Caernarfonshire (Welsh: Sir Gaernarfon), 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 part of Aberconwy. Since 1996 and the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 it has been represented in the principal areas of
Gwynedd (which took the first two districts), and Conwy (which took the latter
district).
Geography
The county is 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, which separates it from Anglesey. It has an
area of 1,462 km². The surface is largely mountainous. A large part of the Snowdonia National
Park lies in the county including Snowdon, 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.
Principal towns are Bangor, Betws-y-Coed,
Caernarfon, Conwy, Llandudno, Porthmadog and Pwllheli. Tourism,
particularly on the coast, light industry, education
and farming are the main industries, though the latter 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 and included the Cantrefi of:
and the Commote 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).
[1]
Carnarvonshire / Caernarvonshire
 |
| Administration |
| Status: |
Administrative county |
| HQ: |
Caernarfon |
| History |
| Created: |
1889 |
| Abolished: |
1974 |
| Succeeded by: |
Gwynedd |
| Area |
| 1891: |
360,138 acres |
| 1961: |
364,108 |
| Population |
| 1891: |
117,233 |
| 1961: |
121,767 |
The Local Government Act 1888 created an elected Carnarvonshire county
council in 1889, taking over functions from Caernarvonshire'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:
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.
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 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
See also
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