CARDIGANSHIRE, a county of South Wales (Ceredigion, Sir Aberteifi), bounded north by Merioneth, east by Montgomery, Radnor and Brecon, south by Carmarthen and Pembroke, and west by Cardigan Bay and the Irish Sea. With an area of 688 sq.m. it ranks fifth in size of the Welsh counties. Cardiganshire may be divided physically into a coastal plateau on the west and a high plateau to the east. The latter is bordered by a rather sharp westward slope and shows finger like projections above the coastal plateau. The high plateau culminates in Plynlymon (2,468 ft.) composed mainly of a set of grits and shales of Bala (Ordovician age). Most of the high plateau is above the Boo ft. contour; it is a sheep rearing region of sparse population and poor communica tions with much boulder clay as surface soil. The valleys of the coastal plateau are composed in the east of flags and soft shales of the Valentian series (Lower Silurian system) and in the western section by the Tarannon series, gritty strata of considerable thick ness. The latter (the Aberystwyth grits) occur in two belts, one along the coast from Borth to Llangranog and the other forming a band following the high plateau from near Cwmystwyth south wards along the east side of the Teifi valley. The coastal plateau is lower and thus able to support a larger population mainly de pendent on stock raising. A zone of geological faults cuts through both plateaux. East-north-east to west-south-west and parts of this fault system are occupied by the Ystwyth and Wyre rivers. South of the Wyre for some distance the coastline is lower and more approachable but the coastal plateau again reaches to the sea cliffs south of New Quay. Behind the approachable coast be tween the Wyre and the Aeron is the moorland of Mynydd Bach and beyond this again the swampy central section of the Upper Teifi with the southward continuation of the Plynlymon moorland in the background. The principal rivers pursue for a greater part of their length a course nearly parallel to the coast and the main watershed and then turn often abruptly west and north-west to the sea. The Upper Aeron, upper Rheidol and the Teifi exhibit this feature very clearly. The westward section of the Teifi from Lampeter to Cardigan forms the southern boundary of the county. In the north-eastern section of the county in an area about 20 miles long and four miles wide extending in a south-south-easterly direction from the Dovey estuary to Cwmystwyth is a metallifer ous area of great importance historically. Lead, silver and zinc have been mined here for many centuries and in large quantities. Mining is now discontinued. The entire county shows evidence of heavy glaciation. The valleys are mostly U-shaped especially those with a westerly trend (e.g., Clarach valley). The high plateau has many examples of "cirques" while boulder clay occupies many of the lower valley slopes and much of the coast of Cardigan bay. The great Tregaron bog is thought to represent a former lake be hind a boulder clay dam while Borth bog seems the result of a hindering of moor drainage owing to the building up of a storm beach by the sea from the remains of a former boulder clay plain no doubt a part of the legendary Cantref y Gwaelod. The large amount of boulder clay accounts largely for the fact that the sea penetrates inland along the valleys as in south Pembrokeshire or Cornwal or Devon. The drift in Cardigan bay together with the post glacial subsidence accounts for those peculiar features the "Sarns" (causeway) such as Sarn Cynfelin, Sarn Baurig and others, which figure in the legendary lore of the county as the re mains of the "Cantref y Gwaelod" (the lowland hundred) seems to have become submerged through the drunken negligence of Seithenyn, its prince, who omitted one night to close the sluices of the sea dykes with disastrous results. As in other regions of western Britain the earliest remains of man are found on the high ground, hence the high ground of north and south Cardiganshire is dotted with tumuli and cairns. The finds of the bronze age are not very numerous but include a number of stone battle axes and are all on the western side of the county, marking possible track ways from the interior as well as ways in on the west from Ireland. One of the most conspicuous features of north Cardiganshire is the large number of hill-top camps supposedly of Romano British age. They seem to be associated with the metalliferous veins in the north and guard important landing places on the coast, e.g., at Pendinas, Aberystwyth and at Llanrhystyd. There are traces in the eastern part of the county of a Roman track way known in Welsh as Sarn Helen which seems to have run via Llanio through the hills to Carmarthen. The post-Roman centuries were marked by numerous raids, especially from Ireland upon the open coast. The raiders were perhaps attracted by the min eral wealth of the area. It is interesting to note that the place name "Gwyddel" (Irish) occurs with great frequency in the region behind the section of open coast. The raiding was long continued and the raiders later included Scandinavian elements from their settlement at Dublin. Counteracting, as it were, this movement of destruction was the civilizing and Christianizing influence of the Celtic Saint movement which seems to have been a special feature of this county. Llanddewi Brefi, a village in the centre of the county, is said to have been headquarters of St. David the patron saint ; while St. Padarn founded Llanbadarn Fawr (1 m. E. of Aberystwyth) which in the 8th century became merged in the see of St. Davids. An interesting memorial of these days is the church of Ysbytty Cynfyn (14 m. E. of Aberystwyth) for in its churchyard walls are included many megalithic stones which once formed part of a stone circle. This illustrates the continuity of tradition which is an important feature of the far west. In post Roman days the whole basin of the Teifi is said to have fallen to the power of Ceredig, son of Cunedda Wledig of north Wales and from Ceredig's name has been derived that of the present county. The Norman penetration of hilly Cardiganshire was a slow process. So the history of the county during the i 2th and 13th centuries is one of a long series of skirmishes between the Norman who sought to keep open the valley lines of communi cation and the Welsh herdsmen among the hills. The county was so unsettled in this respect that in the opening years of the 15th century Owen Glyndwr actually held a court in Aberystwyth castle. The Cistercian abbey of St. Mary at Strata Florida (q.v.) founded by Rhys ap Griffith in 1164 continued to be prosperous and influential during the periods of Welsh independence. By the Statutes of Rhuddlan (1284) Edward I. constituted Ceredigion out of the former principality of Wales, a shire on the English model, dividing the new county into six hundreds and fixing the assizes at Carmarthen. By the Act of Union in the reign of Henry VIII., the boundaries of the county were subsequently enlarged to their present size by the addition of certain outlying portions of the Marches around Tregaron and Cardigan and the assizes were assigned to the county town. Under Henry VIII. the county was first empowered to send a representative to parlia ment and under Mary the same privilege was extended to the boroughs. During the Civil War the castles of Cardigan and Aberystwyth were held for Charles and reduced to ruins by the Cromwellian forces. The county became in the 18th century the centre of the Methodist movement, which seems to have had its greatest influence among the shepherds and cattle herders of the moorlands. Daniel Rowlands (1713-179o) the curate of Llan geitho, a village almost in the centre of the county, became one of the chief leaders in this important movement. The 17th and 18th centuries saw the coastal towns and villages especially Car digan, Llangranog, Tresaith, Aberporth, New Quay, Aberayron, Aberystwyth and Borth enjoy a brisk coastal trade chiefly with Bristol. Owing to the bad landward communications of the county almost all imported material came by sea in those days. This trade was supplemented by fishing. After the fall in the importance of coastal trade—the above areas, especially New Quay, seem to have maintained seafaring skill and many of the young men leave these areas for Liverpool, Fleetwood, etc., and hold important posts in present day shipping concerns. Fishing on a small scale continues while these towns and villages have become summer resorts for the midlands and south Wales. The export trade as well as the general prosperity of the northern half of the county was much increased between 183o-8o by the extensive mining of lead previously referred to. The mines were worked intermittently for centuries, possibly from prehistoric days, but they reached their last maximum about 187o when owing to difficulties of railway transport, obsolete machinery and the importation of foreign ores, the industry dwindled and has now almost passed away. Many families migrated to south Wales and others turned to a reliance on the scanty pastoral resources of the bleak moorlands. The unsettled state of agri culture during the middle of the 19th century produced in Car diganshire great activity among the Rebecca rioters as well as political agitation against the payment of tithes and general evictions (1864). The great movements of the industrial revolution affected Cardiganshire adversely. It ultimately de stroyed local industries and seafaring activity and caused Car diganshire's greatest export henceforth to be men and not goods. Many families left the county to become milk vendors and drapers in the large cities, particularly London. The only industry that escaped complete extinction by the new developments was the weaving industry of the lower Teifi valley where the water is especially suitable for weaving processes. The area has much inherited skill in the trade and shows social and religious peculiar ities. The county has long been celebrated for its breeding of horses and the local horse fairs are well attended by English and Welsh dealers. The changes following the War of 1914-18 have seriously affected the industry. The fact that the ways from Eng land into Cardiganshire are very difficult has caused the county to retain the Welsh language to a greater extent than most other Welsh counties and along with the language have been pre served many social and religious customs.
The county in virtue of its physical features is poorly served by communications both road and rail. Aberystwyth is the terminus of the old Cambrian line (now G.W,R.) from Shrews bury as well as of the G.W.R. branch line from Carmarthen via Lampeter and Tregaron. Secondary branch lines run from Pen cader to Llandyssul and Newcastle Emlyn and from Lampeter to Aberayron. Cardigan town is reached by a G.W.R. branch line from Whitland. The area of the administrative county is acres with a population in 1871 of 73,441, and in 1931 of The municipal boroughs are Aberystwyth, Pop. (accord ing to 1931 census) 9,474, Cardigan (3,3o9) and Lampeter (1,742). Aberayron (1,155) and New Quay (1,112) are urban districts. Quarter sessions are held at Lampeter, and here also are held the assizes for the county which lies in the south Wales cir cuit. The county returns one member to Parliament, and has no parliamentary borough. Ecclesiastically it lies wholly in the dio cese of St. Davids, and contains 66 parishes.