History of local government in Wales


The history of local government Wales in a recognisably modern form emerged during the late 19th century.

Local Government Act 1888

From 1889 to 1974, counties made up of administrative counties and county boroughs were used for local government purposes. The counties were created by the Local Government Act 1888, which applied without distinction across Wales and England, and in Wales the administrative counties were based on the historic counties of Wales, but they were not entirely identical.
The 1888 Act did not create elected district councils, but anticipated their later creation, which came with the Local Government Act 1894. The 1894 Act created 'urban districts' and 'rural districts'.

Administrative counties

The table shows the area and population of administrative counties in Wales as recorded at the censuses of 1891 and 1961.
Administrative countyArea 1891
acres 		Population 1891Area 1961
acres 		Population 1961
Anglesey50,09851,705
Brecknockshire51,39355,185
Cardiganshire63,46753,648
Carmarthenshire130,566168,008
Caernarfonshire117,233121,767
Denbighshire118,843174,151
Flintshire77,277150,082
Glamorgan467,954523,253
Merionethshire49,21238,310
Monmouthshire203,347336,556
Montgomeryshire58,00341,165
Pembrokeshire88,29694,124
Radnorshire21,79118,471

Renamed from Carnarvonshire, 1 July 1926

County boroughs

There were also a number of administratively independent county boroughs:
County boroughArea 1911
acres 		Population 1911Area 1961
acres 		Population 1961
Cardiff182,259256,582
Merthyr Tydfil80,99059,039
Newport83,691112,298
Swansea114,663167,322

Local Government Act 1972: Counties and districts

In 1974, the existing administrative counties and county boroughs were abolished and replaced by eight new two-tier authorities, instead called 'counties' by the Local Government Act 1972. These counties were sub-divided into lower-tier districts.
The counties were all given names in Welsh only, apart from the three in Glamorgan, which had English names as well as Welsh. The creation of these new administrative areas effectively separated the administrative function from the traditional counties, although in reality this had occurred in 1889.
When these two-tier counties were abolished in 1996, their names and areas were retained with slight modifications for some purposes such as Lieutenancy, and became known as the preserved counties of Wales. These were further amended in 2003 by to ensure that each unitary area is wholly within one preserved county.

Counties

  1. Gwent
  2. South Glamorgan

  1. Mid Glamorgan

  1. West Glamorgan

  1. Dyfed
  2. Powys
  3. Gwynedd
  4. Clwyd

    Districts

The counties were sub-divided into districts, these were:
The redistribution of these districts into the current unitary authorities is as follows:
Unitary authorityPrevious districts
Blaenau Gwentmost of Blaenau Gwent
Bridgendmost of Ogwr
CaerphillyIslwyn, Rhymney Valley
CarmarthenshireCarmarthen, Llanelli, Dinefwr
CardiffCardiff, part of Taff-Ely
CeredigionCeredigion
ConwyAberconwy, most of Colwyn
DenbighshireRhuddlan, parts of Glyndwr and Colwyn
FlintshireAlyn and Deeside, Delyn
GwyneddArfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd
Isle of AngleseyAnglesey
Merthyr TydfilMerthyr Tydfil
MonmouthshireMonmouth, part of Blaenau Gwent
Neath Port TalbotNeath, Port Talbot, parts of Lliw Valley
NewportNewport
PembrokeshirePreseli Pembrokeshire, South Pembrokeshire
PowysMontgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Brecknock, part of Glyndwr
Rhondda Cynon TafRhondda, Cynon Valley, most of Taff-Ely
SwanseaSwansea, parts of Lliw Valley
TorfaenTorfaen
Vale of Glamorganmost of Vale of Glamorgan
Wrexhammost of Wrexham, parts of Glyndwr