Gwynedd
Gwynedd may also refer to Upper Gwynedd Township, Pennsylvania or the preserved county of Wales.Gwynedd (
IPA: ['gwɪ.nɛð]) is a
principal area in north-west
Wales, named after the old
Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although one of the biggest in terms of geographical area, it was also one of the most sparsely populated. A large proportion of the population being
Welsh-speaking, it became once again a centre of nationalism, with
Plaid Cymru gaining a toehold which helped the party on to greater successes.
It is the home of the
University of Wales, Bangor.
Gwynedd includes the scenic
Llŷn Peninsula, and most of the
Snowdonia National Park.
The name "Gwynedd" is also used for a
preserved county, covering
Anglesey as well as the principal area.
The modern Gwynedd was originally created on April 1, 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972. It covered the entirety of the former
administrative counties of
Anglesey, and
Caernarvonshire along with all of
Merionethshire apart from
Edeyrnion Rural District (which went to
Clwyd), and also a few parishes in
Denbighshire:
Llanrwst,
Llansanffraid Glan Conwy,
Eglwysbach,
Llanddoget,
Llanrwst Rural and
Tir Ifan.
In the latest round of local government reorganisation, on
April 1,
1996, it was reconstituted to cover a different area, losing
Anglesey to became an independent unitary, and
Aberconwy to the new
Conwy county borough. Modern Gwynedd is governed by
Gwynedd Council.
As the new Gwynedd covers most of the
traditional counties of
Caernarfonshire (less the part in the borough of
Conwy) and
Merionethshire, the reconstituted area was originally named
Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire. As one of its first actions, the Council renamed it Gwynedd on
April 2.
The pre-1996 boundaries were retained as a ceremonial
preserved county - in 2003 the boundary with
Clwyd was adjusted to match the modern local government boundary, so that the preserved county now covers the modern Gwynedd along with Anglesey.
The original administrative county contained several
districts, these were
Aberconwy,
Arfon,
Dwyfor,
Meirionnydd and
Anglesey. As a
unitary authority the modern entity no longer has any districts, but Arfon, Dwyfor and Meirionnydd remain in use as areas for
area committees.
A
Gwynedd Constabulary was formed in
1950 from the merger of the Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire forces. A further amalgamation took place in the
1960s when Gwynedd Constabulary was merged with the
Flintshire and
Denbighshire county forces, retaining the name "Gwynedd". In one proposal for local government reform in Wales, "Gwynedd" had been proposed as a name for an administrative county covering all of north Wales, but the scheme as enacted divided this area between Gwynedd and Clwyd. To prevent confusion, the Gwynedd Constabulary was therefore renamed the
North Wales Police.
The
Snowdonia National Park was formed in 1951. After the 1974 local authority reorganisation, the park fell entirely within the boundaries of the County of Gwynedd, and was run a as a department of Gwynedd County Council. After the 1996 local government reorganisation, part of the park fell under
Conwy Borough County Council, and the park's administration separated from the Gwynedd council. Gwynedd Council does still appoint 9 of the 18 members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority (Conwy council appoints 3, and the
National Assembly for Wales appoints the remaining 6).
*
List of places in Gwynedd for all villages, towns and cities in Gwynedd.
*
Snowdonia National Park*
Llŷn PeninsulaImage:WalesGwynedd1974.png|Gwynedd as an administrative county from 1974 to 1996
