I.

Introduction

Monmouthshire (Welsh, Sir Fynwy), unitary authority and county, south-eastern Wales, bounded on the north-east and east by the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire respectively, on the south by the estuary of the River Severn, on the west by the unitary authorities of Newport, Torfaen, and Blaenau Gwent, and on the north-west by the county of Powys. It was created with its present boundaries on April 1, 1996, and bears the same name as the county of Monmouthshire, which existed from 1536 until 1974. In that year, under local government reforms, Monmouthshire was reconstituted as the county of Gwent, apart from a small area in the south-west which was incorporated into South Glamorgan. The new county of Monmouthshire was established as a unitary authority under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1994, which changed the structure of local government in Wales from a two-tier system of county and district councils to a single-tier system of unitary authorities. Its boundaries are the same as those of the former district of Monmouth, which comprised the eastern half of the county of Gwent, with the addition, in the north-west of the county, of the small area of Llanelly, previously in the district of Blaenau Gwent. Monmouthshire has an area of 851 sq km (329 sq mi).