Carmarthen

Coordinates: 51°51′22″N 4°18′58″W / 51.856°N 4.316°W / 51.856; -4.316

Carmarthen (/ˌkɑːrˈmɑːrðən/ kar-MAR-dhən; Welsh: Caerfyrddin pronounced [kɑːɨrˈvərðɪn]) is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is on the River Towy8 miles (13 km) north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 15,854.

Carmarthen claims to be the oldest town in Wales but the two settlements of Old and New Carmarthen were only united into a single borough in 1546. Carmarthen was the most populous borough in Wales between the 16th and 18th centuries and was described by William Camden as "the chief citie of the country". However, population growth stagnated by the mid 19th century as more dynamic economic centres developed in the South Wales coalfield. Carmarthen is the location of the headquarters of Dyfed-Powys Police, the Carmarthen campus of the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David and Glangwili General Hospital.

History

Early history

When Britannia was a Roman province, Carmarthen was the civitas capital of the Demetae tribe, known as Moridunum ("Sea Fort"). Carmarthen is possibly the oldest town in Wales and was recorded by Ptolemy and the Antonine Itinerary. The Roman fort is believed to date from around AD 75. A Roman coin hoard was found nearby in 2006. Near the fort is one of seven surviving Roman amphitheatres in the United Kingdom and one of only two in Roman Wales (the other being at Isca Augusta, Roman Caerleon). It was excavated in 1968. The arena itself is 50 x 30 yards (about 46 by 27 metres); the cavea (seating area) is 100 x 73 yards (92 by 67 metres). Veprauskas has argued for its identification as the Cair Guorthigirn ("Fort Vortigern") listed by Nennius among the 28 cities of Britain in his History of the Britains.

District of Carmarthen

Carmarthen District Council (Welsh: Caerfyrddin) was one of six local government districts of the county of Dyfed, west Wales, from 1974 to 1996. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 from the following parts of the administrative county of Carmarthenshire:

The inaugural elections to the authority were held in 1973. Further elections were held in 1976, 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1991. Independent councillors held a majority of the seats on the authority throughout its existence and the most significant political grouping was the Labour Party who held a number of seats in Carmarthen Town and the former mining wards of the Gwendraeth Valley.

In 1996 the district was abolished under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994. It was replaced by the new unitary authority of Carmarthenshire, which covers the areas of the former districts of Carmarthen, Llanelli and Dinefwr.

Carmarthen (UK Parliament constituency)

Carmarthen (Welsh: Caerfyrddin) was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1542 and 1997. At its abolition in 1997 it was replaced, partly by the new Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency and partly by Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire.

History

Because the seat contained mining areas in the valley of the River Gwendraeth (until the 1980s), much countryside and a high proportion of Welsh speakers, it was fertile territory for the Labour Party, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru alike. Although the Conservatives never won the seat, they came within 1200 votes of doing so in 1983.

Carmarthen is notable as the first constituency to elect a Plaid Cymru MP, Gwynfor Evans, at a 1966 by-election. Evans was later involved in one of the closest General Election results ever in February 1974, when he lost to the Labour candidate by only three votes.