Glamorgan

Encyclopedia : G : GL : GLA : Glamorgan

This article refers to the traditional county of Glamorgan in Wales, United Kingdom. See also Glamorgan (disambiguation)

**Traditional county of Glamorganshire**

Geography
Area - Total - % Water	Ranked 2nd 518,863 acres ? %
County town	Cardiff
Chapman code	GLA

Glamorgan or Glamorganshire (Welsh: ) is a maritime traditional county of Wales, and was previously a mediæval kingdom or principality.

Contents

1 Geography
2 Places of interest
3 History
4 Administration
5 See also

Geography

The county is bounded to the north by Brecknockshire, east by Monmouthshire, south by the Bristol Channel, and west by Carmarthenshire and Carmarthen Bay. Its total area is 2,100 km², and total population around 1,220,000. Its highest point is at Craig-y-llyn (600 m).

Glamorgan is the most populous and industrialised county in Wales. The northern part of the county is a mountainous area, dissected by deep narrow valleys, with urbanisation typified by ribbon development. Although the coal industry, which shaped these valleys and their communities, has now all but disappeared, this area remains heavily populated with light industry and the service sector now providing the economic base.

The Vale of Glamorgan, a lowland area mainly comprising farmland and small villages stretches across most of the south of the county from Porthcawl to Cardiff. Further west, beyond Swansea, lies the Gower Peninsula, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The major rivers of Glamorgan include the River Taff, the Ely, the Ogmore, the Neath, Dulais, the Tawe, the Rhymney (which forms the border with Monmouthshire) and the Loughor (which forms the border with Carmarthenshire). The main towns include Aberdare, Barry, Bridgend, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Cowbridge, Maesteg, Merthyr Tydfil, Mountain Ash, Neath, Penarth, Pontypridd, Porthcawl, Port Talbot and Swansea.

The county has a wide and diverse economic base including public administration, agriculture, light industry, manufacturing, service sector and tourism.

Places of interest

Places of special interest include:

Aberdulais Falls
Barry Island pleasure beach
Caerphilly Castle
Cardiff Castle
Castell Coch, Tongwynlais
Dare Valley Country Park,
Dunraven Park, Southerndown
Ewenny Priory
Gower Peninsula
Llandaff Cathedral
Museum of Welsh Life, St. Fagans
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
National Waterfront Museum, Swansea
Neath Abbey
Old Beaupre Castle
Ogmore Castle
Oxwich Castle
Margam Country Park,
Penscynor Wildlife Park, Cilfrew
Tinkinswood burial chamber
Vale of Glamorgan Railway
Weobley Castle, Gower Peninsula

History

Initially it was founded as an independent petty kingdom named Morgannwg after a founding king called Morgan. It was at times united with the neighbouring kingdoms of Gwent and Ergyng. By virtue of its location and geography, Morgannwg was the second part of Wales, after Gwent, to be overrun by the Normans and was frequently the scene of fighting between the Marcher Lords and Welsh princes.

Administration

The county of Glamorgan falls into several distinct regions: the industrial valleys, the agricultural Vale of Glamorgan, and the scenic Gower Peninsula. Being by far the most populous of the counties, the administrative county of Glamorgan was divided into three at the time of the local government reorganisation of the 1970s, and has now been further subdivided into several unitary authorities.