- Bedwellty
infobox historic subdivision
Name= Bedwellty
HQ=Aberbargoed
Status=Urban district
Start= 1894
End= 1974
Replace=Islwyn , Rhymney Valley
PopulationFirst= 9,988
PopulationFirstYear= 1901
PopulationLast= 25,338
PopulationLastYear= 1971
AreaFirst= convert|7275|acre|km2|1
AreaFirstYear= 1911
AreaLast= convert|7353|acre|km2|1
AreaLastYear= 1961Bedwellty was a
parish andurban district in Monmouthshire, southWales , until 1974.The original ancient parish was very large, including most of the upper Ebbw and Sirhowy valleys. A number of
coal mining communities grew up in the parish, and in the 19th century these became separate local government units.On
June 19 ,1874 ,Ebbw Vale ,Rhymney andTredegar local boards of health and local government districts were formed, each including parts of thecivil parish . The remainder of Bedwellty itself became a local government district onJune 29 ,1891 . In 1894 the local boards were replaced byurban district s. The areas included in Bedwellty, Ebbw Vale, Rhymney and Tredegar urban districts became separate civil parishes.Bedwellty urban district included the hamlets and villages of Argoed,
Bargoed , Blackwood,New Tredegar ,Pengam and Rock.In 1926 Bedwellty and
Mynyddislwyn urban districts formed the West Monmouthshire Omnibus Board to ensure local control of bus services. In 1935 a County Review Order altered the boundaries between Bedwellty and Mynyddislwyn.The urban district was abolished by the
Local Government Act 1972 in 1974. Its area was split: the wards ofAberbargoed ,Cwmsyfiog ,New Tredegar andPhillipstown passed to the Rhymney Valley district ofMid Glamorgan , and the remainder was included in theIslwyn borough of Gwent.Further local government reorganisation in 1996 has led to the area of the former urban district being included in the
county borough of Caerphilly. It now corresponds to the communities of Argoed, Bargoed, Blackwood,Cefn Forest , New Tredegar, and part of the community ofDarran Valley .The parliamentary constituency of Bedwellty was created in 1918 covering a much larger area. It continued to exist until 1983, when it was replaced by the constituency of Islwyn. The
member of parliament for the Bedwellty and Islwyn constituencies from 1970 to 1995 wasNeil Kinnock , who took the title "Baron Kinnock, of Bedwellty in the County of Gwent" in 2005.External links
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2802769 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Bedwellty and surrounding area]
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