Caernarfonshire (; , ), previously spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Geography

The county was bounded to the north by the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

, to the east by Denbighshire, to the south by

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay () is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geography Cardigan Bay ha ...

and Merionethshire, and to the west by Caernarfon Bay and the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait () is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The s ...

, which separated it from

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

. The county was largely mountainous. A large part of the Snowdonian Range lay in the centre and south-east of the former county, which included Snowdon itself, the highest mountain in

at 1,085 m (3,560 ft). The south-west of the county was formed by the

Llŷn peninsula The Llŷn Peninsula ( or , ) is a peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, with an area of about , and a population of at least 20,000. It extends into the Irish Sea, and its southern coast is the northern boundary of the Tremadog Bay inlet of Cardigan Ba ...

, with Bardsey Island lying off its western end. The north of the county, between the mountains and Menai Strait, had much more subdued relief. The east of the county was part of Vale of Conwy, with the River Conwy forming much of the eastern boundary.

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

and Creuddyn formed a small peninsula to the north-east across the Conwy estuary. The county included the city of Bangor and the towns and villages of Betws-y-Coed,

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

, Conwy,

Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

and Pwllheli.

History

Creation

The county was originally created under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 following

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

's conquest of the Principality of Wales and included the '' cantrefi'' of: Llŷn, Arfon, Arllechwedd and the '' commote'' of Eifionydd (the northern portion of Dunoding). The county was divided into ten hundreds based on the existing Welsh commotes: Cymydmaen (anglicised as Commitmaen), Creuddyn, Dinllaen, Eifionydd (Evionydd), Cafflogion (Gaflogion), Llechwedd Isaf (...Isav), Llechwedd Uchaf (...Uchav), Nant Conwy (Nant-Conway), Is Gwyrfai (Isgorvai) and Uwch Gwyrfai (Uchgorvai).

19th and 20th centuries

During the 19th century the population increased steadily, from 46,000 in the 1801 census, to 81,093 in 1841, and up to 137,000 in the 1901 census (figures given for the

registration county A registration county was, in Great Britain and Ireland, a statistical unit used for the registration of births, deaths and marriages and for the output of census information. In Scotland registration counties are used for land registration purpose ...

Governance

In 1889, elected county councils were established under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions previously performed by unelected

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

s at the county's quarter sessions. The 1888 Act also adjusted county boundaries where urban sanitary districts straddled county boundaries to place each such district wholly in one county. Caernarfonshire therefore ceded its part of the Colwyn Bay and Colwyn district to Denbighshire. The county and the town after which it was named were officially spelled "Carnarvon" until 1926. At a meeting on 10 November 1925 the borough council resolved to ask the county council to change the spelling to "Caernarvon". The county council gave permission for the change of spelling for the name of the borough with effect from 14 January 1926, and at the same time decided to ask the government to also change the spelling of the county's name to Caernarvon. The government confirmed the change in the spelling of the county's name with effect from 1 July 1926. The county council was based at County Hall, Caernarfon. The county contained five ancient

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

s. Two of these (Caernarfon and Pwllheli) were reformed in 1835 by the Municipal Corporations Act. Criccieth established a special body of commissioners in 1873. Conwy (then called Conway in English) was reformed to become a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1877. The remaining borough, the City of Bangor was not reformed until 1883. Under the Public Health Act 1848 and the Local Government Act 1858 a number of towns were created local board districts or local government districts respectively, with local boards to govern their areas. Other towns became improvement commissioners' districts by private act of parliament. In 1872 these, along with the municipal boroughs, became urban sanitary districts. At the same time the remainder of the county was divided into rural sanitary districts, some of which crossed county boundaries. The

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

redesignated these as urban and

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

s. A county review order in 1934 made changes to the county's districts.Census of Wales 1931, part 2 The

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Llysfaen was a detached

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of the county. On 1 April 1923 Llysfaen was transferred to the county of Denbighshire. 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 ...

the administrative county of Caernarvonshire was abolished on 1 April 1974. It was largely split between the three districts of Aberconwy, Arfon and Dwyfor of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

(along with Merionethshire and

). Until 1974, Caernarvonshire was divided into

es for the purpose of local government; these in large part equated to ecclesiastical parishes (see the table below), most of which still exist as part of the Church in Wales.

Parishes

Chapelries are listed in italics. ¹an exclave in Denbighshire Most of these parishes ended up in Gwynedd, but those marked C ended up in Conwy. The name Caernarfonshire (this time spelled with an f not a v, following the change of spelling of the town's name from Caernarvon to Caernarfon in 1975) was very briefly revived as part of the name of an administrative area in 1996, when the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire was created. It was, however, renamed Gwynedd almost immediately. Since then Caernarfonshire has been divided between the

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

to the west and Conwy to the east.

Coat of arms

Caernarvonshire County Council received a grant of armorial bearings from the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

in 1949. The shield was a combination of the arms of two great native Princes of Wales. The gold and red quarters bearing lions were the arms of Llewelyn the Last – now used as the arms of the Principality of Wales. Across this was placed a green fess or horizontal band, on which were three gold eagles, from the arms of Owain Gwynedd. According to the poet Michael Drayton, the eagles formed the device on the banner of the Caernarvonshire soldiers at the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...

. The crest above the shield was a generic castle, representing

, Conwy and

Criccieth Castle Criccieth Castle (; ) is a Ruins, ruined thirteenth-century castle in Criccieth, Gwynedd, Wales. It is located on a rocky headland overlooking Tremadog Bay and consists of an inner Ward (castle), ward almost surrounded by an outer ward. The tw ...

s. Behind the castle was the badge of the heir apparent: three ostrich feathers. The supporters were Welsh dragons with fish tails to show that Caernarvonshire was a Welsh maritime county. The supporter stood on a compartment of rocks for the rugged coast and mountains of the county. The

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

''Cadernid Gwynedd'' was adopted by the county council. This was derived from the

Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier frag ...

, and can be translated as "The Strength of Gwynedd".C Wilfrid Scott-Giles, ''Civic Heraldry of England and Wales'', 2nd edition, London, 1953

Legacy

Flag

The Flag of Caernarfonshire was registered with the Flag Institute in March 2012. The pattern of three gold eagles on a green background is a design with a long association with the county, having reputedly been flown by Caernarfonshire soldiers at the

in 1415.

Places of interest

* Bangor Cathedral * Ynys Enlli / Bardsey Island (); *

Caernarfon Castle Caernarfon Castle (; ) is a medieval fortress in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The first fortification on the site was a motte-and-bailey castle built in the late 11th century, which King Edward I of England began to replace with the current st ...

(); * Conwy Castle (); *

(); * Great Orme Tramway (); * Gwydir Castle, nr.

Llanrwst ; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is on the east bank of the River Conwy and the A470 road, and lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (histori ...

(); * Penrhyn Castle (); * Swallow Falls, Betws-y-Coed (); * Snowdon Mountain Railway,

Llanberis Llanberis () is a village, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activity, outdoor ac ...

(); * Ty Mawr Wybrnant ().

References

Bibliography

*A.H. Dodd, ''The History of Caernarvonshire'' (Caernarfonshire Historical Society, 1968). *John Jones, ''Enwau Lleoedd Sir Gaernarfon'' (Caernarfon, 1913). Origin and meanings of place names in the county.

External links

Map of Caernarfonshire
on Wikishire
The Caernarfonshire Association
{{Authority control Caernarfonshire History of Gwynedd Historic counties of Wales States and territories established in 1284 1280s establishments in Europe 13th century in Wales 01