Merionethshire
Encyclopedia
Merionethshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales
, a vice county
and a former administrative county.
The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888
, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972
on April 1, 1974. The bulk formed the Meirionnydd
district in the new county of Gwynedd
, with a small area in the north east, Edeirnion Rural District
, becoming part of the Glyndŵr
district of Clwyd
. As a result of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
, which came into force in 1996, the Glyndŵr area lies within the county of Denbighshire
, with the rest of the old county remaining in Gwynedd.
The administrative entity of Merionethshire was briefly revived in 1996, when the unitary area of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire was created. It was, however, renamed Gwynedd almost immediately.
The spelling of the Welsh name in standard modern orthography is Meirionnydd (for the geographical area) or Sir Feirionnydd (for the county), with a double
, to the east by Denbighshire
, to the south by Montgomeryshire
and Cardiganshire
, and to the west by Cardigan Bay
. With a total area of 1,731 km², it was one of the more sparsely populated counties in Great Britain
.
The Merioneth area remains one of the strongest Welsh-speaking
parts of Wales
. The coastline consists alternately of cliffs and stretches of sand and the area generally is the most mountainous in Wales; a large part of the Snowdonia National Park lies within it. The greatest heights are Aran Fawddwy
905 m (2,970 ft) and Cadair Idris
893 m (2,929 ft). The chief rivers are the Dwyryd
, the Mawddach and the Dyfi. Waterfalls and small lakes are numerous, the largest being Bala Lake
(4 miles long and 1 miles (1.6 km) broad).
from the Cantrefi of:
Merioneth was an important part of the Welsh slate
industry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with major quarrying centres at Blaenau Ffestiniog
in the north of the county and Corris
in the south.
The main industries today are agriculture, forestry and tourism.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, a vice county
Watsonian vice-counties
Vice-counties or biological vice-counties are geographical divisions of the British Isles used for the purposes of biological recording and other scientific data-gathering...
and a former administrative county.
The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...
, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
on April 1, 1974. The bulk formed the Meirionnydd
Meirionnydd
Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a cantref, a district and, as Merionethshire, a county.-Kingdom:...
district in the new county of Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
, with a small area in the north east, Edeirnion Rural District
Edeirnion
Edeirnion is an area of the county of Denbighshire and an ancient commote of medieval Wales. According to tradition, it was named after its eponymous founder Edern or Edeyrn....
, becoming part of the Glyndŵr
Glyndwr
Glyndŵr was one of six districts of Clwyd between 1974 and 1996.It was formed on April 1, 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, from parts of the administrative counties of Denbighshire and Merionethshire....
district of Clwyd
Clwyd
Clwyd is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east, bordering England with Cheshire to its east, Shropshire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Gwynedd to its immediate west and Powys to the south. It additionally shares a maritime border with the metropolitan county of...
. As a result of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
The Local Government Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as principal areas in the Act, and abolished the previous two-tier structure of counties and districts...
, which came into force in 1996, the Glyndŵr area lies within the county of Denbighshire
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
, with the rest of the old county remaining in Gwynedd.
The administrative entity of Merionethshire was briefly revived in 1996, when the unitary area of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire was created. It was, however, renamed Gwynedd almost immediately.
The spelling of the Welsh name in standard modern orthography is Meirionnydd (for the geographical area) or Sir Feirionnydd (for the county), with a double
Geography
Merionethshire was a maritime county, bounded to the north by CaernarfonshireCaernarfonshire
Caernarfonshire , historically spelled as Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire in English during its existence, was one of the thirteen historic counties, a vice-county and a former administrative county of Wales....
, to the east by Denbighshire
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
, to the south by Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...
and Cardiganshire
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
, and to the west by Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales....
. With a total area of 1,731 km², it was one of the more sparsely populated counties in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
The Merioneth area remains one of the strongest Welsh-speaking
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
parts of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The coastline consists alternately of cliffs and stretches of sand and the area generally is the most mountainous in Wales; a large part of the Snowdonia National Park lies within it. The greatest heights are Aran Fawddwy
Aran Fawddwy
Aran Fawddwy is a mountain in southern Snowdonia, Wales, United Kingdom.The nearest urban centres to the mountain are Dinas Mawddwy to the south, Llanymawddwy to the southeast, Llanuwchllyn on the shores of Bala Lake to the north, and Rhydymain to the west. On the eastern slopes of Aran Fawddwy is...
905 m (2,970 ft) and Cadair Idris
Cadair Idris
Cadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in Gwynedd, Wales that lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park. The peak, which is one of the most popular in Wales for walkers and hikers, is composed largely of Ordovician igneous rocks, with classic glacial erosion features such as...
893 m (2,929 ft). The chief rivers are the Dwyryd
River Dwyryd
The Afon Dwyryd is a river in Gwynedd, North Wales, which flows principally westwards draining to the sea into Tremadog Bay south of Porthmadog....
, the Mawddach and the Dyfi. Waterfalls and small lakes are numerous, the largest being Bala Lake
Bala Lake
Bala Lake is a large lake in Gwynedd, Wales. It was the largest natural body of water in Wales prior to the level being raised by Thomas Telford to help support the flow of the Ellesmere Canal. It is long by wide, and is subject to sudden and dangerous floods. The River Dee runs through it and...
(4 miles long and 1 miles (1.6 km) broad).
History
The county was formed in 1284 under the terms of the Statute of RhuddlanStatute of Rhuddlan
The Statute of Rhuddlan , also known as the Statutes of Wales or as the Statute of Wales provided the constitutional basis for the government of the Principality of North Wales from 1284 until 1536...
from the Cantrefi of:
- MeirionnyddMeirionnyddMeirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a cantref, a district and, as Merionethshire, a county.-Kingdom:...
- DunodingDunodingDunoding was an early sub-kingdom within the Kingdom of Gwynedd in north-west Wales which existed between the 5th and 10th centuries. According to tradition, it was named after Dunod, a son of the founding father of Gwynedd - Cunedda Wledig - who drove the Irish settlers from the area in c.460...
(but only the larger ArdudwyArdudwyArdudwy is an area of Gwynedd in north-west Wales, lying between Tremadog Bay and the Rhinogydd. Administratively, under the old Kingdom of Gwynedd, it was first a division of the sub kingdom of Dunoding and later a cantref in its own right...
commoteCommoteA commote , sometimes spelt in older documents as cymwd, was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix cym- and the noun bod...
) - Penllyn and the Lordship of Dinmael
Merioneth was an important part of the Welsh slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
industry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with major quarrying centres at Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It has a population of 5,000, including Llan Ffestiniog, which makes it the third largest town in Gwynedd, behind Caernarfon & Porthmadog. Although the population reached 12,000 at the peak of the slate industry, the population fell due to...
in the north of the county and Corris
Corris
Corris is a village in the south of Snowdonia in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. Although the Snowdonia National Park covers much of the area around Corris, the village is not within the park. The name is possibly derived from the English word "quarries", and the extensive slate quarries that surround...
in the south.
Main Towns
The main towns are- DolgellauDolgellauDolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...
(former county town, and administrative centre) - AberdyfiAberdyfiAberdyfi , or Aberdovey is a village on the north side of the estuary of the River Dyfi in Gwynedd, on the west coast of Wales....
- BalaBala, GwyneddBala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...
- BarmouthBarmouthBarmouth ; Y Bermo ) is a town in the county of Gwynedd, north-western Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach and Cardigan Bay.The town is served by Barmouth railway station.- History :...
- Blaenau FfestiniogBlaenau FfestiniogBlaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It has a population of 5,000, including Llan Ffestiniog, which makes it the third largest town in Gwynedd, behind Caernarfon & Porthmadog. Although the population reached 12,000 at the peak of the slate industry, the population fell due to...
- CorwenCorwenCorwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales; it was previously part of the county of Meirionnydd). Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llangollen and south of Ruthin...
- FfestiniogFfestiniogFfestiniog is a community in Gwynedd in Wales, containing several villages, in particular the settlements of Llan Ffestiniog and Blaenau Ffestiniog. It has a population of 4,830....
- HarlechHarlechHarlech is a town and seaside resort in Gwynedd, within the historical boundaries of Merionethshire in northwest Wales. Lying on Tremadog Bay and within the Snowdonia National Park, it has a population of 1,952, of whom 59% speak Welsh...
- TywynTywynTywyn is a town and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd , in north Wales. The name derives from the Welsh tywyn and the town is sometimes referred to as Tywyn Meirionnydd...
The main industries today are agriculture, forestry and tourism.
Places of special interest (with grid reference)
- Cadair IdrisCadair IdrisCadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in Gwynedd, Wales that lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park. The peak, which is one of the most popular in Wales for walkers and hikers, is composed largely of Ordovician igneous rocks, with classic glacial erosion features such as...
- Castell y BereCastell y BereCastell y Bere is a native Welsh castle near Llanfihangel-y-pennant in Gwynedd, Wales. Constructed by Llywelyn the Great in the 1220s, the stone castle was intended to maintain his authority over the local people and to defend the south-west part of the princedom of Gwynedd...
- Cymer AbbeyCymer AbbeyCymer Abbey is a ruined Cistercian abbey near the village of Llanelltyd, just north of Dolgellau, Gwynedd, in north-west Wales, United Kingdom.- History :It was founded in 1198 and is now in the care of Cadw...
- Harlech CastleHarlech CastleHarlech Castle, located in Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales, is a concentric castle, constructed atop a cliff close to the Irish Sea. Architecturally, it is particularly notable for its massive gatehouse....
- PortmeirionPortmeirionPortmeirion is a popular tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village and is now owned by a charitable trust....
Italianate village - RhugRhugRhug is a township in the parish of Corwen, Denbighshire, Wales, formerly in the old cantref of Edeirnion and later a part of Merionethshire, two miles from Corwen and ten miles north east of Bala. It includes the hamlet of Bonwen. It is situated near the River Dee, under Berwyn range...
Chapel - Tomen-y-mur Roman FortTomen y MurTomen y Mur is a Roman fort complex in Gwynedd, Wales. The fort was constructed under governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola in AD 78, and was abandoned around AD 140. A millennium later, in the Norman period, the site was reoccupied and refortified with a motte within the old walls...
- Ffestiniog RailwayFfestiniog RailwayThe Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....
- Corris RailwayCorris RailwayThe Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales....
- Talyllyn RailwayTalyllyn RailwayThe Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1866 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain...
- Fairbourne RailwayFairbourne RailwayThe Fairbourne Railway is a gauge miniature railway running for from the village of Fairbourne on the Mid-Wales coast, alongside the beach to the end of a peninsula at Barmouth Ferry, where there is a connection with a pedestrian ferry across the Mawddach estuary to the seaside resort of...
See also
- List of Lord Lieutenants of MerionethshireLord Lieutenant of MerionethshireThis is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire. After 1762, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Merionethshire...
- List of High Sheriffs of MerionethshireHigh Sheriff of MerionethshireThis is a list of High Sheriffs of Merionethshire. The historic county of Merioneth was originally created in 1284. The administrative county of Merioneth was created from the historic county under the Local Government Act 1888. This was abolished in turn under the Local Government Act 1972 on...