Contents
MONMOUTHSHIRE is a maritime county, bounded on the south-east and south by the river Severn and the Bristol channel; on the west by the counties of Glamorgan and Brecknock (in south Wales); on the north by part of the latter county and Herefordshire; and on the east by Gloucestershire, from which it is separated by the river Wye. Its greatest length from north to south, is thirty miles; its breadth from east to west, twenty-six miles; and its circumference about one hundred and ten miles, comprising an area of four hundred and ninety eight (498) square miles or 318,720 statute acres. In size and population it ranks as the thirty-sixth county in England (sic).
SOIL and CLIMATE. - The surface of this county is picturesque, and pecularly delightful. The eastern parts are woody, and the western mountainous - a diversified and luxuriant scenery of hill and dale. In one district the eye is charmed with sylvan shades, impervious woods, fields enriched with the finest corn, and meadows enamelled with flowers; from other points a scene in complete contrast may be contemplated - lofty mountains, whose summits reach the clouds, form a sublime and majestic picture, awfully commanding and deeply impressive. The river Usk divides Monmouthshire into two unequal portions, of which the east and largest is, upon the whole, a tract fertile in corn and pasture, and well wooded: the smaller western portion is mountainous, and in great part unfavourable to cultivation; but the hills feed great numbers of cattle and sheep, and some goats. The CLIMATE of this county is salubrious, and favourable to convalescence and longevity: the air is pure - and though, in the mountainous regions it is found of a keen and piercing nature, yet it tends greatly to brace and strengthen the animal system, precludes those disorders which generate in a moist and milder atmosphere, and diffuses its sanitary influence over the more level districts.
MINERALS, PRODUCE and MANUFACTURES. - The most important MINERAL productions are iron, coal, limestone, and various other kinds of stone valuable for building and general purposes. The iron ore is found in such vast quantities, as to form, in consequence of a the county abounding with coal also, a principal branch of manufacture: the works on the Welch border are of great extent and importance, producing both pig iron and bar iron; at Caerleon, and in the Tredegar district, the iron works are likewise upon an extensive scale - at the former there are also tin works. Lead ore, too, is obtained; and the coal mines furnish not only sufficient supply of the inhabitants, but to establish a tolerably good coasting trade. Quarries of excellent limestone are worked in almost every part of this county. Japanned goods, bearing the name of 'Pontypool ware', are manufactured at Pontypool; and there are iron-foundries and paper-mills at Monmouth and Chepstow. Some few coarse cloths and caps, and woollen stockings, are made by the inhabitants in the mountainous parts, and sold at the different fairs. The flannel manufacture, at one time a branch of importance, is now of very limited extent.
SOUTH WALES. - This section of the Principality is bounded on the east by the counties of Monmouth, Hereford, and Salop, on the north by Montgomeryshire and part of the river Dyvi (Dovey), separating it from Merionethshire It forms the most central of the three grand western promontories of South Britain; being separated from those of Devon and Cornwall, on the south-east, by the Bristol Channel; and from the promontory of Lleyn, in Carnarvonshire, on the north-west, by that part of St George's Channel called Cardigan Bay. In shape it is somewhat that of a triangle, similar to the form of North Wales; having the land-mere on the east for its base, the sea coasts of the two channels for its sides, and Saint David's head, on the west, for it apex. The length of the land boundary, from the mouth of the Romney, near Cardiff, to the Kerry hills, on the confines of Montgomeryshire, and from thence to the sea, at the mouth of the Dyvi, is estimated at about one hundred and twenty miles; and its marine boundary from thence to St David's-head, tracing the zig-zag windings of the coast, is about three hundred and fifty miles Its area has been estimated at 3,860 square miles, or 2,470,400 acres; but the government returns of 1841 stated its contents at 4,231 square miles, 2,707,840 statute acres. South Wales comprehends the following counties: BRECON (or BRECKNOCK), is divided into six hundreds, containing fifty-nine parishes, one county town and four market towns; CARDIGAN comprises five hundreds, containing seventy-seven parishes, one county town and four market towns; CARMARTHEN contains eight hundreds, containing eighty-seven parishes, one county town, and six market towns; GLAMORGAN includes ten hundreds, containing one hundred and eight parishes, one county town and eight market towns; PEMBROKE extends over seven hundreds containing forty-five parishes, one city (St. David's), one county town and nine market towns; and RANDOR comprises six hundreds, containing fifty-two parishes, one county town, and four market towns.
SOIL, SURFACE, and CLIMATE, PRODUCE and MANUFACTURES. - The county of Brecknock is one of the most mountainous of Wales, and the Vann of Brecknock Beacon is one of the loftiest mountains. The land declines towards the banks of the Wye, where it is tolerably fertile, as it is also in the valleys which are watered by innumerable rills. Although mountainous, provisions are exceedingly good and plentiful all over the county, and from its hills very large droves of black cattle are annually sent to all the fairs of the neighbouring counties. Cardiganshire is in high estimation for the growth of barley, of which much is sent to the adjacent counties for seed. The northern and eastern parts of this county are mountainous and barren, yet afford pasture for numerous of sheep, in the narrow vales large herds of black cattle are grazed, and much butter and cheese produced. Some of the mountains of Cardigan contain lead and other minerals, but coal and other fuel are scarce The general surface of Carmarthenshire is hilly; and in the north and east parts the hills rise into mountains The vales are for the most part narrow - that of Towy is the principal of the level tracks; it abounds in picturesque beauties, which, from the celebrated Grongar Hill, and the site of Dynevor Castle, afford the richest prospects. Barley and oats are the chief crops of this county; its rivers abound with fish: the breed of cattle is here excellent; and butter is made in considerable quantities for exportation. At one period the county was well wooded, but great waste has been made of the timber. Coal and limestone are plentiful in many parts; and there are mines of lead and iron. The north part of Glamorganshire is very mountainous, barren, and thinly inhabited, its surface serving chiefly for the feeding of cattle and sheep. Various rivers have their rise in this portion, which run south through vales gradually expanding, so as to form a middle district, fit for cultivation, and well clothed with wood, at length terminating in the great level or vale of Glamorgan, a fertile track of corn and pasture land, extending along the sea coast for eight or ten miles inland, and well furnished with mineral treasures of coal, lead, iron and limestone. The soil of Pembrokeshire varies considerably, including the extremes of good and bad, with all the intermediate gradations: its surface is in general hilly, but not mountainous, and rendered fruitful by its numerous streams. The north-east portion is the mountainous track, affording good pasturage to flocks of sheep. This part of the county also abounds in coal, and its coasts with iron-stone. The soil of the northern and western parts of Radnorshire is but indifferent, abounding in rocks and mountains, which are traversed by many sheep. The south and east parts are more level, and being under some degree of cultivation, produce good corn. The woods and hills throughout this county are celebrated for game. Thus it will be seen that the MINERAL treasures of South Wales are various and important, and its agricultural produce by no means inconsiderable. In MANUFACTURES, perhaps, it does not take an eminent station; the principal seat of the flannel trade is Carmarthen; and glove making, currying, tanning, and malting, are carried on in several other towns. The CLIMATE of this portion of the principality is exceedingly various: on some parts of the coast great humidity prevails; and on the mountains the air is piercing, the valleys being warm and genial. The climate of South Wales, may, upon the whole, be reckoned salubrious.
NORTH WALES. - This portion of the Principality is bounded on the west by St George's Channel, on the north by the Irish Sea, on the east by the counties of Chester, Salop and Hereford, and on the south by those of Radnor and Cardigan; from its extreme point south, touching the western border of the county of Radnor, to Abergele on the north, its length is about seventy five miles; and in breadth from near Whitchuch, Salop (on the east) to Criccieth (on the West), and exclusive of the peninsulated extremity of Carnarvon county, it measures about sixty miles; and comprehends an area of three thousand one hundred and nineth-four (3,194) square miles, or 2,044,160 statute acres. North Wales comprehends the following counties: - ANGLESEY, which is divided into six hundreds, containing seventy-four parishes, one county town and three market-towns: CARNARVON, into ten hundreds containing seventy-one parishes, one city (Bangor), one county town, and five market-towns: DENBIGH; into six hundreds, containing fifty-seven parishes, one county town, and six market-towns: FLINT, into five hundreds, containing twenty-eight parishes, one city (St. Asaph) one county town and five market-towns: MERIONETH, into seven hundreds, containing thirty-seven parishes, one county town, and four market-towns; and MONTGOMERY, into nine hundreds, containing forty-seven parishes, one county town, and six market-towns.
SOIL, SURFACE and CLIMATE. - The SOIL of the Isle of Anglesey, though unpromising in appearance, being both rocky and mountainous, is remarkably fertile in grain, particularly barley and oats, and a part of it, bordering the Menai, is finely wooded. The county of Carnarvon is the most rugged, and truly alpine district of North Wales. Its central part is entirely occupied by the famed Snowdon, and the several craggy summits, deep dells, moors, chasms and lakes, which constitute its dreary region. Near Bangor are valuable slate quarries. The woods which once clothed this tract are are now no more. In the county near Bangor, will be viewed, with a mixture of astonishment and delight, by all strangers, the celebrated Suspension Bridge, which bestriding the Menai Strait, forms a noble link of communication with the Isle of Anglesey. In Denbighshire, the rugged and mountainous character of Wales is conspicuously apparent, though softened by a considerable mixture of fertility and beauty. From the middle of the county commences the celebrated Vale of Clwyd, stretching from its upper end to the sea, more than twenty miles, and varying in breadth from three miles to eight - through it runs the river of its name, the banks of which are in a high state of cultivation, even far up the hills; and wood is plentiful in many parts of the county. The land of Flintshire rises rapidly from the shore of the Dee, the low part has a clayey soil, producing corn and grass plentifully, and is well stocked with wood. The hills are barren on the surface, but rich within, in veins of lead and calamine with vast strata of limestone. The northern extremity is a flat tract, producing wheat in abundance; the south is varied with hill and dale; and the Vale of Mold, in this part, is rich and beautiful. The face of Merionethshire and its soil is exceedingly varied; the former presenting a most romantic mixture of all the peculiar scenery belonging to a wild and mountainous region. In this county, above the town of Dolgelly, is the great mountain Cader Idris, whose attitude is nearly three thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is one of the loftiest In Wales The county of Montgomery, though barren and mountainous in many parts, has yet a greater mixture of fertile vale and plain, than several of the Welch counties. The most considerable of the level tracts is that through which the fine river Severn flows. The CLIMATE of those counties bordering on the sea coast is mild, but of a humid character; the interior have the usual sharpness of other mountainous regions - but the general salubrity of the whole of North Wales has ever been acknowledged.
PRODUCE and MANUFACTURES. The productions of North Wales are various: the mineral treasures are abundant and valuable; in many districts agriculture is pursued with great success; while dairy produce is by no means inconsiderable. Iron, copper, tin and lead ores, (silver being found frequently with the latter), calamine and zinc are yielded from the interior of the mountains. Mines of coal, quarries of limestone, freestone, marble and slate; with an excellent kind of stone, proper for hones, are profitably worked in different parts. Grazing is carried on extensively in appropriate tracts; and numerous sheep-walks traverse the less accessible up-lands - the largest of the native breeds of sheep are those from Anglesey. Ponies are reared in the hilly parts of Montgomeryshire, which, together with hogs and oxen, are exported to England in great numbers. The rivers abound with fish of all kinds; and in some of the lakes are found the char and gwyniad, both alpine fish, and singular crooked-backed trouts. Among the manufactured articles, flannel, of exceeding softness, gloves, stockings, woollen yarns and coarse cloths, rank, perhaps, among the principal.