County Dossier
Monmouthshire
A border county of castles, abbeys and rivers.
Monmouthshire is a maritime county in south-east Wales, with the Black Mountains stretching into its north-east. Much of eastern Monmouthshire is agricultural, dotted with picturesque villages.
At a glance
Monmouthshire at a glance
A border county of castles, abbeys and rivers.
- England/Wales borderland
- Rivers Monnow, Rhymney and Monnow form the county boundaries
- Formed from the cantrefs of Gwent Is-coed and Gwent Uwch-coed.
- Area: 542 sq mi
- Population: 514,723
- County Top: Chwarel y Fan
County Geography
Monmouthshire meets Herefordshire to the north and north-east, Gloucestershire across the Wye and Severn to the east and south-east, Glamorgan to the west, Brecknockshire to the north-west, and the Bristol Channel forms the county’s southern edge. The county is shaped by the Wye and Usk systems, the Black Mountains, the western valley belt, and the low estuarial south.
Monmouthshire is easy to recognise through its border hills, Wye and Usk valleys, and estuary-side south.
Map Reference
View Monmouthshire on the map
Monmouthshire 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
Monmouth, Abergavenny, Newport, Chepstow, and Pontypool show the county from its eastern river towns and northern gateway to its southern and western sides.
Connections
The county’s routes have long followed the Wye and Usk valleys, linked Monmouth and Abergavenny with Newport, and turned east toward Chepstow and west through Pontypool. Movement follows the same valley, plain, and estuary pattern.
Names
- Monmouthshire
- County of Monmouth
- Sir Fynwy
Sir Fynwy is the Welsh form of Monmouthshire. County of Monmouth is the formal historical style, Monmouthshire is the usual county name, and the older county background lies in the Marcher borderland around the Wye, Usk, and the older lordships of Gwent.
Monmouthshire was shaped as a county in the early sixteenth century, but its borderland geography and chain of river towns and castles long predate that formal settlement. The Wye-and-Usk geography still gives the historic county a clear shape.