Everything about Caernarfonshire totally explained
Caernarfonshire, sometimes 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
Aberconwy, succeeded in 1996 (with the
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994) by in the principal areas of Gwynedd (which took the first two districts), and
Conwy (which took the latter district).
Geography
The county was 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, separating it from
Anglesey. It had an area of 1,462 km² and a largely mountainous surface. A large part of the
Snowdonia National Park lies in the former county, including
Snowdon itself, 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.
The principal towns of the county were
Bangor,
Betws-y-Coed,
Caernarfon,
Conwy, Llandudno,
Porthmadog and
Pwllheli. Today,
tourism, particularly on the coast,
light industry,
education, and
farming are the main industries, though the last now only employs a small percentage of the workforce.
History
The county was originally created under the terms of the
Statute of Rhuddlan in
1284 following
Edward I of England's conquest of the
Principality of Wales and included the
Cantrefi 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).
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The
Local Government Act 1888 created an elected Caernarfonshire county council in 1889, taking over functions from Caernarfonshire'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.
Tân yn Llŷn 1936
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). The UK government settled on Llŷn as the site for its new bombing school after similar locations Northumberland and Dorset in England were met with protests.
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. 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.
On 8 September 1936 the bombing school building was set on fire by Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine, and D.J. Williams, who immediately surrendered themselves to the police and admitted responsibility. 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.
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 area of the former county has been divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd to the west and Conwy to the east.
Bibliography
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.
Places of interest
Ynys Enlli / Bardsey Island ;
Caernarfon Castle ;
Conwy Castle ;
Criccieth Castle ;
Great Orme Tramway ;
Gwydir Castle, nr. Llanrwst ;
Penrhyn Castle ;
Swallow Falls, Betws-y-Coed ;
Snowdon Mountain Railway, Llanberis ;
Ty Mawr Wybrnant .Further Information
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