urban district
- Hertfordshire: Hertsmere
- Hertfordshire: Welwyn Hatfield: parish of Northaw (Northaw and Cuffley)
- Surrey: Elmbridge: former Esher urban district
- Surrey: Epsom and Ewell
- Surrey: Spelthorne
- Surrey: Reigate and Banstead: former Banstead urban district
The anomaly of having the Metropolitan Police responsible for areas outside the Greater London boundary thus continued. In 1998 the Government 'Green Paper' on the Greater London Authority proposed to create a Police Authority for the Metropolitan Police, who had previously been under the control of the Home Secretary. Initially, the government proposed to retain the areas outside the local government boundary, with a representative appointed to the Police Authority from the councils outside the Greater London Authority boundary.
However the government changed its mind and in the Greater London Authority Act 1999 the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District were redefined to match Greater London. The excised county areas were reassigned to Essex Police, Hertfordshire Constabulary and Surrey Police.
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