Sub-divisions in Wales
The
historic counties of Wales
(
Welsh
:
siroedd hynafol
) were the thirteen
sub-divisions
used in
Wales
from either 1282 and 1535, up to their abolishment in 1974, being replaced by
eight counties
. They were used for various functions for several hundred years,
[1]
but for administrative purposes have been superseded by contemporary
sub-national divisions
,
[2]
some of which bear some limited similarity to the historic entities in name and extent. They are alternatively known as
ancient counties
.
[3]
The counties
[
edit
]
-
County
|
Welsh name
|
Population (most recent)
|
Monmouthshire
|
Sir Fynwy
3
4
|
503,917
|
Glamorganshire
|
Sir Forgannwg
or
Morgannwg
1
|
1,288,309
|
Carmarthenshire
|
Sir Gaerfyrddin
or
Sir Gar
2
|
187,568
|
Pembrokeshire
|
Sir Benfro
1
|
125,055
|
Cardiganshire
|
Sir Aberteifi
or
Ceredigion
2
|
72,992
|
Brecknockshire
|
Sir Frycheiniog
3
|
43,376
|
Radnorshire
|
Sir Faesyfed
3
|
25,821
|
Montgomeryshire
|
Sir Drefaldwyn
3
|
63,779
|
Denbighshire
|
Sir Ddinbych
3
|
174,151
|
Flintshire
|
Sir y Fflint
2
|
60,012
|
Merionethshire
|
Sir Feirionnydd
or
Meirionnydd
2
|
38,310
|
Caernarfonshire
|
Sir Gaernarfon
2
|
121,767
|
Anglesey
|
Sir Fon
2
|
69,961
|
-
- 1
The earldom of Pembroke and lordship of Glamorgan pre-date the
Edwardian conquest
.
- 2
These counties originate in 1282, following King
Edward I
's conquest.
- 3
These counties originate in 1535, with the
Laws in Wales Act, 1535
, converting the remaining
Marcher
Lordships into counties.
- 4
Despite being created at the same Act as the other counties, Monmouthshire was included with English counties for legal purposes until 1974. Between 1536 and 1974 the formulation "Wales and Monmouthshire" was frequently used.
[4]
The 1535 Laws in Wales Act had the effect of abolishing the
marcher lordships
within and on the borders of Wales. In the border areas, several were incorporated in whole or in part into English counties. The lordships of
Ludlow
,
Clun
,
Caus
and part of
Montgomery
were incorporated into Shropshire; and
Wigmore
,
Huntington
,
Clifford
and most of
Ewyas
were included in Herefordshire.
[5]
The historic counties established by 1535 were used as the geographical basis for the
administrative counties
, governed by
county councils
, which existed from 1889 to 1974. The historian William Rees said, in his "Historical Atlas of Wales": (published 1959)
"... the boundaries of the modern shires have largely been determined by the ancient divisions of the country. The survival of these ancient local divisions within the pattern of historical change constitutes a vital element in the framework of the national life and helps to preserve its continuity."
Four circuits of Wales
[
edit
]
In the 1536 acts of the Union, a
Court of Great Sessions in Wales
was created in Wales for four separate circuits. The circuits each had 3 counties involved. Some of the original territorial
Marcher lordships
were split into regional circuits and others were created from regions of the former
Principality of Wales
:
[6]
- Anglesey, Caernarfon & Merioneth
- Flint, Denbigh & Montgomery
- Cardigan, Carmarthen & Pembroke
- Radnor, Brecon & Glamorgan
Exclaves
[
edit
]
The
Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844
abolished several
enclaves
. One of these,
Welsh Bicknor
(Llangystennin) was an exclave of
Monmouthshire
between
Gloucestershire
and
Herefordshire
and was transferred to
Herefordshire
. Two townships of the ancient parish of
Cwmyoy
were also exclaves of Herefordshire. Bwlch Trewyn was transferred to Monmouthshire, whereas the other, Ffwddog (identified using the English variant Fothock on older maps), was not.
The Herefordshire township of Litton and Cascob (in the parishes of Cascob and Presteigne), was transferred to Radnorshire.
The Denbighshire township of
Carreghofa
(in the parish of
Llanymynech
) was transferred to Montgomeryshire.
The exclaves of
Flintshire
, called
English Maelor
and
Marford and Hoseley
were left untouched.
Monmouthshire
[
edit
]
The territory which became Monmouthshire was part of the Welsh kingdoms of
Gwent
and
Glywysing
and later, after the Norman conquest of southern Wales, of the
Welsh Marches
. Although the original
Laws in Wales Act 1535
specifically stated the lands making up Monmouthshire were from the 'Country or Dominion of Wales', the
Laws in Wales Act 1542
added Monmouthshire to the Oxford circuit of the English
assizes
rather than falling under the
Court of Great Sessions in Wales
. According to historian
John Davies
, this arrangement was the cause of the erroneous belief that the county had been annexed by England rather than remaining part of Wales.
[7]
In later centuries, some English historians, map-makers, landowners and politicians took the view that Monmouthshire was an English rather than a Welsh county, and references were often made in legislation to "
Wales and Monmouthshire
". The position was finally resolved by the Local Government Act 1972, which confirmed Monmouthshire's place within Wales.
Local government
[
edit
]
1889
[
edit
]
The
Local Government Act 1888
created a parallel system of
administrative counties
based on the historic counties in 1889. Additionally, certain boroughs were deemed to be
county boroughs
, outside the administrative counties (
Cardiff
and
Swansea
in 1889,
Newport
in 1891 and
Merthyr Tydfil
in 1908). As a result of 85 years of local government boundary changes, the boundaries of the administrative counties became increasingly different from the historic counties, until they were abandoned altogether for a different system of local government in 1974.
1974
[
edit
]
The
Local Government Act 1972
replaced the administrative counties created in 1889 with
eight new administrative counties
in 1974. The existing
Lieutenancy
areas were also redefined to use the newly created local government areas, defined by the act as "counties." Furthermore, use of the historic counties as
postal counties
was stopped by the
Royal Mail
in 1975 and those historic counties were no longer shown on maps. However, in spite of widespread misunderstanding, the Local Government Act 1972 never abolished the historic counties. Indeed, the Department of the Environment made this very clear in a statement it issued on 1 April 1974:
" The new county boundaries are solely for the purpose of defining areas of...local government. They are administrative areas, and will not alter the traditional areas of Counties (the historic counties), nor is it intended that the loyalties of people living in them will change."
The eight new administrative counties were themselves replaced in 1996 by the current
principal areas of Wales
, but modified versions were retained for Lieutenancy as the
preserved counties
.
Vice counties
[
edit
]
The
vice counties
, used for biological recording throughout Great Britain and Ireland since 1852, are largely based on historic county boundaries. They ignore all exclaves and are modified by subdividing large counties and merging smaller areas into neighbouring counties. The static boundaries make
longitudinal study
of biodiversity easier.
Index of Place Names
[
edit
]
The historic counties of Wales are included in the
Index of Place Names
(IPN) published by the
Office for National Statistics
. Each "place" included in the IPN is related to the historic county it lies within, as well as to a set of administrative areas. The Historic Counties Trust has published demographic statistics for the historic counties of the UK from the
2011 United Kingdom census
including a comparison of population and population density in the historic counties of England and Wales between the
1901 United Kingdom census
and the
2011 United Kingdom census
and a comparison of the number of Welsh speakers in the historic counties of Wales between the
1911 United Kingdom census
and the
2011 United Kingdom census
.
[8]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Bryne, T.,
Local Government in Britain
, (1994)
- ^
Her Majesty's Stationery Office,
Aspects of Britain: Local Government
, (1996)
- ^
Vision of Britain
? Type details for ancient county. Retrieved 19 October 2006.
- ^
Statute Law database: "Wales and Monmouthshire" search results
- ^
John Davies,
A History of Wales
, Penguin, 1993,
ISBN
0-14-028475-3
- ^
Williams, Philip Nanney (2016).
Nannau - A Rich Tapestry of Welsh History
. Llwyn Estates Publications. p. 64.
ISBN
978-0-9955337-0-7
.
- ^
John Davies
,
A History of Wales
, 1993,
ISBN
0-14-028475-3
- ^
Historic Counties Trust
The Demography of the Historic Counties
Retrieved 15 June 2020
External links
[
edit
]