The parishes of Eaton Under Heywood and Hope Bowdler became a combined parish following boundary commission recommendations in the 1990's. Parish councils are the lowest rung on the local government ladder: their purpose is to act as an interface between parishioners and Shropshire Unitary Council. Eaton Under Heywood & Hope Bowdler have seven parish councillors: they are assisted by the Unitary Councillor for the Corvedale and Apedale area who is presently Cllr. Cecilia Motley of Norton.
The parish council's administrative area is large but predominantly rural and sparsely populated - at the 2011 census there were 404 residents in the parish, living in 167 households. The parish encompasses the villages of Hope Bowdler and Ticklerton, and the hamlets of Soudley, Chelmick, Ragdon, Birtley, Harton, Hatton, Wolverton and Eaton Under Heywood.
The parish has two churches - St. Andrew in Hope Bowdler and St. Edith in Eaton Under Heywood. It also has two village halls, at Hope Bowdler and Ticklerton. Apart from that the parish has no other amenities, having no school, shop or public house.