West Glamorgan Postcodes — Wales (WLS)

West Glamorgan

Formerly a county in South Wales, West Glamorgan (Welsh: Gorllewin Morgannwg) is the name of an area there. The county has been set aside for preservation purposes.

The area now known as West Glamorgan was originally part of the county of Glamorgan. To form it, the Local Government Act of 1972 merged the county borough of Swansea with the municipal boroughs of Neath and Port Talbot, the urban districts of Glyncorrwg and Llwchwr, the Gower Rural District, the Pontardawe Rural District, and all of the Neath Rural District other than the parish of Rhigos on 1 April 1974. West Glamorgan County Council has called County Hall, Swansea, home since 1982.

These are the four constituencies that made up West Glamorgan:

• Port Talbot – Port Talbot and Glyncorrwg 
• Swansea – Swansea CB and Gower RD
• Neath – Neath and Neath RD
• Lliw Valley – Llwchwr and Pontardawe RD

West Glamorgan and its constituent districts were dissolved on 1 April 1996 as a result of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, and the resulting territory was split between the new unitary authorities of Swansea and Neath and Port Talbot (later changed to "Neath Port Talbot"). Both governments now have control of half of Lliw Valley. For the sole purposes of the Lieutenancy and High Shrievalty, the county of West Glamorgan was preserved.

Coat of arms

Argent, three chevronels gules, between in chief two pine cones vert dimidiating as many gouttes sable, and in base a lozenge sable; this was the coat of arms of West Glamorgan. Above four gold cogwheels, the crest features a Welsh dragon with a Tudor rose in its forepaws. The two backers are fish-eating birds (an osprey and a heron) who are connected by a chain around their necks. The osprey and the heron are both in the middle of water, while the crow is in the middle of a freshly tilled field. Cadarn pob cyfiawn, which translates to "The just are strong" in Welsh, is the motto. The chevrons are taken from the coat of arms of the de Clare family; the pine cones stand for the forestry industry; the black drops (gouttes) represent the oil industry; and the black lozenge symbolizes coal. Above the shield are four cogwheels, each representing a different district and its respective industry; the chains around the supporters' necks represent the steel and aluminum sectors; the water and fish represent the fishing sector; and the ploughed field represents agriculture.