The Borough of Aberconwy 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 Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, ...

from 1974 to 1996, being one of five districts in the county 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, an ...

, north-west

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 ...

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 nine former districts from the

administrative counties 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 ...

Caernarfonshire , HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon , Map= , Image= Flag , Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd) , year_start= , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...

and

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: *

Betws-y-Coed Betws-y-coed (; '' en, prayer house in the wood'') is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located in the historic county of Caernarfonshire, right on the boundary with Denbighshire, in the Gwydir Forest. ...

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) (his ...

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 ...

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 ...

* Eglwysbach parish from

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 ...

‡ * Llanddoget parish from Hiraethog Rural District‡ *

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, Craig ...

Urban District *

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

Urban District‡ *Llanrwst Rural parish from Hiraethog Rural District‡ * Llanfairfechan Urban District *

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 ...

parish from

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 ...

‡ *

Nant Conwy Rural District Nant Conwy was a rural district in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire from 1934 to 1974. The district was formed by a County Review Order, combining the areas of Geirionydd Rural District with most of Conwy Rural District and part of ...

* Penmaenmawr Urban District * Tir Ifan parish from Hiraethog Rural District‡ ‡From Denbighshire (rest from Caernarfonshire) The new district was named Aberconwy, meaning mouth of the

River Conwy , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , pus ...

, with the same name being used in both Welsh and English. 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 ...

, the previous two tier system of counties and districts was replaced with new principal areas (each designated either a "county" or a "county borough"), whose councils perform the functions previously divided between the county and district councils. The Aberconwy area merged with the neighbouring

Colwyn Colwyn was a local government district with borough status from 1974 to 1996, being one of six districts in the county of Clwyd, north-east Wales. History The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It covere ...

district from 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 ...

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 te ...

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 "

". The government confirmed the change with effect from 2 April 1996, one day after the new council came into being. The pre-1996 counties of Wales continued to be used for some ceremonial 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 ...

, being called preserved counties. The new Conwy County Borough therefore initially straddled the preserved counties of Gwynedd and Clwyd. In 2003 the area of the former Aberconwy district was moved from the preserved county of Gwynedd to

, uniting Conwy County Borough within the preserved county Clwyd.

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 Bodlondeb, a large house built in 1877 on Bangor Road in

, which had served as the main offices of the old Conwy Borough Council since 1937. The council also maintained additional offices at Llandudno Town Hall, which had been built in 1902 for the former Llandudno Urban District Council. After Aberconwy's abolition in 1996, Bodlondeb became the headquarters of the replacement

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aberconwy (District) History of Conwy County Borough Districts of Wales abolished in 1996 History of Gwynedd 1974 establishments in Wales