Gwent (county) Information & Gwent (county) Links at HealthHaven.com

Gwent as a preserved county since 2003.

Gwent is a preserved county and a former local government county in south-east Wales. It was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, and was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent.

It consisted of most of the former administrative county of Monmouthshire and the county borough of Newport (both authorities which were legally part of England^[1] although considered jointly with Wales for certain purposes), along with Brynmawr and Llanelly from Brecknockshire in Wales. Under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Gwent was abolished on 1 April 1996.

The name however remains as one of the preserved counties of Wales used for certain ceremonial purposes, and it also survives in various titles, e.g., Gwent Police, Royal Gwent Hospital, Gwent Wildlife Trust, Coleg Gwent college and the Newport Gwent Dragons rugby team. It is sometimes 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".^[2]

When it existed, the administrative area was divided into several districts: Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport and Torfaen.

The successor unitary authorities are:

City of Newport
Blaenau Gwent county borough
Torfaen county borough
Caerphilly county borough (part of which came from Mid Glamorgan)
Monmouthshire (which covers the eastern half of the traditional county of the same name)

In 2003 the preserved county of Gwent expanded to cover the whole of Caerphilly county borough.^[3]