GLAMORGANSHIRE (Welsh Morganwg), a maritime county occupying the south-east corner of Wales, and bounded north-west by Carmarthenshire, north by Carmarthenshire and Breconshire, east by Monmouthshire and south and south-west by the Bristol Channel and Carmarthen Bay. Area 520,456 acs. Pop. (1931) 1,225,713. Its extreme breadth from the sea inland is 29 m., while its greatest length from east to west is 53 m.
Structurally and physically it may be considered in two sec tions---(1) the northern upland section forming a part of the South Wales coal-field; (2) the lower section or Vale of Gla morgan---a region in which old rocks much worn down are cov ered by newer deposits. The coal-field is a geological basin with its thick, hard grit bands standing out as bold uplands. (See WALES.) The body of the county forms a sort of quarter-circle between the rivers Taff and Neath. Near the apex of the angle formed by these rivers is the loftiest peak in the county, the great Pennant scarp of Craig y Llyn or Carn Moesyn (1,97o f t.) . To the south and south-east extends a great coalfield, its surface forming an irregular plateau with an average elevation of 600 to 1,200 ft., but with numerous peaks about 1,50o ft. or more; Mynydd y Caerau, being 1,823 ft. Out of this plateau have been carved, to the depth of 500 to Boo ft. below its general level, three dis tinct series of narrow valleys, those in each series being more or less parallel. The Cynon, the Great and Lesser Rhondda (tribu taries of the Taff) and the Ely flow to the S.E., the Ogwr or Ogmore (with its tributaries the Garw and Llynfi) flow south through Bridgend, and the Avan brings the waters of the Corwg and Gwynfi to the south-west into Swansea Bay at Aberavon. To the east of this high ground and divided from it by a spur of the Brecknock mountains culminating in Carn Bugail (1,57o ft.), is the Rhymney, which forms the county's eastern boundary. On the west other spurs of the Beacons divide the Neath from the Tawe and the Tawe from the Loughor, which, with its tributary the Amman, separates the county on the north-west from Car marthenshire. The rivers are all comparatively short, the Taff, the chief river, being only 33 m. long.
To the south of this central hill country, which is wet, cold and sterile, and whose slopes form the coal-field's southern edge, there stretches out to the sea an undulating plain. Geologically it is a deeply eroded anticlinorium of Old Red Sandstone largely concealed by Trias and Lias. Silurian rocks form a small inlier about 2 sq.m. in area at Rumney and Penylan, north of Cardiff and consist of mudstones and sandstones of Wenlock and Ludlow age. The Old Red Sandstone, which forms the "ground-work" of the vale, consists in the lower parts of red marls and sandstones, while the upper beds are quartzitic and pebbly, and form bold scarps which dominate the low ground formed by the softer beds below. Cefn-y-bryn, another anticline of Old Red Sandstone (including small exposures of Silurian rocks), forms the promi nent backbone of the Gower peninsula. The next formation is the Carboniferous Limestone which encircles and underlies the coal-field, on the south of which, west of Cardiff, it forms a bold escarpment of steeply-dipping beds surrounding the Old Red Sandstone. It shows up through the Trias and Lias in extensive inliers near Bridgend, while in Gower it dips away from the Old Red Sandstone of Cefn-y-bryn. On the north of the coalfield it is just reached near Merthyr Tydfil. The Millstone Grit crops out above the limestone.
After the Coal Measures forming the north of the county (see above) had been deposited, the southern part of the region was subjected to powerful folding; the resulting anticlines were worn down, and then submerged slowly beneath a Triassic lake in which accumulated the Keuper conglomerates and marls which spread over the district west of Cardiff and are traceable on the coast of Gower. The succeeding Rhaetic and Lias which form most of the coastal plain (the fertile Vale of Glamorgan) from Penarth to near Bridgend were laid down by the Jurassic sea. The coast of south Glamorgan ends in low cliffs notched by little streams. A well-marked raised beach is traceable in Gower. Sand-dunes are present locally around Swansea Bay, and between the rivers Ogmore and Neath where Kenfig town lies buried. Moraines, chiefly formed of gravel and clay, occupy many of the Glamorgan valleys; and these, together with the striated surfaces which may be observed at higher levels, are clearly glacial in origin.
Down to the middle of the 19th century most of the Glamorgan valleys were famous for their scenery, but industrial operations have completely destroyed this in the valleys of the north. The rainfall varies from an average of about 25 in. at Porthcawl and other parts of the Vale of Glamorgan to about 37 in. at Cardiff, 40 in. at Swansea and to upwards of 7o in. in the northern part of the county.
In Roman times the country from the Neath to the Wye was occupied by the Silures. There are Ogham stones at Loughor and Kenfig. The conquest of the Silures by the Romans began about A.D. 5o by Ostorius Scapula and was continued by Julius Frontinus. The important station of Gaer on the Usk near Brecon was connected by two branch roads, one running from Cardiff through Gelligaer (where there was a strong hill fort) and Penydarren, and another from Neath through Coelbren. An important Roman road ran along the Vale from Caerleon through Cardiff to Neath (Nidum).
Glamorgan was an important centre of Celtic Christianity. Llandaff is associated with St. Dubricius and St. Teilo (6th century). To this period also belongs the establishment of the great monastic settlements of Llancarvan, Llandough and Liant wit Major (Llanilltyd Fawr). After the withdrawal of the Romans, the coasts were raided by Saxons. The Scandinavians who came in the 9th and succeeding centuries left more abundant traces both in the place-names of the coastal areas and in such camps as that on Sully Island, the Bulwarks at Porthkerry and Hardings Down in Gower. Meanwhile the native tribes had been reorganized into a principality known as Glywyssing, till about the end of the loth century when it acquired the name of Mor ganwg (the territory of Morgan), a prince who died in A.D. 980. Morganwg then comprised the whole country from the Neath to the Wye.
The Norman conquest was effected at the end of the nth century by Robert Fitzhamon, lord of Gloucester. His followers settled in the "Vale," which became known as the "body" of the shire, while in the hill country the Welsh retained their custom ary laws and much of their independence. Glamorgan, whose bounds were contracted between the Neath and the Rhymney, then became a lordship marcher, its status and organization being that of a county palatine. The inhabitants of Cardiff, the caput baroniae, were granted municipal privileges, and in time Cow bridge, Kenfig, Llantrisant, Aberavon and Neath also became chartered market-towns. The manorial system was introduced throughout the "Vale," the manor in many cases becoming the parish. The distinction between the compact villages with Eng lish tenure on the lowlands and the Welsh scattered farms with tribal customs on the highlands, was very marked in this county. The distinction is often preserved in the parish names, e.g., Coity Anglia and Coity Wallia near Bridgend. The religious houses included the Cistercian abbeys of Neath and Margam founded in 1129 and 1147, respectively, the Benedictine priory of Ewenny ("41) and that of Cardiff (1147). Dominican and Franciscan houses were also founded at Cardiff in the following century. Gower (with Kilvey) or the country west of the morass be tween Neath and Swansea had a separate history (see GOWER) .
For the first two centuries after Fitzhamon's time the lordship of Glamorgan was held by the earls of Gloucester, who acquired it originally through marriage. The first earl built Cardiff Castle and was patron of Geoffrey of Monmouth. The lordship passed by descent through the families of Clare (who held it from 1217 to 1317), Despenser, Beauchamp and Neville to Richard III., on whose fall it escheated to the crown. Raids from the hills were frequent. Cardiff Castle was seized by the Welsh about 1153. At last Caerphilly Castle was built to keep them in check, but this provoked an invasion in 1270 by Prince Llewelyn ap Griffith, who besieged the castle. In 1316 Llewelyn Bren headed a revolt in the same district. In 1404 Owain Glyn Dwr swept through the county, burning castles and carrying all before him. By the Act of Union of 1535 the county of Glamorgan was incorporated as it now exists, by the addition to the old county of the lord ship of Gower and Kilvey, west of the Neath.
The lordship of Glamorgan, shorn of its quasi-regal status, was granted by Edward VI. to William Herbert, afterwards earl of Pembroke, from whom it has descended to the present marquess of Bute.
The rule of the Tudors promoted the rapid assimilation of the inhabitants of the county, and by the reign of Elizabeth even the descendants of the Norman knights had largely become Welsh both in speech and sentiment. Welsh continued to be the prevalent speech, except in the peninsular part of Gower and perhaps Cardiff, till the last quarter of the i9th century. Since then it has lost ground in the maritime towns and the south-east corner of the county generally, while it is failing to hold its own even in the industrial districts of the north.
In common with the rest of Wales the county was mainly Royalist in the Civil War, but later dissatisfaction made the county declare for Parliament. There was, however, a subse quent Royalist revolt in Glamorgan in 1648, but it was crushed by Colonel Horton at the battle of St. Fagan's.
The rapid opening up of the deeper seams in the southern sec tion of the industrial region meant a great influx of population which settled around the pit-heads. The steep sides of the valleys would not allow of town development and so the workmen's houses grew up in the Rhondda and some other valleys in long straggling rows in the valley bottoms. The mining villages there fore, while lacking all traditions of settlement from the past, offered few facilities for the development of a new corporate civic life. Large numbers of small colliery companies exploited these valleys from which the coal was rushed to the coast for export as long as the demand lasted. There was little or no de velopment of by-product trade in the valleys—a factor that caused serious difficulties for the east of the county when the general demand for steam coal fell considerably after the war of 1914-18.
The evolution of the south-west of the county where the coal field reaches nearest the sea was different. The triangle formed by Port Talbot, Ystalyfera and Loughor has concentrated on the metallurgical industries which have focused on Swansea "the metallurgical capital of Wales." The manufacture of iron and steel is carried on at Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil and at Port Talbot, Briton Ferry, Pontardawe, Swansea, Gorseinon and Gowerton. During the last quarter of the i9th century the use of the native ironstone was almost wholly given up, and the necessary ore is now imported, mainly from Spain. As a result several of the older inland works, such as those of Aberdare, Ystalyfera and Brynaman were abandoned, and new works established on or near the sea-board; e.g., the Dowlais company in 1891 opened large works at Cardiff. The tin-plate industry is mainly in the Swansea-Llanelly area, though there are works near Llantrisant and at Melin Griffith near Car diff, the latter being the oldest in the county. Copper-smelting is care ied on on a large scale in the west of the county, at Port Talbot, Cwmavon, Neath and Swansea, and on a small scale at Cardiff, the earliest works having been established at Neath in 1584 and at Swansea in 1717. There are nickel works at Clydach near Swansea. Swansea has almost a monopoly of the manufac ture of spelter or zinc. Lead, silver and other metals or their by-products are treated in or near Swansea. Limestone and silica quarries are worked, while sandstone and clay are also raised. Swansea and Nantgarw were formerly famous for their china, and coarse ware is still made at Ewenny.
The development of the anthracite coalfield lying to the north and west of Swansea (from which port it is mostly shipped) dates mainly from the closing years of the 19th century when the demand for this coal grew rapidly. Its extended use in modern industry together with the organization provided for its inter national marketing tends to concentrate the industrial develop ment of Glamorganshire more and more in the so4th-western section.
The low-lying land on the south from Caerphilly to Margam is very fertile, and here the standard of agriculture is fairly high. Everywhere on the Coal Measures the soil is poor, while vegetation is also injured by the smoke and rubbish tips. Leland (c. describes the lowlands as growing good corn and grass but little wood, while the mountains had "redde dere, kiddes plenty, oxen and sheep." The land even in the "Vale" seems to have been open and unenclosed till the end of the 15th or be ginning of the 16th century, while enclosure spread to the up lands still later. About one-fifth of the total area is still com mon land, more than half of which is unsuitable for cultivation. The total area under cultivation in 1926 was 223,62o acres, under half of the total area of the county. The chief crops raised are oats, turnips and swedes, barley, wheat, potatoes and mangolds. Dairying has been largely abandoned for stock-raising. Good sheep and ponies are reared in the hill-country. Pig-keeping is much neglected, and despite the mild climate very little fruit is grown.
The county is divided into seven parliamentary divisions, each returning one member. These divisions are Aberavon, Caerphilly, Gower, Llandaff and Barry, Neath, Ogmore and Pontypridd. In addition there are three members for Cardiff, and two each for Merthyr, Swansea and the Rhondda Urban District. There are six municipal boroughs, Port Talbot, Cardiff, Cowbridge, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath and Swansea. Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Swan sea are county boroughs.
Glamorgan is in the south Wales circuit, and both assizes and quarter sessions are held at Cardiff and Swansea alternately. All the municipal boroughs have separate commissions of the peace, and Cardiff and Swansea have also separate courts of quarter sessions. The county has 13 other petty sessional divisions; Cardiff, the Rhondda and the Merthyr and Aberdare district have stipendiary magistrates. The county is in the dioceses of Llandaff and Swansea and Brecon.