Meirionnydd

Coordinates: 52°45′29″N 3°50′06″W / 52.758°N 3.835°W / 52.758; -3.835

Meirionnydd
Geography
Status	District
HQ	Dolgellau
History
Created	1974
Abolished	1996
Succeeded by	Gwynedd
Demography
1971 population	29,531[citation needed]
1992 (estimate) population	32,900[citation needed]

Map of Welsh cantrefs

Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a cantref, a district and, as Merionethshire, a county.

Kingdom

Meirionnydd was a sub-kingdom of Gwynedd, founded according to legend by Meirion, a grandson of Cunedda, a warrior-prince who brought his family to Wales from the 'Old North' (southern Scotland today), probably in the early 5th century. His dynasty seems to have ruled there for the next four hundred years. The kingdom lay between the River Mawddach and the River Dovey, spreading in a north-easterly direction.

Cantref

The cantref of Meirionnydd held the presumed boundaries of the previous kingdom but now as a fief of the Kingdom of Gwynedd where it continued to enjoy long spells of relative independence. It was abolished in 1284 following the Statute of Rhuddlan and reorganised with the addition of some neighbouring cantrefi to form the county of Merionethshire.

County

Main article: Merionethshire

The borders of Meirionnydd were expanded as a county (both historic and administrative) to include the old cantrefi of Penllyn and Ardudwy. It took the name Merionethshire under English Law. In 1974 it merged with the counties of Caernarfonshire and Anglesey to create the revived Gwynedd (county).

District

Meirionnydd was one of five districts of Gwynedd from 1974 to 1996. The district comprised the majority of the administrative county of Merionethshire and reverted to the Welsh spelling of the county's name.

The district was created by the Local Government Act 1972, and replaced the following local government areas of Merionethshire:

• The urban districts of Bala, Barmouth, Dolgellau, Ffestiniog and Tywyn
• The rural districts of Deudraeth, Dolgellau and Penllyn

Meirionnydd District was abolished in 1996 by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, becoming part of the unitary authority of 'Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire', which was immediately renamed Gwynedd as the first act of the new council. An area committee of Gwynedd Council now covers the area.