County Dossier
Glamorgan
A county of coal, castles and coasts.
Glamorgan is a maritime county in south Wales, home to the cities of Cardiff (Caerdydd) and Swansea (Abertawe), alongside numerous industrial, market, and seaside towns.
At a glance
Glamorgan at a glance
A county of coal, castles and coasts.
- Kingdom of Morgannwg
- Lordship then shire 1284
- Cardiff = great town / port
- Area: 827 sq mi
- Population: 1,321,460
- County Top: Craig y Llyn (1,969ft / 600m)
County Geography
Glamorgan meets Monmouthshire to the east, Brecknockshire to the north, Carmarthenshire to the west, and the Bristol Channel forms the county’s southern edge. The county is shaped by its long coast, the mountain and valley belt running east to west behind it, and the lower vale between the valleys and the sea.
Glamorgan is easy to recognise through the Channel coast, the low vale, the northern valleys, and the Gower side.
Map Reference
View Glamorgan on the map
Glamorgan is the county. The map also shows lieutenancies and council areas that use the county name.
The county.
The lieutenancy.
Council areas.
Places and routes
Cardiff, Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend, and Barry show the county from its main coastal centres to its valley and vale sides.
Connections
The county’s routes have long followed the south coast, crossed between Cardiff and Swansea, and run north up the valleys into the uplands. Movement follows the same coast, vale, and valley pattern.
Names
- Glamorgan
- County of Glamorgan
- Morgannwg
Morgannwg is the Welsh form of Glamorgan. County of Glamorgan is the formal historical style, Glamorgan and Glamorganshire preserve the later county forms, and the older background lies in the kingdom and cantrefs of Morgannwg together with Gower and the vale.
Glamorgan emerged through the lordship and then the shire settlement of the late medieval period, but its coast-and-valley setting had long marked it out as a distinct southern Welsh region. That Channel-side and valley geography still gives the historic county a clear shape.