The preserved counties of Wales are the eight current areas used in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

for the ceremonial purposes of

lieutenancy A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and shrievalty. They are based on the counties created by 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 ...

and used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996. Currently 22 single-tier principal areas are used for administrative purposes.

Usage

The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 abolished the eight ceremonial counties created by the

. However, it created the concept of preserved counties based on their areas, to be used for purposes such as

Lieutenancy A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

. This usage was consolidated by the

Lieutenancies Act 1997 The Lieutenancies Act 1997 (c. 23) is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that defines areas that lord-lieutenants are appointed to in Great Britain. It came into force on 1 July 1997. Creation of modern local government Prior to the Loca ...

. Certain statutes already in force were amended to include reference to them — as of 16 February 2011, the only remaining provisions still extant are:. * Sheriffs Act 1887 (c. 55) – the counties that High Sheriffs are appointed to are the preserved counties.
Defence Act 1842 (c. 94)
– Lieutenants are those appointed to preserved counties.
Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967 (c. 83)
– relevant portions of the sea shore shall be deemed to be within preserved counties.

Boundary changes

The preserved counties were originally almost identical to the 1974–96 counties, but with a few minor changes in line with local government boundary changes: Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Llansilin and

Llangedwyn Llangedwyn is a village in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 402. The community includes the hamlet of Pen-y-bont Llanerch Emrys. It lies in the Tanat Valley near to the Wales/ England border ...

were transferred from

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 ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

, and Wick,

St Brides Major St. Brides Major ( cy, Sant-y-brid) is a village within the community also called St Brides Major in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. The village is located approximately 1.5 mi from the Glamorgan Heritage Coast. It is connected by bus t ...

Ewenny Ewenny ( cy, Ewenni) is a village and community (parish) on the River Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Over the years the village has grown into the neighbouring village of Corntown to such an extent that there is no longer a clear bound ...

and

Pentyrch Pentyrch ( cy, Pen-tyrch) is a village and community located on the western outskirts of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The village gives its name to a Cardiff local authority electoral ward, Pentyrch, which covers the village and immedi ...

were transferred from Mid Glamorgan to

South Glamorgan , Government= South Glamorgan County Council , Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–) , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= , HQ= ...

. There were however two local government areas,

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 wi ...

and Conwy, split between preserved counties. The Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales were instructed by the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...

on 11 March 2002 to undertake a review of preserved county boundaries. In their final proposals the part of the local government area of

which had been in Mid Glamorgan was to be part of Gwent and the part of the local government area of Conwy which had been in

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, an ...

was to be part of

. The boundary between Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan was also to be re-aligned to reflect small changes in local government boundaries. The Assembly accepted these proposals such that from 2 April 2003 each preserved county encompassed between one and five whole local government areas. The boundary between West Glamorgan and Powys was further modified on 1 April 2005 as a result of boundary changes between Ystalyfera and Ystradgynlais. The boundary between Mid Glamorgan and Powys was further modified on 1 April 2010 to reflect the 2009 local government boundary changes in the area around

Vaynor Vaynor (Welsh: ''Y Faenor'', meaning "The Manor") is a village and community (formerly a parish) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 3,551. Location It is about ...

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after T ...

List

The population figures are mid-year estimates for 2007 from the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for ...

, grouping component unitary authority area figures into their respective preserved counties.Statistics.gov.uk

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preserved Counties Of Wales Preserved

Usage

Boundary changes

List

See also

References