Gwent Postcodes — Wales (WLS)

Gwent

The county of Gwent, in southeastern Wales, is both a historic site and a former administrative division. The ancient Kingdom of Gwent was honored with the creation of the county of Gwent on April 1, 1974, thanks to the Local Government Act of 1972. Both the administrative county of Monmouthshire (with minor boundary changes) and the county borough of Newport were succeeded by the authority. The act, by creating the county of Gwent, definitively settled the question of whether the latter two authorities were in Wales or England. 

The county of Gwent was dissolved in 1996 as part of the implementation of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994. However, the name lives on in various titles, such as the Gwent Police, the Royal Gwent Hospital, the Gwent Wildlife Trust, and Coleg Gwent, as well as for ceremonial purposes as one of the preserved counties of Wales for Lieutenancy and High Shrievalty. As an example, the Gwent Family History Society calls itself "The key to roots in the historic county of Monmouthshire," which is a common way to refer to Gwent. 

The former administrative county is now split up into the districts of Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport, and Torfaen. The county boroughs of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly (which includes a portion of Mid Glamorgan), Torfaen, and Newport, as well as the county of Monmouthshire (which includes the eastern 60% of the historic county of the same name) are the successor unitary authorities.

Caerphilly County Borough was formally incorporated into the preserved county of Gwent in 2003; the Gwent Police area had been realigned to these boundaries since 1996. With an estimated population of 560,500 in 2007, this enlarged area was the most populous of Wales's original counties.

Geography

County on the border between Wales and England in the region's extreme southeast. The 7th-century Welsh kingdom of Gwent provided the foundation for this system. Gwent was located on the lower Wye River. Upper (Gwent Uwchcoed) and lower (Gwent Iscoed) Gwent were quickly conquered by the westward-moving Anglo-Normans after 1066. In 1536, they were combined to form the county of Monmouthshire, named after the lordship held by King Henry VIII. The county's peculiar status became obvious when, following the Act of Great Sessions of 1542, it was left out of any judicial circuit that covered Wales. However, following the passage of the Local Government Act in 1972, Monmouthshire became an official part of Wales and was subsequently renamed Gwent after some minor territorial adjustments. Cwmbran replaced Monmouth as the county seat. With yet another reorganization in 1996, Gwent was split into four new unitary authorities: Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Monmouthshire (reviving the old name), and Newport. Given its proximity to England, it's not surprising that only 2.4% of Gwent's population speaks Welsh. The population in 1991 was 442,212; current estimates place the new authorities' populations at 73,00 in Blaenau Gwent, 91,00 in Torfaen, 81,00 in Monmouthshire, and 137,000 in Newport. This tug of war has only been going on for the past 900 years, so it will be interesting to see if it continues.