| Denbighshire Sir Ddinbych (Welsh) | |
|---|---|
 Show location in Wales Show location in England and Wales Show location in the United Kingdom | |
| Area | |
| • 1831 | 386,052 acres (1,562.30 km2) |
| • 1911 | 426,084 acres (1,724.30 km2)[1] |
| • 1961 | 427,978 acres (1,731.97 km2)[1] |
| Population | |
| • 1831 | 83,629[2] |
| • 1911 | 144,783[1] |
| • 1961 | 174,151[1] |
| Density | |
| • 1831 | 0.2/acre |
| • 1911 | 0.3/acre |
| • 1961 | 0.4/acre |
| Chapman code | DEN |
| Government | Denbighshire County Council (1889–1974) |
| • HQ | Denbigh andRuthin |
Denbighshire (Welsh:Sir Ddinbych), or theCounty of Denbigh, was one of the thirteenhistoric counties of Wales, in thenorth ofWales. It was created in 1536 by combining severalmarcher lordships. Denbighshire was a maritime county, with a coast to the north onto theIrish Sea. It was named after its originalcounty town ofDenbigh. Other towns includedAbergele,Colwyn Bay,Llangollen,Llanrwst,Ruthin andWrexham. The central part of the county included much of theVale of Clwyd. The neighbouring counties (clockwise from east) wereFlintshire,Cheshire,Shropshire,Montgomeryshire,Merionethshire, andCaernarfonshire.
Under theLocal Government Act 1972, the use of Denbighshire forlocal government andceremonial purposes ended on 1 April 1974, with the creation of the new county ofClwyd. A differentcounty ofthe same name was created on 1 April 1996, for modern local government purposes, covering a substantially different area from the historic county.
The area which became Denbighshire had historically been divided into multiplecantrefi under the control of various Welsh rulers. The area was fought over by English and Welsh rulers between the 11th and 13th centuries. Following theConquest of Wales by Edward I, the area was divided intomarcher lordships in 1284 under theStatute of Rhuddlan. The lordships were then controlled by English lords and subordinate to the English monarchs, but were not formally part of England nor subject to English law. Under theLaws in Wales Act 1535, the marcher lordships and the pre-existing Welsh counties were formally incorporated into theKingdom of England, and the marcher lordships were grouped into counties with effect from 1 November 1536. Denbighshire was one of the new counties, and was defined in the act as "the lordships, townships, parishes, commotes and cantreds" of:[3]
The borders of the new county were challenged by certain landowners, notablyEdward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, whose lands were split between Denbighshire and Flintshire. Following petitions toHenry VIII, the county boundaries were revised in 1542 to transfer St Asaph, Moldsdale and Hopesdale to Flintshire, along with themanors ofMarford and Hoseley, which formed part of Bromfield but were also owned by the Earl of Derby.[4][5]
The 1535 Act creating the county declared Denbigh to be the "head and shire-town of the county or shire".[3] The primary function of counties at that time was the administration of justice. The county's courts were directed to be held alternately at Denbigh and Wrexham. When sitting in Denbigh, the courts were initially held in the gatehouse ofDenbigh Castle, which also served as a prison.[6] The courts were overseen by theHigh Sheriff of Denbighshire.[7]
From 1542, the county was represented in theParliament of England by two constituencies:Denbigh Boroughs, comprising the four boroughs of Denbigh, Ruthin,Holt andChirk,[8] and aDenbighshire constituency covering the rest of the county outside those boroughs.[9]Knights of the shire (MPs for the Denbighshire constituency) were elected at Denbigh.[10]
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A new County Hall was built in Denbigh in 1572, commissioned byRobert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, who waslord of the manor of Denbigh. The building functioned as a market hall, town hall and courthouse for when the county's courts sat in the town.[11]
Counties were also used as areas for organising themilitia, overseen by alieutenant. The counties ofNorth Wales shared a lieutenant until 1761, after which a separateLord Lieutenant of Denbighshire was appointed.[12]
By the 18th century, the county's senior courts, thegreat sessions, were being held solely in Wrexham. A new courthouse and record office, also called County Hall, was built at Ruthin in the 1780s, after which the great sessions transferred there. In 1832, the great sessions were replaced by theassizes, which also sat at the County Hall in Ruthin.[13] The county'squarter sessions continued to be held alternately at Denbigh and Wrexham. The magistrates at the quarter sessions gradually took on various administrative functions.[14]
The Denbigh Boroughs constituency was reformed in 1832 to add Wrexham to the list of boroughs represented, but exclude Chirk.[15] The Denbighshire constituency was abolished in 1885, with the county outside the boroughs being split into two constituencies:East Denbighshire andWest Denbighshire. The group of constituencies within the county was termed the 'parliamentary county'.[16]
Elected county councils were established in 1889 under theLocal Government Act 1888, taking over the administrative functions of the quarter sessions. County boundaries were adjusted at the same time such that eachurban sanitary district which straddled county boundaries was placed entirely in the county which had the majority of the district's population. There were two such districts on Denbighshire's borders; Denbighshire gained the part ofColwyn Bay which had been inCaernarfonshire, but ceded a small part ofRhyl to Flintshire. The county as thus adjusted was termed the 'administrative county'; its boundaries were used for all county functions with the exception that constituencies were not changed.[17] After 1889, the administrative county therefore diverged from the parliamentary county, which continued to be defined by reference to the county boundaries as they had been when the constituencies were last reviewed in 1885. The divergence ended when the constituencies were next reviewed in 1918, being redrawn to nest within the administrative county.[18][19]
The county council initially decided to meet alternately at the County Hall in Denbigh andCounty Buildings, Wrexham, as the quarter sessions had done.[20][21] In 1891, the council decided to additionally meet in Ruthin,[22] and in 1900 the council addedColwyn Bay to list of places where it met.[23] It then held its regular meetings in rotation at Denbigh, Colwyn Bay, Ruthin and Wrexham until the abolition of the first incarnation of the county council in 1974.[24]
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Although the county council held its meetings in multiple towns, it recognised that there was a need for a main office building for the council's administrative staff. The county council was split on where such offices should be built. Ruthin Town Council was keen for Ruthin to host such offices rather than any other town. The town council therefore offered to donate to the county council a site it owned in the town. At a meeting in December 1905, the county council then narrowly decided (on the chairman's casting vote) to accept the offer and build its offices in Ruthin, despite protests from Wrexham Town Council.[25] The new building, called County Offices, was completed in March 1909.[26][27]
Counties gradually lost their non-local government functions. The militia was abolished in 1908, although a ceremonial lord lieutenant continued to be appointed, to act as the monarch's representative in the county. Counties lost their judicial functions in 1972, when the assizes and quarter sessions were abolished under theCourts Act 1971, but a ceremonial sheriff continued to be appointed. The administrative county of Denbighshire and its county council were abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972, with most of its area becoming part of the new county ofClwyd, save for an area on the western edge of the old county in theConwy valley, which went toGwynedd. The ceremonial sheriff and lieutenant of Denbighshire were also abolished at the same time, with sheriffs and lieutenants being appointed to the new counties instead.[28]
Local government was reformed again in 1996, when a newDenbighshire was created, within notably different boundaries.[29] Both pre-1974 and post-1996 Denbighshire include the Vale of Clwyd and the towns of Denbigh, Ruthin and Llangollen. The post-1996 county does not include the south-eastern part of the pre-1974 county around Wrexham, nor its western part around Abergele, Colwyn Bay and Llanrwst. Conversely, the post-1996 Denbighshire includes areas that had not been in the pre-1974 Denbigshire, notably the area aroundRhyl,Prestatyn,Rhuddlan and St Asaph, which had been in Flintshire prior to 1974, and the area aroundCorwen, which had been inMerioneth prior to 1974.[30][31]
In the east of what was Denbighshire, the mountains of the Clwydian Range rose from 1000 to 2,500 ft (760 m) high. The south was hilly. There was some level ground along the coastal strip, and the Vale of Clwyd formed the central part of the county. The highest points were Moel Sych and Cader Berwyn at 2,728 feet (831 m).Pistyll-y-Rhaeader, a 240 feet (73 m) waterfall, was located in the county. The chief rivers were theClwyd and theDee. TheRiver Conwy formed much of the county's western boundary.
The main towns in the county wereAbergele,Colwyn Bay,Denbigh,Llangollen,Llanrwst,Ruthin, andWrexham. Villages such asGlan Conwy,Eglwysbach,Holt andLlansannan were also in Denbighshire. The most important industries were agriculture and tourism, but around Wrexham the county had major resources in coal (seeDenbighshire Coalfield) and ironstone, leading to ironworks of significance during the industrial revolution, notably atBersham Ironworks andBrymbo Steelworks.
From the medieval period until 1974, Denbighshire was divided intocivil parishes for the purpose of local government; these in large part equated toecclesiastical parishes (see the table below), most of which still exist as part of the Church in Wales.[32] Chapelries are initalics.
Many of these parishes ended up inmodern Denbighshire, but those marked C are inConwy, those marked P are inPowys, and those marked W are inWrexham.
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After 1894, the administrative county was subdivided intomunicipal boroughs,urban districts andrural districts.
Twocivil parishes:Llaneilian yn Rhos andLlansanffraid Glan Conway were administered as part ofConwy Rural District in the neighbouring county ofCaernarfonshire. This area was sometimes calledGlan Conway Rural District.
In 1935 the rural districts were reorganised by aCounty Review Order, and reduced to five in number:Aled,Ceiriog,Hiraethog, Ruthin and Wrexham.
Four quarterly meetings... The March meeting is held at Denbigh, June meeting at Colwyn Bay, September meeting at Wrexham, and December meeting at Ruthin...
