What is "clwyd"

Clwyd is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the county. To the north lies the Irish Sea, Cheshire is to the east and Shropshire to the south-east, both in England. The Welsh counties of Powys and Gwynedd lie to the south and west respectively. Clwyd additionally shares a maritime border with the metropolitan county of Merseyside along the River Dee. Between 1974 and 1996, it was a county with a county council, one of the eight counties into which Wales was divided, and was subdivided into six districts. In 1996, the county of Clwyd was abolished, and the new unitary authorities of Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, and Flintshire were created; under this reorganisation, "Clwyd" became a preserved county, with the name being retained for certain ceremonial functions.

This area of northeastern Wales has been settled since prehistoric times, the Romans built a fort beside a ford on the River Conwy, and the Normans and Welsh disputed the territory. They built their castles at strategic locations as they advanced and retreated, but in the end, England prevailed, and Edward I conquered the country in 1282. In the following centuries, the Welsh people were repressed and there were numerous uprisings and rebellions against English rule. The Act of Union in 1535 incorporated Wales under the English Crown and made it subject to English law.

Traditionally, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy of this part of Wales, but with the Industrial Revolution, the North Wales Coalfield was developed and parts of eastern Clwyd around the Dee estuary and Wrexham became industrialised. The advent of the railway running from Chester along the North Wales coast in the mid-nineteenth century made it easy for urban dwellers from Lancashire and Cheshire to visit the seaside towns of North Wales, and nowadays, tourism is the main source of income in Clwyd.