History of local government in Wales

The history of local government Wales in a recognisably modern form emerged during the late 19th century.

Local Government Act 1888

From 1889 to 1974, counties made up of administrative counties and county boroughs were used for local government purposes. The counties were created by the Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict, c. 41) based on the historic counties of Wales, but they were not entirely identical.

Administrative counties

The table shows the area and population of administrative counties in Wales as recorded at the censuses of 1891 and 1961.^[1][2]

Administrative county	Area 1891 (Statute acres)	Population 1891	Area 1961 (Statute acres)	Population 1961
Anglesey	175,836	50,098	176,694	51,705
Brecknockshire	469,894	51,393	469,281	55,185
Cardiganshire	443,071	63,467	443,189	53,648
Carmarthenshire	587,816	130,566	588,271	168,008
Caernarfonshire^(1)	360,138	117,233	364,108	121,767
Denbighshire	424,235	118,843	427,978	174,151
Flintshire	164,051	77,277	163,707	150,082
Glamorgan	505,815	467,954	468,808	523,253
Merionethshire	427,810	49,212	422,372	38,310
Monmouthshire	342,548	203,347	346,779	336,556
Montgomeryshire	510,111	58,003	510,110	41,165
Pembrokeshire	392,710	88,296	393,008	94,124
Radnorshire	301,164	21,791	301,165	18,471

⁽¹⁾Renamed from Carnarvonshire, 1 July 1926^[3]

County boroughs

There were also a number of administratively independent county boroughs:

• Cardiff created in 1889 (associated with Glamorgan)
• Swansea, created in 1889 (associated with Glamorgan)
• Newport, separated from Monmouthshire in 1891
• Merthyr Tydfil, separated from Glamorgan in 1908

County borough	Area 1911 (Statute acres)	Population 1911	Area 1961 (Statute acres)	Population 1961
Cardiff	6,373	182,259	15,085	256,582
Merthyr Tydfil	17,761	80,990	17,760	59,039
Newport	4,504	83,691	7,691	112,298
Swansea	5,202	114,663	21,600	167,322

Local Government Act 1972: Counties and districts

In 1974, the existing administrative counties and county boroughs were abolished and replaced by eight new two-tier authorities, instead called 'counties' by the Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c. 70). These counties were sub-divided into lower-tier districts.

The counties were all given names in Welsh only, apart from the three in Glamorgan, which had English names as well as Welsh. The creation of these new administrative areas effectively separated the administrative function from the traditional counties, although in reality this had occurred in 1889.

When these two-tier counties were abolished in 1996, their names and areas were retained with slight modifications for some purposes such as Lieutenancy, and became known as the preserved counties of Wales. These were further amended in 2003 by S.I. 2003/974 to ensure that each unitary area is wholly within one preserved county.

Counties

1. Gwent
2. South Glamorgan
   (De Morgannwg)
3. Mid Glamorgan
   (Morgannwg Ganol)
4. West Glamorgan
   (Gorllewin Morgannwg)
5. Dyfed
6. Powys
7. Gwynedd
8. Clwyd

Districts

The counties were sub-divided into districts, these were:

• Clwyd — Alyn and Deeside, Colwyn, Delyn, Glyndwr, Rhuddlan, Wrexham Maelor
• Dyfed — Carmarthen, Ceredigion, Dinefwr, Llanelli, Preseli Pembrokeshire (named Preseli until 1987), South Pembrokeshire
• Gwent — Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport, Torfaen
• Gwynedd — Aberconwy, Arfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd, Anglesey
• Mid Glamorgan — Cynon Valley, Ogwr, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda, Rhymney Valley, Taff–Ely
• Powys — Brecknock, Montgomery, Radnor
• South Glamorgan — Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan
• West Glamorgan — Lliw Valley, Neath, Port Talbot (named Afan until 1986), Swansea

1996

The redistribution of these districts into the current unitary authorities is as follows:

Unitary authority	Previous districts
Blaenau Gwent	most of Blaenau Gwent
Bridgend	most of Ogwr
Caerphilly	Islwyn, Rhymney Valley
Carmarthenshire	Carmarthen, Llanelli, Dinefwr
Cardiff	Cardiff, part of Taff–Ely
Ceredigion	Ceredigion
Conwy	Aberconwy, most of Colwyn
Denbighshire	Rhuddlan, parts of Glyndwr and Colwyn
Flintshire	Alyn and Deeside, Delyn
Gwynedd	Arfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd
Isle of Anglesey	Anglesey
Merthyr Tydfil	Merthyr Tydfil
Monmouthshire	Monmouth, part of Blaenau Gwent
Neath Port Talbot	Neath, Port Talbot, parts of Lliw Valley
Newport	Newport
Pembrokeshire	Preseli Pembrokeshire, South Pembrokeshire
Powys	Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Brecknock, part of Glyndwr
Rhondda Cynon Taf	Rhondda, Cynon Valley, most of Taff-Ely
Swansea	Swansea, parts of Lliw Valley
Torfaen	Torfaen
Vale of Glamorgan	most of Vale of Glamorgan
Wrexham	most of Wrexham, parts of Glyndwr

See also

• Local government in Wales
• History of local government in the United Kingdom

References

1. Census of England and Wales 1891, Vol. I, Table III. Administrative Counties and County Boroughs; Area, and Houses and Population in 1891 (Historic GIS Project, Queen's University, Belfast)
2. 1961 Census England and Wales: County Reports (www.visionofbritain.org.uk)
3. 1931 Census of England and Wales, county report for Caernarvonshire