Glamorgan:
| Glamorgan |
Ancient extent of Glamorgan |
| Geography |
| 1831 area |
547,494 acres (2,215.63 km2)[citation needed] |
| 1911 area |
518,865 acres (2,099.77 km2)[1] |
| 2007 area |
>523,253 acres? |
| HQ |
Cardiff |
| Chapman code |
GLA |
| History |
| Succeeded by |
West Glamorgan
Mid Glamorgan
South Glamorgan |
| Demography |
1831 population
- 1831 density |
126,612[2]
0.2/acre[citation needed] |
1911 population
- 1911 density |
1,120,910[1]
2.2/acre |
2007 population
- 2008 density |
>2,129,728?
>2.4/acre? |
| Politics |
| Governance |
Glamorgan County Council (1889-1974) |
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire (Welsh: Morgannwg) is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying names and boundaries until taken over by the Normans as a lordship.[3] Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three preserved counties of West Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan. The name also survives in that of the county borough of the Vale of Glamorgan.
[edit] Geography
The county of Glamorgan fell into several distinct regions: the industrial valleys, the agricultural Vale of Glamorgan, and the scenic Gower peninsula.
The county was bounded to the north by Brecknockshire, east by Monmouthshire, south by the Bristol Channel, and west by Carmarthenshire and Carmarthen Bay. Its total area was 2,100 km²,[4] and the total population of the three preserved counties of Glamorgan in 1991 was 1,288,309.[5] In 2001 it was around 1.4 million. The historic county of Glamorgan is one of the fastest growing areas in the UK in population[citation needed]. Its highest point is at Craig y Llyn (600 m).
Glamorgan was the most populous[3] and industrialised county[citation needed] in Wales. The northern part of the county was a mountainous area, dissected by deep narrow valleys, with urbanisation typified by ribbon development. At one time the coal industry was dominant, but the last deep mine, Tower Colliery at Hirwaun closed in January 2008. A few small drift mines like Unity Mine, formerly Pentreclwydau South, near Glynneath remain. The Vale of Glamorgan, a lowland area mainly comprising farmland and small villages stretched across most of the south of the county from Porthcawl to Cardiff. Further west, beyond Swansea, lay the Gower peninsula, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[6]
The major rivers of Glamorgan included the River Taff, the Ely, the Ogmore, the Neath, Dulais, the Tawe, the Rhymney (which formed the border with Monmouthshire), and the Loughor (which formed the border with Carmarthenshire). The main towns included Aberdare, Barry, Bridgend, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Cowbridge, Maesteg, Merthyr Tydfil, Mountain Ash, Neath, Penarth, Pontypridd, Porthcawl, Port Talbot, and Swansea.
Despite the decline in the coal industry, the area remains heavily populated with, particularly around Cardiff, a wide and diverse economic base including public administration, agriculture, light industry, manufacturing, service sector, and tourism.[7].
[edit] Places of interest
Places of special interest include:
- Aberdulais Falls
- Barry Island pleasure beach
- Caerphilly Castle
- Cardiff Castle
- Castell Coch, Tongwynlais
- Dare Valley Country Park,
- Dunraven Park, Southerndown
- Ewenny Priory
- Gower peninsula
- Llandaff Cathedral
- Llantwit Major
- Museum of Welsh Life, St. Fagans
- National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
- National Waterfront Museum, Swansea
- Neath Abbey
- Old Beaupre Castle
- Ogmore Castle
- Oxwich Castle
- Margam Country Park,
- Penscynor Wildlife Park, Cilfrew
- Tinkinswood burial chamber
- Vale of Glamorgan Railway
- Weobley Castle, Gower peninsula
- Windmill Farm, Llansannor
[edit] History
Initially it was founded as an independent petty kingdom named Glywysing. In the 10th century, it became known as Morgannwg after its greatest monarch, Morgan Hen. It was at times united with the neighbouring kingdoms of Gwent and Ergyng.[8] By virtue of its location and geography, Morgannwg was the second part of Wales, after Gwent, to fall under the control of the Normans and was frequently the scene of fighting between the Marcher Lords and Welsh princes.[9]
[edit] Administration
After the fall of the Welsh Kingdom of Morgannwg to Robert FitzHamon in 1091, the region became the English Lordship of Glamorgan, sometimes called the Lordship of Glamorgan and Morgan because it was divided into the Norman settled Plain or Vale of Glamorgan and the Welsh upland area called Morgannwg, anglicized to Morgan. Both areas were under the control of the Norman Lords of Glamorgan (often the Earls of Gloucester).[9]
In 1535, the first Act of Union attached the Lordship of Gower and Kilvey to Glamorgan and created the historic county of Glamorgan.[10]. An administrative county of Glamorgan was created under the Local Government Act 1888, excluding Swansea and Cardiff, which were independent county boroughs. They were soon joined by Merthyr Tydfil.[11]
The county council's coat of arms, granted in 1950, was: Or, three chevronels gules between as many Tudor roses barbed and seeded proper. The red chevronels on a gold shield were the arms of the De Clare Marcher Lords, while the roses recorded the shiring of Glamorgan by Henry VIII. The crest above the shield was a Welsh dragon rising from flames, symbolising the revival of the county's industry following a period of economic depression. The dragon supported a flag bearing a clarion from the arms of the De Granville family, lords of Neath. Thesupporters of the arms were a coalminer and a steel worker. The motto adopted by the county council: A Ddioddefws A Orfu or "He who suffered, conquered" was that of the lineage of Iestyn ap Gwrgant, and was considered appropriate to an area whose wealth depended on great hardship.[12] [13]
Under the Local Government Act 1972, the county and administrative county of Glamorgan was abolished on April 1, 1974, with three new counties being established, each containing a former county borough - West Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan. It has now been further subdivided into several unitary authorities. The South Wales Police force covers an area that is similar to Glamorgan.[14]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Clark, George C., ed. (1890), Cartae et Alia Munimenta quae ad Dominium de Glamorgan Pertinent (1348 – 1721), II, Cardiff, http://books.google.com/books?id=vAJNAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover
- Clark, George C., ed. (1890), Cartae et Alia Munimenta quae ad Dominium de Glamorgan Pertinent (441 – 1300), III, Cardiff, http://books.google.com/books?id=T-UuAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover
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