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113-527: The Welsh Office took over the responsibilities related to housing, local government and town and country planning, etc. for Wales which had previously been the responsibilities of several other government departments. Its responsibilities included Monmouthshire , which for some purposes had earlier been considered by some to lie within England . Wales had been incorporated into the English legal system through

226-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under

339-539: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified

452-663: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had

565-626: A debate on the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill in 1938, Lord Raglan objected to the stipulation that the chairman of the Monmouthshire quarter sessions should be a Welsh-speaker. Raglan stated that "The County of Monmouth is an English county. I do not think that will be disputed.." and he claimed that Welsh nationalists had attempted to convince the Lord Chief Justice to move Monmouthshire from

678-493: A question from George Thomas that "...in future the argument about Monmouthshire being part of Wales is over, and that [his] statement makes it clear that Monmouthshire is part of Wales for good and for ever?" Raymond Gower said that the statement was "quite consistent with the fact that towns with names such as Abergavenny and Llantarnam could not be anything other than Welsh"; it was opposed by Gerald Kaufman , who stated: "Am I to take it that an act of annexation of this magnitude

791-474: A revised sign at Monmouth stating "Welcome to Wales and Monmouthshire"; first, the words "..and Monmouthshire" were painted over, and then the words "..to Wales" were also obliterated. The Welsh Office , established in 1965, included Monmouthshire within its remit. The Wales and Berwick Act was repealed in regard to Wales in 1967 by the Welsh Language Act 1967 , which however also continued to use

904-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into

1017-498: Is always coupled with Monmouthshire". However, most Acts of Parliament listed Monmouthshire as part of England; for example, the Local Government Act 1933 listed both the administrative county of Monmouth and county borough of Newport as part of England. In the rare event that an Act of Parliament was restricted to Wales, Monmouthshire was usually included, in the format "Wales and Monmouthshire"; for example, although

1130-688: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to

1243-520: Is similar in extent to historic Monmouthshire with the addition of the west bank of the Rhymney Valley . 51°40′N 3°00′W  /  51.667°N 3.000°W  / 51.667; -3.000 Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to

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1356-666: Is that it was located not on, strictly speaking, a national frontier, but within a single political formation. This had been the case since the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543 which had extended the English system of justice, government and parliamentary representation to the principality of Wales and the March. From the mid-sixteenth century to the early nineteenth century it had not been a matter of very much importance as to whether an England/Wales border could be identified and, if so, where it ran in respect of Monmouthshire. That situation changed in

1469-563: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain

1582-567: Is to be carried through a sparsely attended House of Commons on the nod at five minutes to midnight on the same basis as Europe has annexed England? I wish to voice my protest." The name "Monmouthshire" was revived for one of the principal areas created on further local government reorganisation in 1996 . The principal area covers only part of the historic county, which also included Newport , Torfaen , most of Blaenau Gwent , and parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff . The preserved county of Gwent , which still exists for some ceremonial purposes,

1695-732: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows

1808-500: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in

1921-466: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in

2034-571: The Church in Wales was set up in 1920, containing within it the Diocese of Llandaff which included almost all of Monmouthshire. The new Diocese of Monmouth was formed in 1921. In Anglican terms, the area thus came to be treated as part of Wales. The question of Monmouthshire's status continued to be a matter of discussion, especially as Welsh nationalism and devolution climbed the political agenda in

2147-538: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol

2260-607: The Honddu Valley remained an exclave within Monmouthshire until 1891. The county was divided into six hundreds in 1542: Abergavenny , Caldicot , Raglan , Skenfrith , Usk and Wentloog . The county contained the three boroughs of Monmouth, Newport and Usk. In the medieval period Monmouthshire was divided into the following civil parishes, listed by hundred (chapelries in italics ): extra-parochial, but still had its own church Monmouth and Newport were reformed as municipal boroughs with elected town councils by

2373-570: The House of Commons in February 1957 he said "I think that it is about time we dropped this Wales and Monmouthshire business. Apart from a few cranks who search the files of the distant past for some very flimsy tokens of evidence to suggest that Monmouthshire belongs to England, no person acquainted with the county — its history, customs, place names, culture and way of life — would dream of regarding Monmouthshire people as anything but Welsh." Later in

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2486-541: The House of Lords : "To ask Her Majesty's Government why they propose to incorporate Monmouthshire into Wales without consulting Monmouthshire's inhabitants." Replying for the government, Baroness Phillips stated that "The purpose of the change is to remove the anomaly arising from the present need to refer to Monmouthshire separately from Wales in Statutes. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State believes that

2599-868: The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 . Legislation specific to Wales, such as the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881 and the Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889 , began to be introduced in the late 19th century. Responsibility for Welsh education was given to the Welsh Department of the Board of Education in 1907, and the following year the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire

2712-410: The Local Government Act 1894 , the administrative county was divided into urban and rural districts , based on existing sanitary districts . In 1899 Abergavenny was incorporated as a borough. Two further urban districts were formed: Mynyddislwyn in 1903, and Bedwas and Machen in 1912. The County of Monmouth Review Order 1935 revised the number and boundaries of the urban and rural districts in

2825-521: The Local Government Act 1972 , which provided that "in every act passed on or after 1 April 1974, and in every instrument made on or after that date under any enactment (whether before, on or after that date) "Wales", subject to any alterations of boundaries..." included "the administrative county of Monmouthshire and the county borough of Newport ". Debate on the relevant amendment, Clause 256, took place late on 20 July 1972, with few local MPs present. The Minister of State , David Gibson-Watt , agreed to

2938-616: The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 . Usk continued as an unreformed borough until its final abolition in 1886. New forms of local government were established in the urban areas of the county with the setting of local boards under the Public Health Act 1848 and Local Government Act 1858. The Public Health Act 1875 divided the rural areas into rural sanitary districts . An administrative county of Monmouthshire, governed by an elected county council ,

3051-657: The National Assembly for Wales , now known as the Senedd . The cabinet position of Secretary of State for Wales was retained as the head of a newly formed Wales Office . Monmouthshire (historic) Monmouthshire ( / ˈ m ɒ n m ə θ ʃ ər , ˈ m ʌ n -, - ʃ ɪər / MON -məth-shər, MUN -, -⁠sheer ), also formerly known as the County of Monmouth ( / ˈ m ɒ n m ə θ , ˈ m ʌ n -/ MON -məth, MUN - ; Welsh : Sir Fynwy ),

3164-756: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and

3277-528: The Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881 did not apply to Monmouthshire, the creation of the Welsh Office in 1965 and the Welsh Language Act 1967 did (although the latter had the paradoxical effect of reinforcing the legal connection of Monmouthshire with England: see next section). The Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889 also applied to Monmouthshire. The Sunday Closing Act was also extended to Monmouthshire in 1915 under wartime legislation. In considering

3390-640: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has

3503-810: The Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave

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3616-468: The diocese of St David's . In 1549 Edward VI granted a Charter to Monmouth which was described as being "in the Marches of Wales ". Later writers who described Monmouthshire as being in Wales included Humphrey Llwyd ( History of Cambria , 1568); Thomas Churchyard ( Worthiness of Wales , 1587); and Michael Drayton ( Poly-Olbion , 1613). In the late 17th century, under Charles II , Monmouthshire

3729-609: The "Country or Dominion of Wales", the Laws in Wales Act 1542 enumerates the Welsh counties as twelve in number, omitting Monmouthshire from the count. Monmouthshire was made directly responsible to the courts of Westminster rather than falling under the Court of Great Sessions in Wales . According to historian John Davies , this arrangement was the origin of the belief that the county had been annexed by England rather than remaining part of Wales. Davies disagrees, and says, "Monmouthshire

3842-702: The "Head and Shire town of the said county or shire of Monmouth", and ordered that the Sheriff 's county or shire court be held alternately in Monmouth and Newport. The county boundaries are the River Wye on the east, dividing it from Gloucestershire and the Rhymney River to the west dividing it from Glamorganshire , with the Bristol Channel to the south. The boundaries with Herefordshire to

3955-542: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for

4068-423: The 11th until the 16th centuries, the area which later became Monmouthshire (subject to some boundary revisions) comprised six Marcher lordships – Abergavenny , Caerleon , Chepstow (or Striguil ), Gwynllwg (Wentloog), Monmouth and Usk . until the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543, the land which is today called Monmouthshire was undisputedly in Wales. The Laws in Wales Act 1535 integrated Wales directly into

4181-596: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in

4294-536: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,

4407-519: The 20th century. This sometimes led to heated debates in Parliament . In 1921 the Earl of Plymouth objected strongly to the inclusion of the county in legislation forcing the closing of public houses in Wales on Sundays. "I stand as strongly as I can for the privileges of Monmouthshire, to say it is a county of England." He went on to complain that Welsh representatives were imposing the ban "against

4520-631: The 5th and 10th centuries the Welsh Kingdom of Gwent covered a variable area roughly contiguous with Monmouthshire. It then became part of Morgannwg , and was part of the unified Welsh realm of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn . At the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086 the Chepstow and Monmouth areas were, for accounting purposes, reckoned as parts of the English counties of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire respectively. These areas, along with

4633-486: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for

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4746-436: The English legal system and the "Lordships Marchers within the said Country or Dominion of Wales" were allocated to existing and new shires. Some lordships were annexed to existing counties in England and some were annexed to existing counties in Wales, with the remainder being divided up into new counties, one of which was Monmouthshire. Although the original Laws in Wales Act 1535 specifically includes Monmouthshire as being in

4859-550: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published

4972-543: The Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 contained the provision that "For the purposes of this Act the administrative county of Monmouth shall be taken to be part of Wales and not part of England." This left the county borough of Newport as part of England but treated the rest of the county as part of Wales. The Member of Parliament (MP) for Abertillery , Llywelyn Williams , campaigned to have Monmouthshire unambiguously placed in Wales. Speaking in

5085-687: The Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport, and the Forestry Commission, and 1951 the office of Minister for Welsh Affairs was created. This post was vested in the Home Secretary until 1957, when it was transferred to the Minister of Housing and Local Government, assisted by a Minister of State. The post of Minister for Welsh Affairs was replaced in 1964 by the office of Secretary of State for Wales, which

5198-536: The Oxford Circuit to the South Wales Circuit, thereby making it part of Wales in matters of court administration. He alleged that these "persons unconnected with Monmouthshire" had claimed incorrectly that the inhabitants of the county "spoke nothing but Welsh". In 1948, Monmouthshire County Council was granted a coat of arms with the motto Utrique fidelis ("Faithful to both"), to reflect

5311-569: The Sunday Closing Act in 1921, Monmouthshire County Council resolved, with only one vote against, to request that the county should be included in Wales for all legislative purposes. Another typical example was the division of England and Wales into registration areas in the 19th century — one of which, the "Welsh Division", was defined as including "Monmouthshire, South Wales and North Wales ". According to Chris Williams of Cardiff University : "...The problem with Monmouthshire

5424-496: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,

5537-580: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither

5650-462: The Welsh Office in 1971. Responsibilities relating to the promotion of industry in Wales were passed to the Welsh Office in 1974-75; and in 1978 it assumed control of further education functions, and the training and supply of teachers for primary and secondary education. In 1978, it also gained sole responsibility for agriculture and fishery matters in Wales. By 1998, the Welsh Office comprised

5763-615: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of

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5876-445: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer

5989-426: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to

6102-429: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of

6215-401: The administrative county. A new Cwmbran urban district was formed by the abolition of Llanfrechfa Upper and Llantarnam UDs, Abersychan and Panteg UDs were absorbed by Pontypool urban district, and Magor and St Mellons RD was formed by a merger of two rural districts. The county boundaries provided the basis of the boundaries of the new Diocese of Monmouth , created in October 1921 following

6328-417: The area becoming highly industrialised with coal mining and iron working being major employers from the 18th century to the late 20th century. Its five largest towns were Newport, Cwmbran , Pontypool , Ebbw Vale and Abergavenny . Monmouthshire's Welsh status was ambiguous between the 16th and 20th centuries, with it considered by some to be part of England during this time; its legal inclusion in Wales

6441-419: The area into a new "South East Wales" county. The proposed inclusion of Monmouthshire in Wales infuriated Lord Raglan, by now Lord Lieutenant of the county. In reaction, a "Make Monmouthshire Welsh" campaign was launched in August 1961 to gain parliamentary recognition that the county was in Wales. In November 1961 it was announced that a branch of the Royal Society of St George was to be formed, emphasising

6554-408: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of

6667-427: The county is mainly agricultural, while the western valleys had rich mineral resources. This led to the area becoming highly industrialised with coal mining and iron working being major employers from the 18th century to the late 20th century. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica unambiguously described the county as part of England, but notes that "whenever an act [...] is intended to apply to [Wales] alone, then Wales

6780-493: The county's English identity. Another group, the "Monmouthshire is Welsh" society, was formed and was supported by local MPs Michael Foot and Leo Abse . Two years later Monmouth Borough Council made representations to the Minister of Housing and Local Government seeking the transfer of the town to Herefordshire in the event that the reforms were carried out. Signs erected by Monmouthshire County Council welcoming motorists to Wales were defaced or removed. The County Council placed

6893-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within

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7006-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of

7119-408: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over

7232-446: The disestablishment of the Church in Wales from the Church of England in April 1920. The Diocese covered all of the County of Monmouthshire but also included the Parish of Cyncoed in north-east Cardiff , a situation which continues in 2023. The last major boundary change to affect the administrative county came in 1938 when the Monmouthshire parish of Rumney was incorporated into the city and county borough of Cardiff . However,

7345-521: The dual loyalties of the area. Increasingly in legislation, "the state was prepared to treat Monmouthshire as if it were part of Wales, even if it was not able to concede that legally it was Welsh." In 1949, Monmouthshire was included within the remit of the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire , an appointed body established by the Government to advise on Welsh affairs and a precursor of the Welsh Office. Treating Monmouthshire as part of Wales in legislation occasionally created further anomalies. For example,

7458-663: The following Lordships, Townships, Parishes, Commotes and Cantrefs... in the Country of Wales : Monmouth • Chepstow • Matherne ( Mathern ) • Llanvihangel ( Llanfihangel Rogiet ) • Magour ( Magor ) • Goldcliffe ( Goldcliff ) • Newport • Wentlooge • Llanwerne ( Llanwern ) • Caerlion ( Caerleon ) • Usk • Treleck ( Trellech ) • Tintern • Skenfrith • Grosmont • Witecastle ( White Castle ) • Raglan • Calicote ( Caldicot ) • Biston ( Bishton ) • Abergavenny • Penrose ( Penrhos ) • Grenefield ( Maesglas ) • Maghen ( Machen ) • Hochuyslade (possessions of Llanthony Priory ) The Act also designated Monmouth as

7571-431: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of

7684-406: The following departments: Most of these had headquarters in Cardiff, with offices in London to help co-ordinate policies with Whitehall departments, and to provide secretariat and support services for Ministers and the Permanent Secretary. Following the referendum on Welsh devolution in 1997 , the Welsh Office was formally disbanded on 1 July 1999 and the majority of its powers were transferred to

7797-454: The geographical Monmouthshire/Glamorgan and England/Wales border remained the Rhymney River . The administrative county of Monmouth and county borough of Newport were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 . The successor authority, with minor boundary changes, was titled Gwent . Some border parishes became part of the new Rhymney Valley district of Mid Glamorgan or the Cardiff district of South Glamorgan . Between about

7910-411: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval

8023-413: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to

8136-456: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period

8249-516: The judges then began to keep the assizes here in the Oxford circuit." A later traveller, George Borrow in 1862, wrote: "Monmouthshire is at present considered an English county, though certainly with little reason, for it not only stands on the western side of the Wye , but the names of almost all its parishes are Welsh, and many thousands of its population still speak the Welsh language." Although Wales

8362-595: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for

8475-506: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to

8588-555: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c.  600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )

8701-624: The legislation which provided that references made in Parliament to England automatically included Wales, under the Wales and Berwick Act of 1746. By 1969, the role of the Welsh Office had expanded to also cover responsibilities for highway construction and maintenance, tourism, water, forestry, common land, the Historic Buildings Council for Wales, and the Countryside Commission in Wales. That year it

8814-622: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in

8927-442: The nineteenth century, as the particular cultural, linguistic and political characteristics of Welsh society emerged as both a problem (for the British state) and as a cause (particularly among Welsh Liberals and nonconformists). Once specific policies (be they considered corrective or emancipating) began to be designed for application to Wales, then the question of Monmouthshire's placement became important." It has been suggested that

9040-525: The northeast and Brecknockshire to the north were less well-defined. The parish of Welsh Bicknor , was an exclave of Monmouthshire, sandwiched between Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. The area was considered part of Monmouthshire until it was made part of Herefordshire "for all purposes" by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 , while the Herefordshire hamlet of Fwthog (or Ffwddog) adjoining

9153-490: The notion that anomalies in the 16th-century legislation had made the county non-Welsh. The distinction implied in the description "Wales and Monmouthshire" was nurtured by elements of the establishment, and became increasingly accepted on the English side of the border and in central government, until the local Welsh residents more fully asserted themselves in the 20th century. Following the Welsh Church Act 1914 ,

9266-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,

9379-473: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to

9492-551: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,

9605-401: The phrase "Wales and Monmouthshire". The Interpretation Act 1978 hence provides that in legislation passed between 1967 and 1974, "a reference to England includes Berwick upon Tweed and Monmouthshire". In 1969 George Thomas , Secretary of State for Wales proposed to fully incorporate Monmouthshire into Wales. Lord Raglan (son of the former lord lieutenant), asked the following question in

9718-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase

9831-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over

9944-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by

10057-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in

10170-402: The proposal commands wide support in the county." In April of the following year Plaid Cymru MP Gwynfor Evans asked Thomas "when he proposes to implement his undertaking that the phrase 'Wales and Monmouthshire' " will be dropped." The Secretary of State indicated that it would be after the passing of legislation to reform local government in Wales. The issue was finally clarified in law by

10283-485: The question of the status of Monmouthshire arose in earnest in the 19th century, when some of the local gentry such as the Dukes of Beaufort established family seats in England, and many industrialists and others moved into Monmouthshire, particularly in the eastern part of the county. Some of these, and others with "social aspirations", considered it essential to emphasise their "Englishness", and there were attempts to refine

10396-490: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of

10509-722: The rest of what would later become Monmouthshire, included land from Pembrokeshire to Monmouthshire which was largely in the hands of the Marcher Lords ; this land, however, was not subject to English law. While the Principality of Wales (the northern part of Wales) was 'annexed' into the Kingdom of England by the Statute of Rhuddlan , enacted on 3 March 1284, the administration of the Marcher lands remained unchanged. From

10622-496: The said Country of Dominion of Wales". However, it was given only one Borough member , like the other Welsh counties (apart from Pembrokeshire which had two Borough members and Merioneth which had none). In ecclesiastical terms, most of the county outside the town of Monmouth itself remained within the Diocese of Llandaff ; the town of Monmouth was in the diocese of Hereford , while the parishes of Cwmyoy and Llanthony were in

10735-651: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in

10848-526: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from

10961-466: The will of the people of Monmouthshire". The extension of the legislation to Monmouthshire was confirmed by Parliament despite a petition of over 77,000 names against Sunday closing. In 1937, the Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire , Sir Henry Mather Jackson , stated: "Monmouthshire is not in Wales... We are in England, and I am not going to be added to Wales for any purpose whatsoever". During

11074-566: The year he asked Henry Brooke , Minister of Housing and Local Government and Welsh Affairs , "whether he will now remove from official documents and records relating to Wales the additional words 'and Monmouthshire', since Monmouthshire is included in the term Wales.". Brooke replied in the negative, as he did not think "such a course would be consistent with various statutory provisions relating to Monmouthshire." The Local Government Commission for Wales established in 1958 included Monmouthshire within its review area, and in 1961 proposed merging

11187-458: Was added to the Oxford circuit of the English assizes following which, according to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , it gradually "came to be regarded as an English county". The Modern Universal British Traveller of 1779 stated: "Monmouthshire was formerly a part of Wales, and continued so till the reign of Charles II, when it was reckoned an English county (as it has been ever since) because

11300-480: Was also given responsibility for health and welfare services, and for the use of the Welsh language in the registration of births, marriages and deaths. During the 1970s, changes in central government led to the delegation of additional functions. Most responsibilities for primary and secondary education in Wales, were transferred in 1970; and most of the child care responsibilities of the Home Office were passed to

11413-465: Was based in Newport, rather than the historic county town of Monmouth. In 1891 the borough of Newport achieved county borough status and therefore left the administrative county, although the administration of the county council continued to be based at Shire Hall, Newport . In the same year the parish of Fwthog was transferred to both the administrative and geographic county of Monmouthshire. Under

11526-551: Was being "annexed" to England, not just Monmouthshire. Despite Monmouthshire being a new county, it was given two knights of the shire in common with existing counties in England, rather than one as in the counties in Wales. The relevant section of the Act states that "one Knight shall be chosen and elected to the same Parliaments for every of the Shires of Brecknock , Radnor , Montgomery and Denbigh , and for every other Shire within

11639-531: Was clarified by the Local Government Act 1972 , the same act that changed the structure of local government within the county. The "county or shire of Monmouth" was formed from parts of the Welsh Marches by the Laws in Wales Act 1535 . According to the Act the shire consisted of all Honours, Lordships, Castles, Manors, Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments, lying or being within the Compass or Precinct of

11752-622: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to

11865-504: Was established. The Welsh Board of Health was formed in 1919, and the Welsh Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1922. A Boundary Commission for Wales was set up under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 . A Council for Wales and Monmouthshire was established in 1949 to monitor the effects of government policy. Government departments which had established Welsh offices or units by 1951 included

11978-506: Was formed in 1889 under the terms of the Local Government Act 1888 . The act directed that where urban sanitary districts straddled county boundaries they should be placed entirely in the administrative county which had the majority of the urban sanitary district's population. Along the boundary between Monmouthshire and Brecknockshire were four urban sanitary districts which straddled the county boundary: Brynmawr , Ebbw Vale , Rhymney , and Tredegar . The majority of Brynmawr's population

12091-408: Was given responsibility for the new Welsh Office in 1965. The Welsh Office was created to execute government policy in Wales. It took over, from other departments, functions relating to economic planning, housing, local government, sewerage, environmental health, town and country planning, Welsh national parks, historic buildings, and cultural activities. The Welsh Language Act 1967 formally dissolved

12204-654: Was in Brecknockshire, and so the southern parts of Brynmawr within Monmouthshire were transferred to the administrative county of Brecknockshire. For the other three urban sanitary districts the majority of the population was in Monmouthshire, which therefore gained from Brecknockshire the Beaufort and Rassau areas of Ebbw Vale, the Dukestown area of Tredegar, and the Llechryd area of Rhymney. The county council

12317-580: Was legally integrated into England, the word "England" was still taken to exclude Wales in many contexts. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 ensured that "in all Cases where the Kingdom of England, or that Part of Great Britain called England, hath been or shall be mentioned in any Act of Parliament, the same has been and shall from henceforth be deemed and taken to comprehend and include the Dominion of Wales and Town of Berwick upon Tweed ". The eastern part of

12430-413: Was no less Welsh in language and sentiment than any other eastern county". Moreover the belief that Monmouthshire was somehow specially annexed to England is not consistent with the wording in the Act "That his said Country or Dominion of Wales shall be, stand and continue for ever from henceforth incorporated, united and annexed to and with this his Realm of England", making it clear that the whole of Wales

12543-448: Was one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales in the south-east of Wales , on the border with England . Its area now corresponds approximately to the present principal areas of Monmouthshire , Blaenau Gwent , Newport and Torfaen , and those parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff east of the Rhymney River . The eastern part of the county was mainly agricultural, while the western valleys had rich mineral resources. This led to

12656-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through

12769-517: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern

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