Urban districts were a form of local government in England and Wales between 1894 and 1974, typically used for smaller and medium sized towns.
They were created on 31 December 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict.
Only a minority of the urban districts created in 1894 were for places that had not previously had urban forms of local government.
Initially 753 urban districts were created under the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict.
[1][a][2] When the 1894 Act came into force on 31 December 1894 an additional 31 urban districts were created for areas which had not previously been urban sanitary districts, whilst four urban sanitary districts were abolished at the same time (two absorbed into larger urban neighbours, two downgraded to rural areas) and so did not become urban districts.