Gwent

Gwent is the area of south-easternmost Wales, bordering on the Welsh Marches of southwest England. It is traditionally bounded on the east by the River Wye, the border between England and Wales, and on the south by the Severn Estuary.

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The area has been occupied since the Paleolithic, with a famous Roman site at Caerleon.

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The medi?val British kingdom of Gwent was the area between the rivers Usk and Wye, and took a name that literally means 'place', or 'the place'. It came into existence after the Romans had left Britain and survived in various forms until the Norman invasion of the west in 1067 AD. The Normans partitioned the area into the lordships of Abergavenny, Monmouth, Striguil (Chepstow) and Usk.

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The lordships were the basic units of administration for the next 450 or so years, until Henry VIII passed the Laws in Wales Act 1535. This Act abolished the marcher lordships and established the county of Monmouthshire out of them — combining the lordships of Newport (Gwynllwg) and Caerleon east of the river Usk and Abergavenny, Monmouth, Usk and Chepstow to the west of it.

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In the 19th and 20th centuries, writers began using the name "Gwent" in a romantic literary way to describe Monmouthshire, and so in the local government re-organisation of 1974, many new administrative counties were named after medi?val kingdoms — including "Gwent". This new authority covered almost exactly the same area as the traditional county of Monmouthshire and therefore not the same area as the previous kingdom. It was only to last for 22 years though, as in the next wave of local government reform in 1996, it was abolished.

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The name however remains as one of the preserved counties of Wales used for ceremonial purposes, and it also survives in various titles, e.g., Gwent Police, Royal Gwent Hospital, the Gwent Levels and the Newport Gwent Dragons rugby team.

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When it existed, the administrative area was divided into several districts : Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport and Torfaen.

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The successor unitary authorities are:

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• City of Newport
• Blaenau Gwent county borough
• Torfaen county borough
• Caerphilly county borough (part of which came from Mid Glamorgan)
• Monmouthshire (which covers the eastern half of the traditional county)

In 2003 the preserved county of Gwent expanded to cover the whole of Caerphilly county borough.

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Gwent: See also ►



 

Welsh Marches: In European history, marches are border regions between centres of power. In English history, the Welsh Marches refers to the borderlands between England and Wales, and the Scottish Marches to the borderlands between England and Scotland. The term Marcher is used to refer to the Marcher Lords who ru...

River Wye: :This article is about the river that flows along the Anglo-Welsh border, for the river in Derbyshire see River Wye, Derbyshire....

Severn Estuary: The Severn Estuary () is the estuary of the River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain. Its high tidal range means it has been at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable energy....