, HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon , Map= , Image= Flag of Caernarfonshire

Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

, Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd) , year_start= , Arms=
''Coat of arms of Caernarvonshire County Council'' , Code= CAE , CodeName=

Chapman code Chapman codes are a set of 3-letter codes used in genealogy to identify the administrative divisions in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Use They were created by the historian, Dr. Colin R Chapman, in the late ...

, Government= Carnarvonshire County Council (1889 - 1926)
Caernarvonshire County Council (1926-1974) , PopulationFirst= 66,448Vision of Britain
1831 Census
/ref> , PopulationFirstYear= 1831 , AreaFirst= , AreaFirstYear= 1831 , DensityFirst= 0.2/acre , DensityFirstYear= 1831 , PopulationSecond= 125,043 , PopulationSecondYear= 1911 , AreaSecond= , AreaSecondYear= 1911 , DensitySecond= 0.3/acre , DensitySecondYear= 1911 , PopulationLast= 121,767 , PopulationLastYear= 1961 , AreaLast= , AreaLastYear= 1961 , DensityLast= 0.3/acre , DensityLastYear= 1961 Caernarfonshire (; cy, Sir Gaernarfon, ), sometimes spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, is one of the thirteen historic counties, a

vice-county A vice-county (vice county or biological vice-county) is a geographical division of the British Isles used for the purposes of biological recording and other scientific data-gathering. It is sometimes called a Watsonian vice-county as vice-co ...

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 The Menai Strait ( cy, Afon Menai, the "river Menai") is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. It varies in width from from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to from ...

, 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 Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (historic ...

itself, the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085 m (3,560 ft). 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 Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

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 Pwllheli () is a market town and community of the Llŷn Peninsula ( cy, Penrhyn Llŷn) in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011 of whom a large proportion, 81%, are Welsh language, Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the pl ...

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 ''

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which were ...

i'' of: Llŷn, Arfon, Arllechwedd and the '' commote'' of Eifionydd (the northern portion of Dunoding). The county was divided into ten hundreds based on the existing Welsh commotes: Cymydmaen (anglicised as Commitmaen), Creuddyn, Dinllaen, Eifionydd (Evionydd), Cafflogion (Gaflogion), Llechwedd Isaf (...Isav), Llechwedd Uchaf (...Uchav), Nant Conwy (Nant-Conway), Is Gwyrfai (Isgorvai) and Uwch Gwyrfai (Uchgorvai).

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 (figures given for the registration county).

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.Census of England and Wales 1931, County Report, Caernarvonshire The county council was based at County Hall, Caernarfon. The county contained five ancient boroughs. Two of these (Caernarfon and Pwllheli) were reformed in 1835 by the Municipal Corporations Act. Criccieth established a special body of commissioners in 1873. Conwy (then called Conway in English) was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1877. 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 1872 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 district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

s. A county review order in 1934 made changes to the county's districts.Census of Wales 1931, part 2 The civil parish of Llysfaen was a detached

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of the county. On 1 April 1923 Llysfaen was transferred to the county of Denbighshire. Under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

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 Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

(along with Merionethshire and Anglesey). The administrative entity of Caernarfonshire was very briefly revived in 1996, when the

unitary area A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire was created. It was, however, renamed Gwynedd almost immediately. Since then Caernarfonshire has been divided between the unitary authorities of

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 Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

. 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 In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the Escutcheon (heraldry), shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. H ...

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 The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...

, and can be translated as "The Strength of Gwynedd".C Wilfrid Scott-Giles, ''Civic Heraldry of England and Wales'', 2nd edition, London, 1953

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

in 1415.

Places of interest

Bangor Cathedral Bangor Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Bangor) is a cathedral in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol. The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship since ...

Ynys Enlli Bardsey Island ( cy, Ynys Enlli), known as the legendary "Island of 20,000 Saints", is located off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", while its English name refers to the "Isla ...

/ Bardsey Island (); *

Caernarfon Castle Caernarfon Castle ( cy, Castell Caernarfon ) – often anglicised as Carnarvon Castle or Caernarvon Castle – is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environ ...

(); * Conwy Castle (); * Criccieth Castle (); *

Great Orme Tramway The Great Orme Tramway ( cy, Tramffordd y Gogarth) is a cable-hauled gauge tramway in Llandudno in north Wales. Open seasonally from late March to late October, it takes over 200,000 passengers each year from Llandudno Victoria Station to just b ...

(); * Gwydir Castle, nr. Llanrwst (); * Penrhyn Castle (); *

Swallow Falls The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

, Betws-y-Coed (); * Snowdon Mountain Railway, Llanberis (); * Ty Mawr Wybrnant ().

References

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.

External links

Map of Caernarfonshire
on Wikishire
The Caernarfonshire Association
{{Authority control Caernarfonshire History of Gwynedd Historic counties of Wales States and territories established in 1284 1280s establishments in Europe 13th century in Wales 01