Blaenau Gwent (; ) is a

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

in the south-east of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It borders the unitary authority areas of

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

and

Torfaen Torfaen (; cy, Torfaen ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south ...

to the east,

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...

to the west and

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

to the north. Its main towns are

Abertillery Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...

, Brynmawr,

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

and

Tredegar Tredegar (pronounced , ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the In ...

. Its highest point is

Coity Mountain Coity Mountain (also spelled ''Coety Mountain'', Welsh: ''Mynydd Coety'') is a flat-topped mountain in the South Wales Valleys, between Blaenavon and Abertillery. The highest points of both Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent unitary authorities are at ...

at .

Government

The borough was formed in 1974 as a local government

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Gwent. It covered the whole area of five former districts and a single parish from a sixth, which were all abolished at the same time: *

Urban District Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

* Brynmawr Urban District *

Urban District *

Llanelly Llanelly ( cy, Llanelli) is the name of a parish and coterminous community in the principal area of Monmouthshire, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire, south-east Wales. It roughly covers the area of the Clydach Gorge. The popula ...

parish from

Crickhowell Rural District Crickhowell (; cy, Crucywel , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. Location The town lies on the River Usk, on the southern e ...

Nantyglo and Blaina Nantyglo and Blaina is a community in Blaenau Gwent, South Wales, including the small towns of Blaina and Nantyglo Nantyglo () is a village in the ancient parish of Aberystruth and county of Monmouth situated deep within the South Wales Vall ...

Urban District *

Urban District Brynmawr and Llanelly had been in the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

Brecknockshire , image_flag= , HQ= Brecon , Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= Brycheiniog , Status= , Start= 1535 , End= ...

prior to the reforms, whilst the other areas had all been in the administrative county of

Gwent County Council Gwent County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gwent) was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent (county), Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was ...

provided county-level services for the new borough. The new borough was named Blaenau Gwent, meaning uplands of Gwent. The name had previously been an alternative name for the ancient parish of

Aberystruth Aberystruth was an ancient ecclesiastical parish in Wales, located beside the north-west corner of the county of Monmouthshire against the border with Breconshire and between the parishes of Bedwellty and Trevethin. It extended from Beaufort i ...

which had covered a large part of the area and had its parish church at

Blaina Blaina ( cy, Blaenau ) is a small town, situated deep within the South Wales Valleys between Brynmawr and Abertillery in the unitary authority of Blaenau Gwent, ancient parish of Aberystruth, preserved county of Gwent and historic county o ...

. Blaenau Gwent was reconstituted in 1996 as a

, taking over the county-level functions from the abolished Gwent County Council. At the same time

was transferred to the reconstituted

. The area is now governed by

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor bwrdeistref Sirol Blaenau Gwent) is the governing body for Blaenau Gwent, one of the Subdivisions of Wales, Principal Areas of Wales. History The borough council was created in 1974 under the Lo ...

, which is a

principal council A Principal council is a local government authority carrying out statutory duties in a principal area in England and Wales. The term “principal council” was first defined in the Local Government Act 1972, Section 270. This act created great r ...

Politics

Blaenau Gwent hit the headlines at the 2005 UK General Election when an independent candidate,

Peter Law Peter John Law (1 April 1948 – 25 April 2006) was a Welsh politician. For most of his career Law sat as a Labour councillor and subsequently Labour Co-operative Assembly member (AM) for Blaenau Gwent. Latterly he sat as an independent membe ...

, won the Westminster seat. He had resigned from the Labour Party after an internal party row following the retirement of incumbent MP

Llew Smith Llewellyn Thomas Smith (16 April 1944 – 26 May 2021) was a British Labour Party politician. Early life and education According to Smith, his father was born in England and moved to Wales as a child. He began working at the local colliery ( Ne ...

, and defeated the official Labour candidate, Maggie Jones, by a margin of 9,121 votes. The seat had previously been held by

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health ...

and

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...

, and was considered one of Labour's safest. Law died on 25 April 2006 and in the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, a former supporter of his, Dai Davies won, running as an independent candidate. Peter Law's widow,

Trish Law Patricia Law, née Bolter (born 17 March 1954) is a Welsh politician who was the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice AM for Blaenau Gwent in Wales between 2006 and 2011. Background Patricia Bolter was born in Nantyglo, Blaenau Gwent, in 1954. She ...

, won his former Welsh Assembly seat, also running as an independent candidate. In 2007 she retained her seat. Dai Davies held the Westminster seat for the People's Voice from 2006 – 2010 when he lost his seat in a huge majority to Labour's Nick Smith of 10,516 votes. Alun Davies recaptured the seat for Labour at the Assembly elections in 2011 and then Labour won a landslide victory in the 2012 local elections taking 33 seats out of 42. Plaid Cymru nearly won the seat in the 2016 Assembly election, and Labour lost the council in the 2017 local elections.

Archaeology

In February 2020, ancient cairns dated back to 4,500 year-old used to bury the leaders or chieftains of

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

tribes people were revealed in the Cwmcelyn valley by the Aberystruth Archaeological Society. ''"It is thousands of years old undoubtedly, and came at a time when people first started settling here in Wales, farming and working the land by clearing the heavily wooded mountain sides of the Gwent valleys. The site is also found opposite the huts, so there could be some connection, though we think this burial may even be from a slightly earlier period than that"'' said archaeologist Ian Fewings.

Other information

In 2011 Blaenau Gwent had the highest level of severe child poverty in Wales, as revealed in statistical data published in a report by

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. According to the 2011 Census, 5.5% of the county's 67,348 (3,705 residents) resident-population can speak, read, and write

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

, with 7.8%, or 5,284 residents, being able to speak Welsh.

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the

Freedom of the Borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Blaenau Gwent.

Individuals

* Mark Williams : 14 March 2019.

Military Units

* The

Royal Welsh The Royal Welsh (R WELSH) ( cy, Y Cymry Brenhinol) is an armoured infantry regiment of the British Army. It was established in 2006 from the Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Foot) and the Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot). History The ...

: 19 February 2011. * The

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

: 4 November 2021.

References

External links

*
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Home

{{Coord, 51, 46, 33, N, 3, 11, 47, W, region:GB-BGW_type:adm2nd_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Principal areas of Wales County boroughs of Wales 1974 establishments in Wales