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English

Proper noun

Caernarvonshire

alternative spelling of Caernarfonshire

Extensive Definition

Caernarfonshire (lang-cy Sir Gaernarfon), sometimes 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 Aberconwy, succeeded in 1996 (with the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994) by in the principal areas of Gwynedd (which took the first two districts), and Conwy (which took the latter district).

Geography

The county was 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. It had an area of 1,462 km² and a largely mountainous surface. A large part of the Snowdonia National Park lies in the former county, including Snowdon itself, 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.

The principal towns of the county were Bangor, Betws-y-Coed, Caernarfon, Conwy, Llandudno, Porthmadog and Pwllheli. Today, tourism, particularly on the coast, light industry, education, and farming are the main industries, though the last 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 following Edward I of England's conquest of the Principality of Wales and included the Cantrefi of:

and the Commote of:

Eifionydd (the northern portion of Dunoding)

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). http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10107349&c_id=10001043&add=N

The Local Government Act 1888 created an elected Caernarfonshire county council in 1889, taking over functions from Caernarfonshire'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:

There were four municipal boroughs. Two had been reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: Carnarvon (renamed Caernarvon in 1926) and Pwllheli, and two had been later incorporations: Bangor (incorporated in 1883), and Conway (incorporated 1876).

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.

There were initially six urban districts: Bethesda, Criccieth, Llandudno, Llanfairfechan, Penmaenmawr and Ynyscynhaiarn. In 1898 Bettws y Coed urban district was formed and in 1915 Ynyscynhaiarn was renamed Portmadoc.
Six rural districts were formed in 1894: Conway, Geirionydd, Glaslyn, Gwyrfai, Lleyn and Ogwen. These were reorganised by a County Review Order in 1934: A new Nant Conway rural district was formed by the merger of Conway and Geirionydd rural districts, and Glaslyn rural district was divided between Lleyn and Gwyrfai rural districts and Criccieth and Portmadoc urban districts. Other county district boundaries were also adjusted.

Tân yn Llŷn 1936

Concern for the Welsh language was ignited in 1936 when the UK government settled on establishing a bombing school at Penyberth on the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd. The events surrounding the protest became known as Tân yn Llŷn (Fire in Llŷn). The UK government settled on Llŷn as the site for its new bombing school after similar locations Northumberland and Dorset in England were met with protests.

However, UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin refused to hear the case against the bombing school in Wales, despite a deputation representing half a million Welsh protesters. Protest against the bombing school was summed up by Saunders Lewis when he wrote that the UK government was intent upon turning one of the 'essential homes of Welsh culture, idiom, and literature' into a place for promoting a barbaric method of warfare.

On 8 September 1936 the bombing school building was set on fire by Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine, and D.J. Williams, who immediately surrendered themselves to the police and admitted responsibility. The trial at Caernarfon failed to agree on a verdict and the case was sent to the Old Bailey in London. The "Three" were sentenced to nine months imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs, and on their release they were greeted as heroes by fifteen thousand Welsh at a pavilion in Caernarfon.

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 area of the former 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.

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