When does a village become a town?

[Man of Harveys]

Someone just asked me this at work and I was stumped. I know that a hamlet is a village without a church but what's the traditional definition of a town compared to a village? Is it something to do with amenities?

(Anything to take my mind off the awful events in the USA, heaven help us.)

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

Is it having a town hall which makes it a town?

 

[aftershavedave]

just a guess, but i'd say that the difference is in administration, so a town has its own council whereas a village is administered by another place, presumably a larger nearby town...

 

[Digweeds Trousers]

When its called a town.

 

[Artois]

Did you know that Lancing is the biggest village in Britain according to the Guinness book of records.

 

[Albion Rob]

Did you know that Lancing is the biggest village in Britain according to the Guinness book of records.

I thought Uckfield had that accolade.

 

[Highfields Seagull]

I thought a hamlet was a village without any stocks (the kind to put people in and throw tomatos at). Could be wrong though.

Don't know when a village becomes a town. Is it something to do with population size?

 

[Publius Ovidius]

bizzarly, a village became a town when a woolworths was opened!

I know I thought it was crap, but seemly that is how it used to be defined

 

[Ex Shelton Seagull]

I thought Uckfield had that accolade.

Piss off!

Uckfield is a TOWN and very proud of it we are an all. It's Uckfield Town FC after all.

 

[REDLAND]

When they build a McDonalds !!

 

[Gazwag]

Good old google

In England the main historical distinction between a hamlet and a village is that the latter will have a church

A village is traditionally distinguished from a town in that a village lacks a regular market


There is much dispute over which is the largest village in England. Places claiming to be the largest include Cranleigh Cranleigh has long been associated with the unprovable title of "England's largest village": this settlement is part of the Waverley district of Surrey, and was until late Victorian times "Cranley". The name is popularly believed to come from the large crane's breeding ground there; hence the crane on the top of the water fountain in the middle of the village. The Post Office insisted on changing the spelling to avoid confusion with nearby Crawley in West Sussex.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Chailey is the largest village in England

 

[Rangdo]

Chailey is the largest village in England

Falmer is the most f***ing irritating.

 

[Northstander]

Lancing also first village to be named in the Domesday book!

 

[Northstander]

Lancing could be twinned with a village called "mycock!"

Now that would be funny!

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

A town is usually an urban locality which is not considered to rank as a city. As with cities, there is no standard universal definition of a town: the criterion in use in any country is likely to arise from national law, custom or administrative convenience.

Towns are properly differentiated from villages or hamletss on the basis of their economic character, in that most of a town's population will tend to derive its living from industry, commerce and public service rather than agriculture or related activities.

A place's population size is not a reliable determinant of urban character. In many areas of the world, as in India at least until recent times, a large village might contain several times as many people as a small town.

The modern phenomena of extensive suburban growth, satellite urban development and migration of city-dwellers to villages have further complicated the definition of towns, creating communities urban in their economic and cultural characteristics but lacking other characteristics of urban localities.

Some forms of non-rural settlement, such as temporary mining locations, may be clearly non-rural, but have at best a questionable claim to be called a town.

The distinction between a town and a city similarly depends on the approach adopted: a city may strictly be an administrative entity which has been granted that dignity by law, but the term is also used commonly to denote an urban locality of a particular size or importance: whereas a medieval city may have possessed as few as 10,000 inhabitants, today many would think of an urban place of fewer than 100,000 as a town.

 

[beorhthelm]

Chailey is the largest village in England

how's that? are you going by area covered?

A town is given that staus by a Charter. Cant remember what the precise name is. Typically a village would have been given a charter if it established a market. Id imagine its a bit random like City status these days.

 

[jevs]

Isn't Ringmer one of the biggest villages in the country.

I was once told that a village doesn't have street lights but i'm sure that's a pile of poo !

 

[Publius Ovidius]

yes by area....South Chailey..Chailey..North Chailey. All noted as one village and covers about 12 million square miles

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

Falmer is the most f***ing irritating.

Is that in the Guiness Book of Records? It should be.