TheWelsh Marches (Welsh:Y Mers) is an imprecisely defined area along theborder betweenEngland andWales in theUnited Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods.

The English termWelsh March (Medieval Latin:Marchia Walliae)^[1] was originally used in theMiddle Ages to denote themarches between England and thePrincipality of Wales, in whichMarcher lords had specific rights, exercised to some extent independently of theking of England. In modern usage, "the Marches" is often used to describe those English counties which lie along the border with Wales, particularlyShropshire andHerefordshire, and sometimes adjoining areas of Wales. However, at one time the Marches included all of the historic counties ofCheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire,Worcestershire andGloucestershire.

The termMarch is from the 13th-centuryMiddle Englishmarche ('border region, frontier'). The term was borrowed fromOld Frenchmarche ('limit, boundary'), itself borrowed from aFrankish term derived fromProto-Germanic*markō ('border, area'). The term is adoublet of Englishmark, and iscognate with GermanMark ('boundary').^[2] Cognates are found in the EnglishtoponymsMercia andMersey, and in continental place-names containingmark, such asDenmark.

After the decline and fall of theRoman Empire which occupied southernBritain until about AD 410, the area which is now Wales comprised a number of separateRomano-British kingdoms, includingPowys in the east. Over the next few centuries, theAngles,Saxons and others gradually conquered and settled in eastern and southern Britain. The kingdom ofMercia, underPenda, became established aroundLichfield, and initially established strong alliances with theWelsh kings.

However, his successors sought to expand Mercia further westwards into what is nowCheshire, Shropshire andHerefordshire. As the power of Mercia grew, a string of garrisonedmarket towns such asShrewsbury andHereford defined the borderlands as much asOffa's Dyke, a stronger and longer boundary earthwork erected by order ofOffa of Mercia between AD 757 and 796. The Dyke still exists, and can best be seen atKnighton, close tothe modern border between England and Wales.^[3] Campaigns and raids from Powys led, possibly around about AD 820, to the building ofWat's Dyke, a boundary earthwork extending from theSevern valley nearOswestry to theDee estuary.^[4][5]

In the centuries which followed, Offa's Dyke largely remained the frontier between the Welsh and English.Æthelstan, often seen as the first king of a united England, summoned the British kings to a meeting at Hereford in AD 926, and according toWilliam of Malmesbury laid down the boundary between Wales and England, particularly the disputed southern stretch where he specified that theRiver Wye should form the boundary.^[6]

By the mid-eleventh century, Wales was united underGruffydd ap Llywelyn ofGwynedd, until his death in 1063.^{[citation needed]}

Immediately after theNorman Conquest,King William of England installed three of his most trusted confidants,Hugh d'Avranches,Roger de Montgomerie, andWilliam FitzOsbern, asEarls of Chester, Shrewsbury and Hereford respectively, with responsibilities for containing andsubduing theWelsh. The process took a century and was never permanently effective.^[7]

The term "March of Wales" was first used in theDomesday Book of 1086. Over the next four centuries, Norman lords established mostly smallmarcher lordships between the Dee and Severn, and further west. Military adventurers went to Wales fromNormandy and elsewhere and after raiding an area of Wales, then fortified it and granted land to some of their supporters.^[8]

One example wasBernard de Neufmarché, responsible for conquering and pacifying the Welsh kingdom ofBrycheiniog. The precise dates and means of formation of the lordships varied, as did their size.

The March, orMarchia Wallie, was to a greater or lesser extent independent of both the English monarchy and thePrincipality of Wales orPura Wallia, which remained based inGwynedd in the north west of the country. By about AD 1100 the March covered the areas which would later becomeMonmouthshire and much ofFlintshire, Montgomeryshire,Radnorshire, Brecknockshire,Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire andPembrokeshire. Ultimately, this amounted to about two-thirds of Wales.^[4][9][10]

During the period, the Marches were a frontier society in every sense, and a stamp was set on the region that lasted into the time of the Industrial Revolution. Hundreds of smallcastles were built in the border area in the 12th and 13th centuries, predominantly by Norman lords as assertions of power as well as defences against Welsh raiders and rebels. The area still contains Britain's densest concentration ofmotte-and-bailey castles. The Marcher lords encouraged immigration from all the Norman-Angevin realms, and encouraged trade from "fair haven" ports likeCardiff. Peasants went to Wales in large numbers:Henry I encouragedBretons,Flemings,Normans, and English settlers to move into the south of Wales. Many new towns were established, some such asChepstow,Monmouth,Ludlow andNewtown becoming successful trading centres, and these tended also to be a focus of English settlement. At the same time, the Welsh continued to attack English soil and supported rebellions against the Normans.^[4]

The Norman lords each had similar rights to the Welsh princes. Each owed personal allegiance, as subjects, to the English king whom they were bound to support in times of war, but their lands were exempt from royal taxation and they possessed rights which elsewhere were reserved to the crown, such as the rights to create forests, markets and boroughs.^[10]

The lordships were geographically compact and jurisdictionally separate one from another, and their privileges differentiated them from English lordships. Marcher lords ruled their lands by their own law—sicut regale ("like unto a king") asGilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester stated^[11] — whereas in England fief-holders were directly accountable to the king. The crown's powers in the Marches were normally limited to those periods when the king held a lordship in its own hands, such as when it was forfeited for treason or on the death of the lord without a legitimate heir whereupon the title reverted to the Crown inescheat. At the top of a culturally diverse, intensely feudalised and local society, the Marcher barons combined the authority offeudal lord and vassal of the King among their Normans, and of supplanting the traditionaltywysog among their conquered Welsh. However,Welsh law was sometimes used in the Marches in preference to English law, and there were disputes as to which code should be used to decide a particular case. From this developed the distinctiveMarch law.^[4][5][11]

TheStatute of Rhuddlan in 1284 followed theconquest of the Principality byEdward I of England. It assumed the lands held by the Princes of Gwynedd under the title "Prince of Wales" as legally part of the lands of the Crown, and established shire counties on the English model over those areas. The Marcher Lords were progressively tied to the English kings by the grants of lands and lordships in England, where control was stricter, and where many marcher lords spent most of their time, and through the English kings' dynastic alliances with the great magnates. TheCouncil of Wales and the Marches, administered fromLudlow Castle, was initially established in 1472 byEdward IV of England to govern the lands held under the Principality of Wales which had become directly administered by the English crown following theEdwardian conquest of Wales in the 13th century.^[12]

Marches in Wales Act 1534
Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long title	An Act that Murthers and Felonies done or committed within any Lordship Marcher in Wales, shall be inquired of at the Sessions holden within the Shire Grounds next adjoining; with many goods Orders for Ministration of Justice there to be had.
Citation	26 Hen. 8. c. 6
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	18 December 1534
Commencement	3 November 1534[a]
Repealed	21 July 1856
Other legislation
Repealed by	Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856
Relates to	Laws in Wales Act 1535 Laws in Wales Act 1542
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

By the 16th century, many marcher lordships had passed into the hands of the crown, as the result of the accessions ofHenry IV, who was previouslyDuke of Lancaster, andEdward IV, the heir of theEarls of March; of theattainder of other lords during theWars of the Roses; and of other events. The crown was also directly responsible for the government of the Principality of Wales, which had its own institutions and was, like England, divided into counties. The jurisdiction of the remaining marcher lords was therefore seen as an anomaly, and their independence from the crown enabled criminals from England to evade justice by moving into the area and claiming "marcher liberties".^{[citation needed]}

Under theLaws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 introduced underHenry VIII, the jurisdiction of the marcher lords was abolished in 1536. The acts had the effect of annexing Wales withEngland and creating a single state and legaljurisdiction, commonly referred to asEngland and Wales. The powers of the marcher lordships were abolished, and their areas were organised into the new Welsh counties ofDenbighshire, Montgomeryshire,Radnorshire, Brecknockshire,Monmouthshire, andCarmarthenshire. The counties ofPembrokeshire andGlamorgan were created by adding other districts to existing lordships. In place ofassize courts of England, there wereCourts of Great Sessions. These administered English law, in contrast with the marcher lordships, which had administered Welsh law for their Welsh subjects. Some lordships were added to adjoining English counties:Ludlow,Clun,Caus and part ofMontgomery were incorporated into Shropshire;Wigmore,Huntington,Clifford and most ofEwyas were included in Herefordshire; and that part ofChepstow east of theRiver Wye was included inGloucestershire.^[4]

The Council of Wales, based atLudlow Castle, was reconstituted as theCouncil of Wales and the Marches, with statutory responsibilities for the whole of Wales together with, initially,Cheshire,Shropshire,Herefordshire,Worcestershire andGloucestershire. TheCity of Bristol was exempted in 1562, and Cheshire in 1569.^[13][14]

The Council was eventually abolished in 1689, following the "Glorious Revolution" which overthrewJames II (VII of Scotland) and establishedWilliam III (William ofOrange) as king.^{[citation needed]}

●Chester

●Shrewsbury

●Oswestry

●Ludlow

●Hereford

●Gloucester

Wrexham ●

Welshpool ●

Monmouth ●

Map illustrating thetraditional counties considered to form the "Welsh Marches"

List of Marcher lordships and successor shires:^[8]

There is no modern legal or official definition of the extent of the Welsh Marches. However, the term the Welsh Marches (or sometimes just the Marches) is commonly used to describe those English counties which lie along the border with Wales, particularly Shropshire and Herefordshire.^[16] The term is also sometimes applied to parts of Powys, Monmouthshire and Wrexham.^[17]

TheWelsh Marches Line is a railway line fromNewport in the south of Wales to Shrewsbury, via Abergavenny, Hereford, andCraven Arms.

TheMarches Way is along distance footpath which connects Chester in the north of England, viaWhitchurch,Shrewsbury,Leominster andAbergavenny to the Welsh capital, Cardiff.

The Marches School is a secondary school inOswestry, Shropshire. The school has several meeting rooms named in Welsh, and has students and staff from both sides of the border.

• Marches – for other examples, includingScottish Marches between England and Scotland.
• Council of the Marches
• Earl of March – some of the dynastic families controlling the Welsh Marches
• Welsh Lost Lands
• England–Wales border
• East Wales
• A49 – main road that runs north-south through the Marches
• Honour of Richmond
• History of Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages
• Category:Towns of the Welsh Marches
• Category:Counties of the Welsh Marches

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "March, Earls of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 685–688.

• Allott, Andrew. 2011, Marches.Collins New Naturalist Library. London.
• Davies, R. R.,The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 (Oxford 1987, 2000 edition), pp. 271–88.
• Davies, R. R.Lordship and Society in the March of Wales, 1282–1400 (1978).
• Freeman, Edward Augustus Freeman, 1871.The History of the Norman Conquest of England: Its Causes and Its Results, (Clarendon Press, London)
• Froude, James Anthony, 1881.History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth (London, Published by C. Scribner's sons) pp. 380–384.
• Lieberman, Max (2001).The Medieval March of Wales: The Creation and Perception of a Frontier, 1066–1283. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-76978-5.OCLC 459211474.
• Reeves, A. Compton (1983),The Marcher Lords
• Skeel, C. A. J."The Council in the Marches of Wales", Hugh Rees Ltd. London (1904)

52°N3°W / 52°N 3°W /52; -3

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• States and territories established in the 920s
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• Counties of the Welsh Marches
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• Medieval history of Wales
• Regions of England
• Regions of Wales
• West Midlands (region)
• 16th century in England
• 16th century in Wales
• Lordship of Bromfield and Yale
• Marcher lords

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