Colwyn was a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

with borough status from 1974 to 1996, being one of six districts in the county of

Clwyd Clwyd () is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to th ...

, north-east

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 ...

History

The borough was created on 1 April 1974, 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 ...

. It covered parts of four former districts from 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 ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, which were all abolished at the same time:* *

Abergele Abergele (; ; ) is a market town and community, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough and in the historic county of Denbighshire. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on ...

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 ...

Aled Rural District Aled was a rural district in the administrative county of Denbighshire, Wales, from 1935 to 1974. The district was created by a county review order in 1935 which reorganised districts in the county. It was formed by merging the bulk of St Asap ...

, except the parish of

Llansantffraid Glan Conway Llansanffraid Glan Conwy (), usually shortened to Glan Conwy, is a village, community and electoral ward in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The name translates from the Welsh as ''Church of St Ffraid on the bank of the River Conwy''. The village ...

, which went to Aberconwy *

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

Municipal Borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

Hiraethog Rural District Hiraethog was a rural district of the administrative county of Denbighshire, Wales, from 1935 to 1974. The district took its name from the historic district of Mynydd Hiraethog. The district was created by a county review order on 1 April 19 ...

, except the parishes of

Eglwysbach Eglwysbach is a village and community in Conwy county borough, Wales. The village plays host to an annual Agricultural show and horticultural show in August, which includes displays of local cattle, sheep, heavy and light horses, showjumping a ho ...

, Llanddoget,

Llanrwst Rural Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; t ...

, and Tir Ifan, which went to Aberconwy The new borough was named Colwyn, taken from the name of the area's largest town, Colwyn Bay. Under the

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...

Clwyd County Council Clwyd County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Clwyd) was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Clwyd in north-east Wales, from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. It came into its powers on 1 April 1974. The county council was ba ...

and the county's constituent districts were abolished, being replaced by

principal areas {{Short description, Formal legal term for a county in England and Wales In England and Wales local government legislation, a principal area is one of the sub-national areas established for control by a principal council. They include most of the ar ...

, whose councils perform the functions which had previously been divided between the county and district councils. With effect from 1 April 1996, the two

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

Cefnmeiriadog Cefn Meiriadog (sometimes Cefnmeriadog) is a rural community in Denbighshire, Wales, just south-west of the city of St Asaph. The boundary of the community on three sides is the river Elwy, which here forms the county boundary with Conwy County ...

and

Trefnant Trefnant is a village and community in Denbighshire, Wales. It is located on the A525 road in the Vale of Clwyd (''Dyffryn Clwyd''), about halfway between St Asaph (''Llanelwy'') to the north and Denbigh to the south. At the 2001 Census, the c ...

were transferred from Colwyn to the new county of

, and the remainder of Colwyn was merged with the neighbouring district of Aberconwy from

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 ...

to become 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 ...

which the government originally named "Aberconwy and Colwyn". During the transition to the new system, the shadow authority requested a change of name from "Aberconwy and Colwyn" to "

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

". The government confirmed the change with effect from 2 April 1996, one day after the new council came into being. The borough of Colwyn was twinned with

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Roissy-en-Brie Roissy-en-Brie (, literally ''Roissy in Brie'') is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France and is located in the eastern suburbs of Paris, from the center. History In 1810 Roissy-en-Brie a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The name Colwyn is currently used for an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

covering the eastern part of the community of

Old Colwyn Old Colwyn ( cy, Hen Golwyn, formerly Colwyn bilingually) is a large village just to the east of Colwyn Bay, in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Prior to local government reorganisation in April 1974 it was part of the Municipal Borough of Colwyn ...

. The ward had a population of 4,566 at the 2011 census.

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 1996 was as follows:

Premises

The council was based at the Civic Centre on Abergele Road in Colwyn Bay. The building had been built in 1909 as a hospital called Glan y Don Hall, but had been converted to a civic centre in 1964 for one of Colwyn's predecessor authorities, the Colwyn Bay Borough Council. Following the abolition of Colwyn in 1996 the building served as the headquarters of the successor

Conwy County Borough Council Conwy County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is the local authority for Conwy County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales. History Conwy County Borough was created in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 199 ...

until 2018.

References

{{coord, 53.17, -3.58, dim:30000_region:GB, display=title Former subdivisions of Wales History of Denbighshire Districts of Wales abolished in 1996 History of Conwy County Borough 1974 establishments in Wales