Gwynedd is an administrative county in Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. It was created in 1974 as one of the eight new administrative counties of Wales. 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.
Gwynedd (1974-1996)
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.
As the new Gwynedd covers most of the traditional counties of Caernarfonshire (less the part in the borough of Conwy) and Merionethshire, the reconstituted county was originally named Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire. As one of its first actions, the Council renamed the county 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.
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.
A Gwynedd Constabulary was formed in 1950 from the merger of the Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire forces.
To prevent confusion, the Gwynedd Constabulary was therefore renamed the North Wales Police.
/'gwɪnɛð/) was one of the kingdoms or principalities of medieval Wales.
Gwynedd covered part of the territory of the Ordovices, but tradition traced the kingdom's foundation to Cunedda, who migrated with his sons and followers from what is now southern Scotland.
On his death in 1240, the rule of Gwynedd passed to his son Dafydd ap Llywelyn, but Dafydd died without an heir in 1246 and the kingdom was split between the sons of another son of Llywelyn the Great, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr.
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