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Caernarfonshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Area: (1891) | 361,097 (1,461 km²) |
| Rank: | Ranked 9th |
| Administration | |
| County town: | Caernarfon |
| Chapman code: | CAE |
Caernarfonshire (Welsh: Sir Gaernarfon), also spelt as Caernarvonshire and Carnarvonshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales.
The administrative county of Caernarfonshire was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming part of the new county of Gwynedd, split between the districts of Dwyfor, Arfon and part of Aberconwy. Since 1996 and the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 it has been represented in the principal areas of Gwynedd (which took the first two districts), and Conwy (which took the latter district).
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The county is bounded to the north by the Irish Sea, to the east by Denbighshire, to the south by Cardigan Bay and Merionethshire, and to the west by Caernarfon Bay and the Menai Strait, which separates it from Anglesey. It has an area of 1,462 km². The surface is largely mountainous. A large part of the Snowdonia National Park lies in the county including Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085 m. The Llŷn peninsula is less mountainous and contains many bays and sandy beaches. Bardsey Island is a major site for nesting seabirds. The River Conwy runs north along the eastern boundary, with Llandudno and Creuddyn to the north-east across the Conwy estuary being included in the county for historical reasons.
Principal towns are Bangor, Betws-y-Coed, Caernarfon, Conwy, Llandudno, Porthmadog and Pwllheli. Tourism, particularly on the coast, light industry, education and farming are the main industries, though the latter now only employs a small percentage of the workforce.
The county was originally created under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 and included the Cantrefi of:
and the Commote of:
During the 19th century the population increased steadily, from 46,000 in the 1801 census to 137,000 in the 1901 census (figures given for the registration county). [1]
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Status: | Administrative county |
| HQ: | Caernarfon |
| History | |
| Created: | 1889 |
| Abolished: | 1974 |
| Succeeded by: | Gwynedd |
| Area | |
| 1891: | 360,138 acres |
| 1961: | 364,108 |
| Population | |
| 1891: | 117,233 |
| 1961: | 121,767 |
The Local Government Act 1888 created an elected Carnarvonshire county council in 1889, taking over functions from Caernarvonshire's Quarter Sessions. The administrative county covered by the county council had identical borders to the geographic county. The administrative county was formally renamed Caernarvonshire on July 1, 1926.
The civil parish of Llysfaen was a detached exclave of the county. On April 1, 1923 Llysfaen was transferred to the county of Denbighshire.
The county was subdivided into a number of units:
- There were four municipal boroughs. Two had been reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: Carnarvon (renamed Caernarvon in 1926) and Pwllheli, and two had been later incorporations: Bangor (incorporated in 1883), and Conway (incorporated 1876).
The rest of the county was divided into urban and rural districts by the Local Government Act 1894. These were the successors to sanitary districts.
- There were initially six urban districts: Bethesda, Criccieth, Llandudno, Llanfairfechan, Penmaenmawr and Ynyscynhaiarn. In 1898 Bettws y Coed urban district was formed and in 1915 Ynyscynhaiarn was renamed Portmadoc.
- Six rural districts were formed in 1894: Conway, Geirionydd, Glaslyn, Gwyrfai, Lleyn and Ogwen. These were reorganised by a County Review Order in 1934: A new Nant Conway rural district was formed by the merger of Conway and Geirionydd rural districts, and Glaslyn rural district was divided between Lleyn and Gwyrfai rural districts and Criccieth and Portmadoc urban districts. Other county district boundaries were also adjusted.
Concern for the Welsh language was ignited in 1936 when the UK government settled on establishing a bombing school at Penyberth on the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd. The events surrounding the protest became known as Tân yn Llŷn (Fire in Llŷn).[1] The UK government settled on Llŷn as the site for its new bombing school after similar locations Northumberland and Dorset were met with protests.[2]
However, UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin refused to hear the case against the bombing school in Wales, despite a deputation representing half a million Welsh protesters[3]. Protest against the bombing school was summed up by Saunders Lewis when he wrote that the UK government was intent upon turning one of the 'essential homes of Welsh culture, idiom, and literature' into a place for promoting a barbaric method of warfare.[4]
On 8 September 1936 the bombing school building was set on fire and in the investigations which followed Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine, and D.J. Williams claimed responsibility. [5] The trial at Caernarfon failed to agree on a verdict and the case was sent to the Old Bailey in London. The "Three" were sentenced to nine months imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs, and on their release they were greeted as heroes by fifteen thousand Welsh at a pavilion in Caernarfon.[6]
Under the Local Government Act 1972 the administrative county of Caernarfonshire was abolished on April 1, 1974. Caernarfonshire was largely split between the three districts of Aberconwy, Arfon and Dwyfor, both in the new county of Gwynedd along with Merionethshire and Anglesey. Since the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 came into force on April 1, 1996 the county has been divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd to the west and Conwy to the east.
- A.H. Dodd, The History of Caernarvonshire (Caernarfonshire Historical Society, 1968).
- John Jones, Enwau Lleoedd Sir Gaernarfon (Caernarfon, 1913). Origin and meanings of place names in the county.
- Ynys Enlli / Bardsey Island (grid reference SH1221);
- Caernarfon Castle (grid reference SH4762);
- Conwy Castle (grid reference SH7877);
- Criccieth Castle (grid reference SH4937);
- Great Orme Tramway (grid reference SH7883);
- Gwydir Castle, nr. Llanrwst (grid reference SH7961);
- Penrhyn Castle (grid reference SH6071);
- Swallow Falls, Betws-y-Coed (grid reference SH7657);
- Snowdon Mountain Railway, Llanberis (grid reference SH5859);
- Ty Mawr Wybrnant (grid reference SH7752).
