Gwent (county)

Last updated
Gwent
Gwent Preserved County in Wales.svg
Gwent shown within Wales as a preserved county
Area
  20031,553 km²
Ranked 5th
Population
  2007560,500
Ranked 1st
History
  Created1974
  Abolished1996
  Succeeded by Blaenau Gwent
Caerphilly
Monmouthshire
Newport
Torfaen
Preserved county of Gwent
StatusNon-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–)
Government Gwent County Council (1974–1996)
   HQ Shire Hall, Newport (1974–1978)
County Hall, Cwmbran (1978–1996)

Gwent is a preserved county and former local government county in southeast Wales. A county of Gwent was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972; it was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent. The authority was a successor to both the administrative county of Monmouthshire (with minor boundary changes) [1] and the county borough of Newport (both authorities which were legally part of England until the Act came into force [2] [3] although considered jointly with Wales for certain purposes). [4] [5]

Contents

Under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, the county of Gwent was abolished on 1 April 1996. [6] However, the name remains in use for one of the preserved counties of Wales for the ceremonial purposes of Lieutenancy and High Shrievalty, and its name also survives in various titles, e.g. Gwent Police, Royal Gwent Hospital, Gwent Wildlife Trust and Coleg Gwent. "Gwent" is often used as a synonym for the historic county of Monmouthshire – for example the Gwent Family History Society describes itself as "The key to roots in the historic county of Monmouthshire". [7]

The former administrative county was divided into several districts: Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport and Torfaen. The successor unitary authorities are Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly (part of which came from Mid Glamorgan), Monmouthshire (which covers the eastern 60% of the historic county of the same name), Newport and Torfaen.

In 2003 the preserved county of Gwent expanded to include the whole of Caerphilly County Borough; [8] the Gwent Police area had already been realigned to these boundaries in 1996. In 2007, the population of this enlarged area was estimated as 560,500, [9] making it the most populous of the preserved counties of Wales.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torfaen</span> County borough in Wales

Torfaen is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south-west and north-west. It is within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire, and between 1974 and 1996 was a district of Gwent, until it was reconstituted as a principal area in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaenau Gwent</span> County borough in Wales

Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and Tredegar. Its highest point is Coity Mountain at 1,896 feet (578 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monmouthshire</span> County in Wales

Monmouthshire is a county in the south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the south, and Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west. The largest town is Abergavenny, and the administrative centre is Usk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monmouthshire (historic)</span> Historic county in Wales

Until 1974, Monmouthshire, also formerly known as the County of Monmouth, was an administrative county in the south-east of Wales, on the border with England, and later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. Its area now corresponds approximately to the present principal areas of Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Torfaen, and those parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff east of the Rhymney River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid Glamorgan</span> Preserved county in Wales

Mid Glamorgan is a preserved county of Wales. From 1974 until 1996 it was also an administrative county with a county council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principal areas of Wales</span> Subdivisions of Wales; counties and county boroughs

The principal areas of Wales, comprising the counties andcounty boroughs of Wales, are a form of subdivision in Wales. There are currently 22 principal areas in Wales, and they were established in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monmouth (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918 onwards

Monmouth is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The seat was created for the 1918 general election. Since 2005 the Member of Parliament (MP) has been David Davies of the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwent Police</span> Welsh territorial police force

Gwent Police is a territorial police force in Wales, responsible for policing the local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">District of Monmouth</span> Former district of Gwent, Wales

Monmouth District was one of five local government districts in the county of Gwent in Wales between 1974 and 1996. In 1988 the district was granted a charter conferring borough status, becoming the Borough of Monmouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monmouthshire County Council</span> Local government of Monmouthshire, Wales

Monmouthshire County Council is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Gwent</span> Kingdom in South Wales

Gwent was a medieval Welsh kingdom, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk. It existed from the end of Roman rule in Britain in about the 5th century until the Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century. Along with its neighbour Glywyssing, it seems to have had a great deal of cultural continuity with the earlier Silures, keeping their own courts and diocese separate from the rest of Wales until their conquest by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. Although it recovered its independence after his death in 1063, Gwent was the first of the Welsh kingdoms to be overrun following the Norman conquest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Wales Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service in Wales

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the ten Welsh principal areas of Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen and Vale of Glamorgan.

The history of local government in Wales in a recognisably modern form emerged during the late 19th century. Administrative counties and county boroughs were first established in Wales in 1889. Urban and rural districts were formed in 1894. These were replaced in 1974 by a two-tier authority system across the country comprising eight counties and, within them, thirty-seven districts. This system was itself replaced by the introduction of 22 single-tier authorities in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South East Wales</span> Region of Wales

South East Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales generally corresponding to the preserved counties of Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and Gwent. Highly urbanised, it includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport as well as large towns in the South Wales Valleys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aneurin Bevan University Health Board</span> NHS local health board in South East Wales

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) is the local health board of NHS Wales for Gwent, in the south-east of Wales. Headquartered in Caerleon, the local health board (LHB) was launched in October 2009 through the merger of Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust and Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport, Torfaen, and Monmouthshire LHBs. It is named after Aneurin Bevan, a Member of Parliament who represented the area and who was the Minister of Health responsible for the foundation of the National Health Service. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is the operational name of Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwent Archives</span>

Gwent Archives is the local records office and genealogy centre, based in Ebbw Vale, South Wales for the historic county of Monmouthshire. It covers the modern local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly County Borough, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwent County Council</span>

Gwent County Council was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was based in Cwmbran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiff Capital Region</span> City region in Wales

The Cardiff Capital Region is a city region in Wales, centred on the capital city of Wales, Cardiff, in the southeast of the country. It is a partnership between the ten local authorities of Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend County Borough, Caerphilly County Borough, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, and Vale of Glamorgan, local businesses in southeast Wales and other organisations. The regional city deal is funded by the UK Government and Welsh Government. The Cardiff Capital Region includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport, and most of the South Wales Valleys, with the region being coterminous with the area defined as South East Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regions of Wales</span> Undefined class of subdivision in Wales

Wales has traditionally been divided into a number of ambiguous and ill-defined areas described as regions, reflecting historical, geographical, administrative, cultural and electoral boundaries within the country. Presently, the most common form of division of Wales into "regions" has been using cardinal and intercardinal references: north or south-west for example. None of the variously described "regions" have official status or defined boundaries; neither is there a fixed number of regions. Various organisations use different regions and combinations of regions for their individual purposes. This includes devolved institutions, such as Visit Wales, Natural Resources Wales, and the Welsh Government itself, using different sets of Wales' regions. Wales is most commonly sub-divided into between two and four regions, with a North–South divide, and North, Mid, South East and South West division being common. This article lists the various terms applied to be the "regions of Wales" and the regions used by various organisations.

References

  1. Less the parish of St Mellons and urban districts of Bedwas and Machen, Rhymney and part of Bedwellty and the addition of the parishes of Llanelly and Brynmawr.
  2. Local Government Act 1933 c. 51, First Schedule, Part I (a) Administrative Counties in England: Monmouth; Part II (a) County Boroughs in England: Newport.
  3. Local Government Act 1972 c. 70, s. 1 New local government areas in England, ss. 12 "In this section 'England' does not include the administrative county of Monmouthshire or the county borough of Newport." & s. 20 New local government areas in Wales, ss. 7 "In this section 'Wales' includes the administrative county of Monmouthshire and the county borough of Newport."
  4. Williams, Chris (2011). "The Question of Monmouthshire". In Williams, Chris; Williams, Sian Rhiannon (eds.). Industrial Monmouthshire 1780-1914. The Gwent County History. Vol. 4. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 357. ISBN   978-0-7083-2365-6. OCLC   56570946.
  5. Hopkins, Tony (Summer 1991). "In search of Monmouthshire, 1536-1972". Gwent Local History (71): 8–12. Retrieved 26 March 2018 via Welsh Journals Online at the National Library of Wales.
  6. "Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 c. 19, s. 1(1)". 5 July 1994.
  7. "Gwent Family History Society" . Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  8. "The Preserved Counties (Amendment to Boundaries) (Wales) Order 2003". Office of Public Sector Information. 2003-04-01. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  9. 2007 population estimate, calculated using 2003 borders for Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen. Source: "Table 10: Mid-2006 to Mid-2007 Population Estimates, Components of population change for local authorities in the United Kingdom". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-09-11.

51°47′20″N3°01′05″W / 51.789°N 3.018°W / 51.789; -3.018