Denbighshire (historic)

Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych) is one of thirteen, and a former , covering an area in north Wales. It is a maritime county, bounded to the north by the, to the east by , and , to the south by  and , and to the west by.

Under the, the use of Denbighshire for and  purposes ended on , , although it remains in use as a general geographic area and for other purposes.

A local government named  was created on, ,  covering a substantially different area.

History
Denbighshire was created by the from areas previously in the Marches. It was formed from  taken from and, to include:



Geography
In the south and west of the county the mountains of the Clwydian Range rise from 1000 to 2500ft high. The east of the county is hilly. There is some level ground along the coastal strip. The highest points are Moel Sych and Cader Berwyn at 2,713 feet. is a spectacular 240 feet waterfall. The chief rivers are the and the. The runs north along the western boundary. The modern county of Denbighshire borders ot the south,  and  to the east and  to the west.

The main towns are, , , , and. The most important industries are agriculture and tourism.

Places of special interest

 * s, Tal-y-Cafn ;
 * Chirk Castle ;
 * Denbigh Castle ;
 * Eliseg's Pillar ;
 * Plas Newydd, Llangollen ;
 * Valle Crucis Abbey.

Administrative county
An of Denbighshire was created in  by the, identical to the geographical county. The county was governed by an elected, who took over the functions of the courts.

The administrative county was subdivided into s and and s.


 * The boroughs of and  were reformed in  by the . The county's third borough,  was incorporated in . Colwyn Bay urban district was incorporated in.
 * Three urban districts were formed by the : (renamed Abergele in ),  (renamed Colwyn Bay in, and incorporated as a borough in ) and  , as successors to . in   urban district was formed.
 * Eight rural districts were formed (also by the 1894 Act), based on existing rural sanitary districts:, , , , , , and.

Two es: and  were administered as part of  in the neighbouring county of. This area was sometimes called.

In the rural districts were reorganised by a, and reduced to five in number: , , , Ruthin and Wrexham.

The administrative county was abolished in, with the bulk becoming part of the new county of. The urban district of Llanrwst and five rural parishes were included in.