Historic Civil Parish Boundaries of Wales

The parish (from Latin 'Parochia') is probably the most recognisable 'old' administrative boundary. They were created for the administration of the church and first appear in Wales following the Norman conquest in the late eleventh century, although it is likely that a similar system existed at an earlier date. From twelfth century onwards a comprehensive picture emerges and the ecclesiastical taxation records of 1254 and 1291 provide extensive names for Wales, many of which continue in use today, although their boundaries may have changed.

Ecclesiastical parishes were the main unit for tithe and Poor law payments, but the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 facilitated the need for the creation of 'Civic Parishes' which became the main administrative unit. In many instances these were based on the same boundaries as the ecclesiastical parishes, but they developed differently from this point onwards. In Wales the civil parishes were replaced under the Local Government Act 1972. in 1974 with communities and these are still in use today, although boundaries and names frequently continue to change.

The mapping of historical boundaries requires many sources to be consulted. The most important has been the large scale first edition Ordnance Survey County Series mapping. The first edition six-inch to the Mile (1:10,560) scale mapping has been digitised by the National Library of Scotland (NLS) and this has provided a reliable source to map the boundaries from. As the project progresses, larger-scale sources such as the 25-inch (1:2,500) scale Ordnance Survey mapping will be used to refine the boundaries. Earlier cartographic sources will also be consulted such as Enclosure and Estate mapping and the Welsh Tithe Maps digitised by the National Library of Wales.

All of the digital boundary datasets have been made available for public use under the Open Government Licence for public sector information. This means that you are free to copy, publish, distribute and adapt the information. We ask that when using this information that you acknowledge where this information has come from using the following accreditation:

‘© Crown Copyright, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales available under Open Government License 3.0’

‘© Crown Copyright, RCAHMW available under Open Government License 3.0’

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Attributes (43)

Attribute name	Label	Description
Id
Plwyf
Parish
SaesonCant
Hundred
Sir
County
Rhanbarth
Region
ErwHanes
HisAcre
ErwModern
ModAcre
DyddArolwg
SurveyDate
SymMap
MapSym
Ffynhonnel
Source
Sefydliad
SourceOrg
Cyswllt
SourceLink
Nodiadau
Notes
Hawlfraint
Copyright
DigidoGan
DigitiseBy
DigidolOrc
DigiOrcid
DigidolAr
DigitiseOn
PriodolGan
AttriBy
PriodolOrc
AttriOrcid
PriodolAr
AttriOn
Methodoleg
Method
Cywirdeb
Accuracy