The Borough of Islwyn was one of five local government districts of Gwent from 1974 to 1996.

History

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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of Gwent. It covered the whole area of three former districts and part of a fourth, which were all abolished at the same time: * Abercarn Urban District * Bedwellty Urban District - the Argoed,

Blackwood Blackwood may refer to: Botany * African blackwood ('' Dalbergia melanoxylon''), a timber tree of Africa * African blackwood (''Erythrophleum africanum''), ('' Peltophorum africanum'') also Rhodesian blackwood, trees from Africa * Australian bla ...

, Cefn Fforest, and Pengam wards only (rest became

New Tredegar New Tredegar ( cy, Tredegar Newydd) is a former mining town and community in the Rhymney Valley, Caerphilly county borough, Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. New Tredegar is now home to 'The Winding House', a county muse ...

community in Rhymney Valley) * Mynyddislwyn Urban District * Risca Urban District All the constituent parts of Islwyn had previously been in the administrative county of Monmouthshire prior to the reforms. Gwent County Council provided county-level services to the new borough. The district's name (meaning "below the grove") was derived from the ancient parish of Mynyddislwyn which covered its area. This was shown in the borough's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

which represented a mountain below a grove of oak trees. Islwyn was also the pen name of local poet William Thomas (1832–1878). The borough was abolished in 1996, when its area became part of Caerphilly County Borough. Islwyn continues as a Westminster constituency and a

Senedd constituency The Senedd constituencies and electoral regions () are the electoral districts used to elect Members of the Senedd (MS; cy, Aelodau'r Senedd or AS) to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ), and have been used in some form since the first election of ...

. The Westminster constituency's best-known MP was Neil Kinnock.

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 1996 was held by the following parties:

Premises

The council built itself a new headquarters in 1977 at Pontllanfraith House on Blackwood Road in Pontllanfraith. The building subsequently served as offices for Caerphilly County Borough Council until 2015 and has since been demolished.

References

{{coord, 51.64, N, 3.15, W, display=title Gwent (county) Districts of Wales abolished in 1996 1974 establishments in Wales