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, Cefn Fforest, and Pengam wards only (rest became New Tredegar community in

Rhymney Valley The Rhymney Valley () is one of the South Wales valleys, with the Rhymney River forming the border between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Between 1974 and 1996 a Rhymney Valley local government district also existed (one ...

) * Mynyddislwyn Urban District *

Risca Risca ( cy, Rhisga) is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. Risca has a railway station, opened on the Ebbw Valley Railway ...

Urban District All the constituent parts of Islwyn had previously been in 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 ...

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 its ...

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 Caerphilly County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It is governed by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its main and largest town is Caerphilly. Other towns in the county borough are B ...

. Islwyn continues as a Westminster constituency and a Senedd constituency. The Westminster constituency's best-known MP was

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

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