Editing Glamorgan (section)

====History 1536–1750====

[[File:Glamorgana Atlas.jpg|thumb|168x168px|Hand-drawn map of Glamorgan by Christopher Saxton from 1578]]

The [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542|Laws in Wales Acts of 1535]] established the County of Glamorgan through the amalgamation of the Lordship of Glamorgan with the lordships of [[Gower (Lordship)|Gower]] and [[Kilvey]]; the area that had previously been the cantref of Gwynllwg was lost to [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]]. With Wales finally incorporated with the English dominions, the administration of justice passed into the hands of the crown.<ref name="Wade160">Wade (1914), p.160</ref> The Lordship became a [[shire]] and was awarded its first parliamentary representative with the creation of the [[Glamorganshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Glamorganshire constituency]] in 1536.<ref name="Wade160"/> The [[English Reformation|Reformation]], which was closely followed by the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], led to vast social changes across Britain.<ref name="Newman51">Newman (1995), p.51</ref> These events, along with the Act of Union, allowed the leading Welsh families to gain in wealth and prosperity, allowing equal footing to those families of English extraction.<ref name="Newman51"/> Old monasteries, with their lands, were acquired by the wealthy and turned into country houses; their notable residents preferring to live in gentry houses rather than the fortified castles of the past. Major families in Glamorgan included the [[Sir Edward Carne|Carnes]] at [[Ewenny]], the [[Mansel family|Mansels]] at [[Margam]], Williams of [[Neath]], the Herberts at Cardiff and Swansea, Sir David Ap Mathew of Llandaff, and the [[Stradling Baronets|Stradlings]] of [[St Donats]].

The main industry of Glamorgan during this period was agriculture. In the upland, or ''Blaenau'' area, the hilly terrain along with many areas being densely wooded, made arable farming unprofitable, so the local farming concentrated on the rearing of horses, cattle and sheep.<ref name="Evans135">Evans, p.135</ref> The lowland, or ''Bro'' was devoted to more general branches of farming, cereal, grass for pasture, hay and stock raising. Non-agricultural industries were generally small scale, with some shallow coal pits, [[fulling|fulling mills]], weaving and pottery-making.<ref name="Evans135"/> The main heavy industry of note during this period was copper smelting, and this was centred on the towns of Swansea and Neath.<ref name="Davies168">Davies (2008), p.168</ref> Although copper had been mined in Wales since the Bronze Age, it was not until non-[[ferrous]] metalworking became a major industry in the late 17th century that Glamorgan saw a concentration of works appearing in a belt between [[Kidwelly]] and Port Talbot.<ref name="Davies168"/> Smelting of copper started around Neath under the [[Society of Mines Royal|Mines Royal Society]] {{Circa|1584}} but the scale of the works increased dramatically from the early 18th century when Swansea displaced Bristol as Britain's copper smelting capital.<ref name="Davies168"/> Easy access to Cornish ores and a local outcropping of coal near the surface, gave Swansea economic advantages in the smelting industry.

[[File:Old Beaupre Castle b&w, 2012.jpg|thumb|right|Beaupre Castle]]

Early iron smelting within Glamorgan was a localised and minor industry, with historical evidence pointing to scattered ironworks throughout the county. [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] mentions a works at [[Llantrisant]] in 1539, an operation in Aberdare existed during the reign of [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] and two iron furnaces were recorded as being set up by Sir W. Mathew in [[Radyr]] during the [[Elizabethan era]].<ref name="Wade80">Wade (1914), p.80</ref> By 1666 a furnace was in operation in [[Hirwaun]] and in 1680 a smelting hearth was established in [[Caerphilly]].<ref name="Wade80"/> Despite the existence of these industries, the scale of production was small, and in 1740 the total output of iron from Glamorgan was reported at 400 tons per year.<ref name="Wade81">Wade (1914), p.81</ref>

Glamorgan, now falling under the protection of the crown, was also involved in the conflicts of the crown. With the start of the [[First English Civil War]], there was little support from the Welsh for the Parliamentarians.<ref name="Davies146">Davies (2008), p.146</ref> Glamorgan sent troops to join [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] at the [[Battle of Edgehill]], and their Member of Parliament [[Sir Edward Stradling, 2nd Baronet|Sir Edward Stradling]] was captured in the conflict.<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=David |title=A Short History of Modern Wales |year=1961 |publisher=John Murray (Publishers) Ltd. |location=London |page=36|edition=third }}</ref> In the [[Second English Civil War]], the war came to Glamorgan at the [[Battle of St Fagans]] (1648), where the [[New Model Army]] overcame a larger [[Cavalier|Royalist]] to prevent a siege of Cardiff.<ref name="Davies146"/>