Caernarfonshire


Caernarfonshire, historically spelled as Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire in English, is one of the thirteen historic counties, a vice-county and a former administrative county of Wales.

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, separating it from Anglesey.
The county has a largely mountainous surface. A large part of the Snowdonian Range lies in the centre and south-east of the county, including Snowdon itself, the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085 m. The south-west of the county is formed by the Llŷn peninsula, with Bardsey Island lying off its western end. The north of the county, between the mountains and Menai Strait, is a nearly level plain. The east of the county is part of Vale of Conwy, with the River Conwy forming much of the eastern boundary. Llandudno and Creuddyn forms a small peninsula to the north-east across the Conwy estuary.
The principal towns of the county are Bangor, Betws-y-Coed, Caernarfon, Conwy, Llandudno, Porthmadog and Pwllheli.

History

Creation

The county was originally created under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 following Edward I of England's conquest of the Principality of Wales and included the cantrefi of: Llŷn, Arfon, Arllechwedd and the commote of Eifionydd.
The county was divided into ten hundreds based on the existing Welsh commotes: Cymydmaen, Creuddyn, Dinllaen, Eifionydd, Cafflogion, Llechwedd Isaf, Llechwedd Uchaf, Nant Conwy, Is Gwyrfai and Uwch Gwyrfai.

19th and 20th centuries

During the 19th century the population increased steadily, from 46,000 in the 1801 census, to 81,093 in 1841, and up to 137,000 in the 1901 census.

Governance

Under the Local Government Act 1888, an elected Carnarvonshire County Council taking over functions from the county'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 1 July 1926.
The county contained five ancient boroughs. Three of these were reformed in 1835 by the Municipal Corporations Act. Criccieth established a special body of commissioners in 1873.
The remaining borough, the City of Bangor was not reformed until 1883.
Under the Public Health Act 1848 and the Local Government Act 1858 a number of towns were created Local Board Districts or Local Government Districts respectively, with local boards to govern their areas. Other towns became Improvement Commissioners' Districts by private act of parliament. In 1875 these, along with the municipal boroughs, became urban sanitary districts. At the same time the remainder of the county was divided into rural sanitary districts, some of which crossed county boundaries. The Local Government Act 1894 redesignated these as urban and rural districts. A county review order in 1934 made changes to the county's districts.
Sanitary district 1875 - 1894County district 1894 - 1934Changes 1934 - 1974
City of Bangor City of Bangor Absorbed part of Ogwen RD 1934
Bangor RSD Ogwen RDLost territory to Bangor MB, Nant Conway RD 1934
Bethesda ICD, LGD Bethesda UDNone
Carnarvon municipal boroughRenamed Caernarvon in 1926None
Carnarvon RSD Gwyrfai RDAbsorbed part of Glaslyn RD 1934
Conway municipal boroughConway municipal boroughAbsorbed part of Conway RD
Conway RSDConway RDAbolished 1934
Criccieth ICD Criccieth UDAbsorbed part of Glaslyn RD 1934
Festiniog RSDGlaslyn RDAbolished 1934
Llandudno ICD Llandudno UDAbsorbed part of Conway RD 1934
Llanfairfechan LGD Llanfairfechan UDNone
Llanrwst RSD Geirionydd RDFormed Nant Conway RD by amalgamation with parts of Conway RD, Ogwen RD
Llanrwst RSD 1898: Bettws-y-Coed UDNone
Penmaenmawr LGD Penmaenmawr UDNone
Pwllheli municipal boroughPwllheli municipal boroughNone
Pwllheli RSDLleyn RDAbsorbed part of Glaslyn RD 1934
Ynyscynhaiarn LBD Ynyscynhaiarn UD
renamed Porthmadog UD 1915		Absorbed part of Glaslyn RD 1934

The civil parish of Llysfaen was a detached exclave of the county. On 1 April 1923 Llysfaen was transferred to the county of Denbighshire.
Under the Local Government Act 1972 the administrative county of Caernarvonshire was abolished on 1 April 1974. It was largely split between the three districts of Aberconwy, Arfon and Dwyfor of Gwynedd. The administrative entity of Caernarfonshire was very briefly revived in 1996, when the unitary area of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire was created. It was, however, renamed Gwynedd almost immediately. Since then Caernarfonshire has been divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd to the west and Conwy to the east.

Coat of arms

Caernarvonshire County Council received a grant of armorial bearings from the College of Arms in 1949. The shield was a combination of the arms of two great native Princes of Wales. The gold and red quarters bearing lions were the arms of Llewelyn the Last - now used as the arms of the Principality of Wales. Across this was placed a green fess or horizontal band, on which were three gold eagles, from the arms of Owain Gwynedd. According to the poet Michael Drayton, the eagles formed the device on the banner of the Caernarvonshire soldiers at the Battle of Agincourt. The crest above the shield was a generic castle, representing Caernarfon, Conwy and Criccieth Castles. Behind the castle was the badge of the heir apparent: three ostrich feathers. The supporters were Welsh dragons with fish tails to show that Caernarvonshire was a Welsh maritime county. The supporter stood on a compartment of rocks for the rugged coast and mountains of the county. The motto Cadernid Gwynedd was adopted by the county council. This was derived from the Mabinogion, and can be translated as "The Strength of Gwynedd".

Flag

The Flag of Caernarfonshire was registered with the Flag Institute in March 2012. The pattern of three gold eagles on a green background is a design with a long association with the county, having reputedly been flown by Caernarfonshire soldiers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Places of interest