Denbighshire (historic)
| Denbighshire | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historic county | |||||||||
| 1536–1974 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| • 1831 | 386,052 acres (1,562.30 km2) | ||||||||
| • 1911 | 426,084 acres (1,724.30 km2) | ||||||||
| • 1961 | 427,978 acres (1,731.97 km2) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
| • 1831 | 83,629 | ||||||||
| • 1911 | 144,783 | ||||||||
| • 1961 | 174,151 | ||||||||
| Density | |||||||||
| • 1831 | 0.2/acre | ||||||||
| • 1911 | 0.3/acre | ||||||||
| • 1961 | 0.4/acre | ||||||||
| Status | Non-administrative county (1536–1889) Administrative county (1889–1974) Historic county (non-administrative) | ||||||||
| Chapman code | DEN | ||||||||
| Government | Denbighshire County Council (1889–1974) | ||||||||
| • HQ | Denbigh and Ruthin | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1536 | ||||||||
• Council established | 1889 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1974 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych), or the County of Denbigh, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. Located in the north of Wales, it was created by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535, enacted in 1536, by combining several marcher lordships. Denbighshire was a maritime county, with a coast to the north onto the Irish Sea. It was named after its original county town of Denbigh. Other towns included Abergele, Colwyn Bay, Llangollen, Llanrwst, Ruthin and Wrexham. The central part of the county included much of the Vale of Clwyd. The neighbouring counties (clockwise from east) were Flintshire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Montgomeryshire, Merionethshire, and Caernarfonshire.
Under the Local Government Act 1972, the use of Denbighshire for local government and ceremonial purposes ended on 1 April 1974, with the creation of the new county of Clwyd. A different county of the same name was created on 1 April 1996, for modern local government purposes, covering a substantially different area from the historic county.