The Borough of Islwyn was one of five local government

districts 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

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, municip ...

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 Cefn Fforest is a community and an electoral ward in Caerphilly County Borough, 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, Engl ...

, and Pengam wards only (rest became New Tredegar community in Rhymney Valley) * Mynyddislwyn Urban District *

Risca Risca () is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. It is split into two Community (Wales), communities; Risca East an ...

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 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

prior to the reforms.

Gwent County Council Gwent County Council () was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent (county), Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was based in Cwmbran. H ...

provided county-level services to the new borough. The district was named after local poet William Thomas (1832–1878), who used the

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...

'Islwyn'. Islwyn (meaning "below the grove") was part of the name of 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 heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

which represented a mountain below a grove of oak trees. The borough was abolished in 1996, when its area became part of

Caerphilly County Borough Caerphilly County Borough () 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, Risca, Ystrad Mynach, Newbrid ...

. 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 Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 Labour Party le ...

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