nation draft Wales
A small, singing, stubborn nation of the original Britons, which kept its ancient language alive next door to the most powerful neighbour imaginable and has recently found its own political voice.
Snowdon · Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Understanding a Welsh person in 5 minutes
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The oldest Britons
The Welsh see themselves as descendants of the Celtic Britons who lived across the island before the Romans and the English. Their own name, Cymry, means "fellow countrymen"; the English word "Welsh" comes from an Old English word for foreigners. That sense of being the island's older people, pushed into the western hills but never quite conquered in spirit, runs deep in Welsh identity.
- Wales and the Britons, 350–1064 — T. M. Charles-Edwards, Oxford University Press (2013)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
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Yr iaith, the language
Welsh, a Brythonic Celtic language, is one of Europe's oldest living literary languages, with poetry traditionally dated to around 600 CE. It survived conquest, the Tudor ban on Welsh in public office and the shame of the "Welsh Not", and since the 1960s campaigners have won it official status. In 2021, 17.8% of people in Wales could speak it; for speakers and non-speakers alike, it is a core symbol of the nation.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Welsh language, Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
- The Welsh Not: Education and the Welsh Language in the Nineteenth Century — Martin Johnes, University of Wales Press (2024)
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Chapel, choir and eisteddfod
In the nineteenth century most Welsh worshippers went to Nonconformist chapels, which taught people to read Welsh, sing hymns in four-part harmony and argue about theology and politics. The chapels are emptying, but they left a culture of communal singing, poetry competitions at the eisteddfod, self-improvement and moral seriousness that still shapes Wales.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 — Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press and University of Wales Press (1981)
- The Eisteddfod — Hywel Teifi Edwards, University of Wales Press (1990)
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Coal, community and solidarity
The south Wales valleys were among the great coalfields of the world, and their mining communities produced a fierce culture of solidarity, from the Merthyr Rising of 1831 to the miners' strike of 1984–85, and the NHS, founded by the Tredegar miner's son Aneurin Bevan. Their decline, and disasters like Aberfan, left deep scars and a lasting loyalty to Labour.
- The Fed: A History of the South Wales Miners in the Twentieth Century — Hywel Francis and David Smith, Lawrence & Wishart (1980)
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
- Aneurin Bevan: A Biography — Michael Foot, MacGibbon & Kee (1962)
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Living next to England
Wales was conquered by Edward I in 1282 and joined to England in law under Henry VIII, and for centuries was treated as an appendage, "for Wales, see England" as an old encyclopedia index reputedly put it. Most Welsh people are not anti-English, and many have English family, but being overlooked or mistaken for English touches a nerve. In 2021, 55.2% of people in Wales called themselves Welsh only.
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- National identity, England and Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
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A young democracy
Welsh voters rejected home rule by four to one in 1979, and approved it by just 6,721 votes in 1997. Since then the National Assembly has become the Senedd, a full parliament making laws on health, education and the language. Devolution has made Wales a political nation in a way it had not been since Owain Glyndŵr, and it is now part of everyday Welsh life.
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- Wales Says Yes: Devolution and the 2011 Welsh Referendum — Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully, University of Wales Press (2012)
The story
Britons, Rome & the making of Cymru
500 BCE – 1062 From Britons to Cymry
The Celtic Britons of the west resist Rome, survive the coming of the English, and emerge as a separate people, the Cymry, with their own kingdoms, saints, poetry and laws.
- Wales and the Britons, 350–1064 — T. M. Charles-Edwards, Oxford University Press (2013)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
- The Law of Hywel Dda: Law Texts from Medieval Wales — Dafydd Jenkins (translator and editor), Gomer Press (1986)
Read more
- Wales and the Britons, 350–1064 — T. M. Charles-Edwards, Oxford University Press (2013)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
- The Law of Hywel Dda: Law Texts from Medieval Wales — Dafydd Jenkins (translator and editor), Gomer Press (1986)
This is the deep root of Welsh identity: the belief that the Welsh are the descendants of the original Britons, speaking a language that has been spoken on this island for some 1,500 years in its Welsh form and far longer in its British ancestor. It is why Welsh people bristle when Wales is treated as a corner of England, and why St David, the red dragon and the old poets still matter.
When the Romans invaded Britain, the Celtic peoples of what is now Wales, such as the Silures and Ordovices, resisted for decades before being conquered.
In English memory the Britons barely feature: the story starts with the Anglo-Saxons, and Offa's Dyke is a walking trail rather than a frontier, which is itself part of what Welsh people mean when they say England has forgotten them.
The age of the princes
1063 – 1283 Llywelyn's fall and Edward I's conquest
Edward I of England conquers the last independent Welsh principality, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd is killed in 1282, and a ring of great castles is built to hold the north.
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd — UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Read more
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd — UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
1282 is the moment Wales lost its independence, and Llywelyn "the Last" is remembered at Cilmeri every December. Edward's castles are now World Heritage Sites that many Welsh people regard with mixed feelings, as both glorious buildings and monuments to conquest. The English heir's title, Prince of Wales, comes from this conquest, which is why investitures in 1969 and the naming of a new prince in 2022 stirred debate.
Between 1277 and 1283 Edward I of England conquered Gwynedd, the last independent Welsh principality. Its prince, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, was killed in a skirmish near Cilmeri on 11 December 1282, and Edward built a ring of massive stone castles, from Conwy and Caernarfon to Harlech and Beaumaris, to hold the land he had taken.
The conquest destroyed a Welsh state and imposed colonial rule, with English-only boroughs inside castle walls; Llywelyn's death is remembered as a national tragedy, mourned in the great elegy by Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch.
Edward's castles are masterpieces of medieval architecture, and the title Prince of Wales has become a ceremonial link between the Crown and Wales that many Welsh people also accept and support.
Conquest & Glyndŵr
1284 – 1484 The rising of Owain Glyndŵr
Owain Glyndŵr is proclaimed Prince of Wales and leads a national revolt that for a few years frees most of Wales from English rule, before it is crushed.
- The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1995)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
Read more
- The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1995)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
Glyndŵr is the great hero of Welsh nationhood, the man who imagined an independent Wales with its own parliament, church and universities. His day, 16 September, is marked across Wales, and his name was taken by everything from pubs to the 1980s arsonists who burned holiday homes. To many he is proof that the Welsh did not accept conquest quietly.
On 16 September 1400 Owain Glyndŵr, a landowner descended from the princes of Powys and Deheubarth, was proclaimed Prince of Wales by his followers. His revolt against Henry IV spread across the country, and by 1404 he controlled most of Wales, holding a parliament at Machynlleth and capturing the castles of Harlech and Aberystwyth.
Glyndŵr is the founder-figure of Welsh independence, a leader who imagined a Welsh state with its own parliament, church and universities, and who was never captured or betrayed.
To Henry IV and his Parliament Glyndŵr was a traitor allied with France and English rebels, and Shakespeare later made him a boastful mystic in Henry IV, Part 1; the penal laws against the Welsh were the Crown's answer.
Tudor union & the Welsh Bible
1485 – 1699 The Tudors and the Laws in Wales Acts
Under Henry VIII, two Acts of Parliament annex Wales to England, giving the Welsh equal legal rights but making English the only language of law and government.
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- A Concise History of Wales — Geraint H. Jenkins, Cambridge University Press (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
Read more
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- A Concise History of Wales — Geraint H. Jenkins, Cambridge University Press (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
These Acts are why Wales was treated for centuries as part of "England and Wales", sharing English law; a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction is still debated. The language clause, which kept Welsh speakers out of public office unless they used English, is remembered as the start of official discrimination against Welsh, the wrong that later Welsh Language Acts set out to reverse.
In 1536 and 1543, Acts of Parliament under Henry VIII, later called the Laws in Wales Acts, annexed Wales to the kingdom of England.
Many Welsh gentry welcomed the Acts, which ended the discriminatory penal laws, gave the Welsh the same rights as the English and seats in Parliament, and opened careers in Tudor England, under a dynasty they saw as Welsh.
The Acts absorbed Wales out of legal existence and made English the language of power, starting the anglicisation of the Welsh gentry and the long marginalisation of the Welsh language.
For Henry VIII's government this was administrative tidying, making Wales part of the English realm in law, which is why English institutions long spoke of "England" when they meant England and Wales.
William Morgan's Welsh Bible
Bishop William Morgan publishes the first complete Bible in Welsh, giving the language a standard literary form and a place in every parish church.
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
Read more
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
Many Welsh people credit the 1588 Bible with saving their language: it gave Welsh a dignified written standard and kept it in daily use through church, chapel and Sunday school for centuries, when other Celtic languages lost their literary traditions. A copy is still a treasured family possession in many Welsh homes.
In 1588, the year of the Armada, William Morgan, then vicar of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant and later a bishop, published the first complete translation of the Bible into Welsh. It followed a 1563 Act of Parliament ordering the Bible and Prayer Book to be translated into Welsh for use in churches, and built on William Salesbury's Welsh New Testament of 1567.
Revival, iron & coal
1700 – 1913 Revival, chapel and Nonconformist Wales
Methodist revivals sweep Wales, and by the mid-nineteenth century most Welsh worshippers attend Nonconformist chapels, which shape the language, politics and moral culture of the nation.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 — Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press and University of Wales Press (1981)
- The Span of the Cross: Christian Religion and Society in Wales 1914–2000 — D. Densil Morgan, University of Wales Press (1999)
- Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s — David W. Bebbington, Unwin Hyman (1989)
- Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics (2022)
Read more
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 — Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press and University of Wales Press (1981)
- The Span of the Cross: Christian Religion and Society in Wales 1914–2000 — D. Densil Morgan, University of Wales Press (1999)
- Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s — David W. Bebbington, Unwin Hyman (1989)
- Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics (2022)
Chapel culture made modern Wales: its hymn-singing and choirs, its Sunday schools that taught generations to read Welsh, its radical Liberal and later Labour politics, and its strait-laced respectability. Most chapels are now closed or half-empty, and Wales is one of the least religious parts of the UK, but the habits of mind, from the love of a good sermon-like speech to the communal singing at rugby matches, remain.
From the 1730s preachers such as Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland led an evangelical revival in Wales, and over the next century most Welsh people left the established Anglican Church for Nonconformist chapels: Calvinistic Methodists, Baptists, Independents and Wesleyans. By the religious census of 1851, Nonconformists made up the great majority of those attending worship in Wales.
Iron, coal and revolt: industrial south Wales
Ironworks and then coal mines turn the valleys of south Wales into one of the world's great industrial regions, home to radical risings at Merthyr in 1831 and Newport in 1839 and to a fiercely solidaristic working-class culture.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- The Merthyr Rising — Gwyn A. Williams, Croom Helm (1978)
- The Last Rising: The Newport Insurrection of 1839 — David J. V. Jones, Oxford University Press (1985)
- The Fed: A History of the South Wales Miners in the Twentieth Century — Hywel Francis and David Smith, Lawrence & Wishart (1980)
- Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 — Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press and University of Wales Press (1981)
Read more
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- The Merthyr Rising — Gwyn A. Williams, Croom Helm (1978)
- The Last Rising: The Newport Insurrection of 1839 — David J. V. Jones, Oxford University Press (1985)
- The Fed: A History of the South Wales Miners in the Twentieth Century — Hywel Francis and David Smith, Lawrence & Wishart (1980)
- Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 — Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press and University of Wales Press (1981)
Most Welsh people live in the south-east, and the valleys that coal built are still at the heart of Welsh identity: the terraced streets, the male voice choirs, the rugby clubs, the miners' institutes and the habit of voting Labour. Merthyr's red flag and the Newport Chartists are part of a proud radical tradition. So is the bitterness at how much wealth left the valleys and how little came back.
From the late eighteenth century ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil and along the northern rim of the south Wales coalfield made Wales a world centre of iron production.
Industrial south Wales was built by working people who were exploited by ironmasters and coal owners and who fought back, from Merthyr and Newport to the miners' union, creating a culture of solidarity that is one of Wales's great achievements.
Industry drew in huge numbers of English-speaking migrants and, over generations, made English the language of the valleys, so that the coalfield that made Wales rich also helped push Welsh out of much of the south.
The "Treachery of the Blue Books", the Welsh Not and Patagonia
A government report on Welsh education condemns the Welsh language and the morals of the Welsh people, a humiliation remembered as Brad y Llyfrau Gleision; some answer by founding a Welsh-speaking colony in Patagonia in 1865.
- The Language of the Blue Books: The Perfect Instrument of Empire — Gwyneth Tyson Roberts, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Welsh Not: Education and the Welsh Language in the Nineteenth Century — Martin Johnes, University of Wales Press (2024)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- The Welsh in Patagonia: The State and the Ethnic Community — Glyn Williams, University of Wales Press (1991)
Read more
- The Language of the Blue Books: The Perfect Instrument of Empire — Gwyneth Tyson Roberts, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Welsh Not: Education and the Welsh Language in the Nineteenth Century — Martin Johnes, University of Wales Press (2024)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- The Welsh in Patagonia: The State and the Ethnic Community — Glyn Williams, University of Wales Press (1991)
The Blue Books, and the "Welsh Not" hung round the necks of children caught speaking Welsh at school, are the classic symbols of English contempt for the Welsh language. They help explain why many Welsh people are sensitive to jokes about their language, why parents of the twentieth century often did not pass it on, and why its revival matters so much. Y Wladfa, the Welsh colony in Patagonia, is a cherished, slightly romantic link to a Welsh world beyond Britain.
In 1847 three English commissioners published a report on the state of education in Wales, bound in blue covers. Relying heavily on Anglican clergy and speaking no Welsh themselves, they condemned not only Welsh schools but the Welsh language, Nonconformity and the supposed immorality of Welsh people, especially women.
The Blue Books were a calculated insult by English Anglican officials who spoke no Welsh, and together with the Welsh Not they taught generations of children to be ashamed of their own language.
Historians such as Martin Johnes show that the Welsh Not was never government policy; it was used in some schools, often with the support of Welsh parents who wanted their children to learn English to get on, so the decline of Welsh owed as much to choices within Wales as to English imposition.
Depression, war & the drowned valley
1914 – 1978 The welfare state and the NHS
Labour's landslide in 1945 creates the modern welfare state, including the National Health Service, launched on 5 July 1948 by the Welsh miner's son Aneurin Bevan.
- The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State — Nicholas Timmins, HarperCollins (2017)
- Aneurin Bevan: A Biography — Michael Foot, MacGibbon & Kee (1962)
- The English and Their History — Robert Tombs, Allen Lane (2014)
Read more
- The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State — Nicholas Timmins, HarperCollins (2017)
- Aneurin Bevan: A Biography — Michael Foot, MacGibbon & Kee (1962)
- The English and Their History — Robert Tombs, Allen Lane (2014)
The NHS was founded by Nye Bevan of Tredegar and modelled partly on the miners' medical societies of the south Wales valleys, so many Welsh people see it as Wales's gift to Britain. Since devolution, health in Wales has been run by the Welsh Government, and free prescriptions are one of its proudest differences from England.
In July 1945, weeks after victory in Europe, voters threw out Churchill and elected a Labour government with a landslide. It built the modern welfare state, nationalised coal, rail and other industries, and on 5 July 1948 launched the National Health Service, free to all at the point of use.
The drowning of Capel Celyn (Tryweryn)
Despite near-unanimous opposition from Welsh MPs, Parliament allows Liverpool to flood the Welsh-speaking village of Capel Celyn to build a reservoir, which opens in 1965.
- Tryweryn — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Read more
- Tryweryn — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
"Cofiwch Dryweryn", "Remember Tryweryn", is painted on walls all over Wales. The drowning of a Welsh-speaking community for an English city's water, over the objections of almost every Welsh MP, showed many people that Wales had no power over its own land, and it fed the rise of Plaid Cymru, the language movement and, eventually, devolution.
In 1957 Parliament passed a private bill allowing Liverpool Corporation to flood the Tryweryn valley near Bala to create a reservoir, drowning the village of Capel Celyn with its chapel, school, post office and farms. Almost every Welsh MP opposed it, but it passed anyway, and Llyn Celyn was opened in October 1965 amid protests.
Tryweryn proved that Wales could be overruled on anything, and that a Welsh-speaking community could be wiped off the map for English convenience; it was a turning point in the national awakening.
Liverpool Corporation argued it needed water for a growing city and its industry and followed the law; in 2005 Liverpool City Council formally apologised for its insensitivity.
The language movement and the Welsh Language Acts
After Saunders Lewis warns in 1962 that Welsh will die without action, a campaign of protest wins bilingual signs, Welsh-medium schools, the S4C television channel and, by 2011, official status for the language.
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Welsh language, Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
- Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers — Welsh Government, Welsh Government (2017)
Read more
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Welsh language, Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
- Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers — Welsh Government, Welsh Government (2017)
Bilingual road signs, Welsh-medium schools in every county, S4C and a Welsh Language Commissioner are the fruits of this movement, and they make Wales feel different from England the moment you cross the border. The question of how to keep Welsh alive as a community language, while welcoming newcomers and not alienating the English-speaking majority, remains one of the most sensitive in Welsh life.
On 13 February 1962 the writer Saunders Lewis gave a BBC radio lecture, Tynged yr Iaith, "The Fate of the Language", predicting that Welsh would die as a living language by the end of the century unless people used "revolutionary methods" to defend it.
Welsh survived only because people were willing to protest, break the law and go to prison for it, and it still needs strong protection, especially in the Welsh-speaking heartlands threatened by second homes and out-migration of the young.
Many non-Welsh-speaking Welsh people support the language and send their children to Welsh-medium schools, but some feel excluded from jobs that require Welsh, or that money and attention are spent on a minority language at the expense of other needs.
The Aberfan disaster
A colliery spoil tip collapses onto the village of Aberfan, burying Pantglas Junior School and killing 144 people, 116 of them children.
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Read more
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Aberfan is the deepest single wound of modern Wales. A generation of a village's children died because the National Coal Board ignored warnings, nobody was prosecuted, and money from the disaster fund was used to clear the remaining tips. For many Welsh people it sums up how the coalfield was treated: its people's lives mattered less than the coal.
15 in the morning on 21 October 1966, the last day before half-term, a waste tip from Merthyr Vale colliery slid down the mountainside above Aberfan after heavy rain. A wave of slurry engulfed Pantglas Junior School and nearby houses, killing 144 people: 116 children and 28 adults, including five teachers.
Strike, devolution & the Senedd
1979 – today Devolution and the Senedd
Wales rejects an assembly by four to one in 1979, narrowly approves one in 1997, and over two decades its National Assembly grows into a law-making parliament, renamed the Senedd in 2020.
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- Wales Says Yes: Devolution and the 2011 Welsh Referendum — Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully, University of Wales Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Wales — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Read more
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- Wales Says Yes: Devolution and the 2011 Welsh Referendum — Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully, University of Wales Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Wales — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Senedd in Cardiff Bay now runs Welsh health, education, transport, the language and much else, so daily life in Wales increasingly differs from England, from free prescriptions to different school curricula. Devolution is now widely accepted, but arguments continue about how much power Cardiff should have, how well it has used it, and whether Wales should one day be independent.
3%. 7%, a majority of 6,721 votes on a turnout of about half the electorate, and the National Assembly for Wales first met in 1999.
Devolution gave Wales a democratic voice after decades of governments it did not vote for, and has made Wales a political nation; most Welsh people now support it and many want more powers.
Critics argue that the Senedd has added politicians and cost without fixing Wales's problems in health, education and the economy, and some would abolish it; others in the north and the east feel it is too centred on Cardiff and the south.
The miners' strike
Britain's miners strike for a year against pit closures and are defeated by Margaret Thatcher's government, hastening the end of the coal industry and the communities built around it.
- Marching to the Fault Line: The 1984 Miners' Strike and the Death of Industrial Britain — Francis Beckett and David Hencke, Constable (2009)
- The Enemy Within: The Secret War Against the Miners — Seumas Milne, Verso (1994)
- Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography — Charles Moore, Allen Lane (2019)
- History on Our Side: Wales and the 1984–85 Miners' Strike — Hywel Francis, Iconau (2009)
Read more
- Marching to the Fault Line: The 1984 Miners' Strike and the Death of Industrial Britain — Francis Beckett and David Hencke, Constable (2009)
- The Enemy Within: The Secret War Against the Miners — Seumas Milne, Verso (1994)
- Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography — Charles Moore, Allen Lane (2019)
- History on Our Side: Wales and the 1984–85 Miners' Strike — Hywel Francis, Iconau (2009)
South Wales was the most solid area in the whole strike, and its defeat, followed by the closure of almost every pit, ended the industry that had made modern Wales. The solidarity of those months, from women's support groups to London's lesbian and gay supporters, is remembered with pride; the unemployment and ill-health that followed in the valleys are remembered with bitterness.
In March 1984 the National Coal Board announced pit closures, and miners in Yorkshire and then across most of Britain walked out. The strike lasted a year, the longest major strike in British history, before the miners returned to work in March 1985 without a deal, and over the following decade most of Britain's remaining coal mines closed.
The government deliberately set out to break the National Union of Mineworkers, using the police as a political weapon, most notoriously at Orgreave in June 1984, and destroyed whole communities with no plan for what came after.
Many pits were losing money, the strike was called without a national ballot, and its leader Arthur Scargill sought political confrontation; defeating it ended a decade in which unions had brought down governments, and was necessary to modernise the economy.
Most miners in Nottinghamshire and some other areas kept working, angry that there had been no ballot; many later formed a breakaway union and were called "scabs" for years afterwards.
The Brexit referendum
The UK votes by 51.9% to 48.1% to leave the European Union, with majorities in England and Wales outvoting Remain majorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Results and turnout at the EU referendum — The Electoral Commission (UK) (2016)
- How the United Kingdom voted on Thursday… and why — Lord Ashcroft Polls (2016)
- Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics — Maria Sobolewska and Robert Ford, Cambridge University Press (2020)
- Englishness: The Political Force Transforming Britain — Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones, Oxford University Press (2021)
Read more
- Results and turnout at the EU referendum — The Electoral Commission (UK) (2016)
- How the United Kingdom voted on Thursday… and why — Lord Ashcroft Polls (2016)
- Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics — Maria Sobolewska and Robert Ford, Cambridge University Press (2020)
- Englishness: The Political Force Transforming Britain — Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones, Oxford University Press (2021)
Wales voted Leave by 52.5%, despite receiving more EU regional funding per head than England, which puzzled many outsiders. The vote split Wales between the Welsh-speaking west and Cardiff, which leaned Remain, and the English border and former industrial valleys, which leaned Leave. Since then, arguments over replacing EU funds have fed tensions between Cardiff and Westminster.
1% to leave the European Union, on a turnout of 72%. 5%, while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted Remain; the UK formally left on 31 January 2020.
Leaving restored national sovereignty and democratic control over laws, borders and money, and gave a voice to people in towns far from London whose concerns about immigration and deindustrialisation had been dismissed for decades.
Brexit was sold on false promises, has damaged trade and the economy, weakened the Union with Scotland and Northern Ireland, and took away younger people's right to live and work across Europe against the wishes of most of them.
8% Remain) were taken out by English votes, reviving the case for Scottish independence and Irish unity; see Scotland's "Brexit and divergence" and Ireland's "Brexit and the Irish border".
Core values & worldview
If you want to understand a Welsh person, start with the fact that Wales has spent most of the last seven centuries being governed, mislabelled and sometimes mocked by a much bigger neighbour, and has stayed stubbornly itself. Edward I conquered it in 1282, Henry VIII absorbed it into England in law, and for centuries official documents spoke of “England” when they meant both. Yet Welsh people never stopped seeing themselves as a separate nation, the Cymry, with their own language, saints, poetry and history.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
A few values come up again and again.
Community and belonging. Wales is a small country where people often seem to know each other, or at least each other’s cousins. The Welsh word cynefin, a sense of belonging to a particular place, and hiraeth, a longing for home, a lost past or a Wales that may never have existed, are much quoted because they capture something real.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Solidarity and fairness. The chapels and the coalfield left a strong ethic of looking after one another, from miners’ institutes and medical aid societies to the NHS. Many Welsh people instinctively side with the underdog and distrust privilege, and Labour has been the dominant party in Wales for a century.
- The Fed: A History of the South Wales Miners in the Twentieth Century — Hywel Francis and David Smith, Lawrence & Wishart (1980)
- Aneurin Bevan: A Biography — Michael Foot, MacGibbon & Kee (1962)
- Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 — Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press and University of Wales Press (1981)
Language and culture as a birthright. For Welsh speakers the language is the heart of identity, and for many non-speakers it is a precious inheritance they wish they had, or that they are giving their children through Welsh-medium schools. Poetry, singing and performance are taken seriously, and the eisteddfod tradition means that ordinary people compete in reciting and composing verse.
- Welsh language, Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
- The Eisteddfod — Hywel Teifi Edwards, University of Wales Press (1990)
Warmth and humour. Welsh people are often described as chatty, warm and teasing; the Welsh English of the south, with its “tidy”, “now in a minute” and cwtch (a hug, or a cosy place), is a source of affectionate pride.
- Wales — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Daily life & customs
Just over three million people live in Wales, most of them in the south, around Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and the valleys.
- Wales — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- Wales Says Yes: Devolution and the 2011 Welsh Referendum — Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully, University of Wales Press (2012)
St David’s Day, 1 March, brings daffodils and leeks, schoolchildren in traditional costume, and parades; it is not a public holiday, which many Welsh people would like to change. Dydd Santes Dwynwen, 25 January, is a Welsh day for lovers. The National Eisteddfod each August and the Urdd youth eisteddfod in spring are highlights of the Welsh-speaking year.
- The Eisteddfod — Hywel Teifi Edwards, University of Wales Press (1990)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Rugby is close to a national religion, especially in the south, where village clubs are the hub of community life; a Six Nations weekend in Cardiff transforms the city. Football has its own passionate following, particularly in the north and in Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham, and the men’s team’s runs to the semi-final of Euro 2016 and to the 2022 World Cup, their first since 1958, were national celebrations.
- Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 1881–1981 — David Smith and Gareth Williams, University of Wales Press (1980)
Wales is now one of the least religious parts of the UK. In the 2021 census 46.5% of people said they had no religion and 43.6% said they were Christian, but many still turn to chapel or church for funerals, and the hymns live on in rugby crowds and choirs.
- Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics (2022)
Wounds & sensitivities
The language. The 1847 Blue Books, the Welsh Not and generations of parents who chose not to pass on Welsh are painful memories. Mocking Welsh as unpronounceable, or calling it a “dead language”, hurts.
- The Language of the Blue Books: The Perfect Instrument of Empire — Gwyneth Tyson Roberts, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Welsh Not: Education and the Welsh Language in the Nineteenth Century — Martin Johnes, University of Wales Press (2024)
Tryweryn and Aberfan. The drowning of Capel Celyn for Liverpool’s water, and the deaths of 116 children at Aberfan in 1966 when the Coal Board ignored warnings, are wounds that many Welsh people feel personally. They are not subjects for jokes.
- Tryweryn — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
Deindustrialisation. The defeat of the miners’ strike and the closure of almost every pit left valley communities with unemployment, ill-health and young people leaving. Margaret Thatcher remains a hate figure for many.
- History on Our Side: Wales and the 1984–85 Miners' Strike — Hywel Francis, Iconau (2009)
- Marching to the Fault Line: The 1984 Miners' Strike and the Death of Industrial Britain — Francis Beckett and David Hencke, Constable (2009)
Being overlooked. Being called English, seeing Wales left off a map of Britain, or having British triumphs described as English ones grates. So does the old stereotype of the Welsh as sheep-obsessed or simple.
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
Second homes and belonging. In parts of the north and west, high numbers of holiday homes have priced locals out and weakened Welsh-speaking communities. In the 1980s the shadowy Meibion Glyndŵr burned holiday cottages; today the issue is argued over in the Senedd. It is a sore point that can feel, to English buyers, like hostility, and to locals, like the loss of their home.
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
The Prince of Wales. Many Welsh people are fond of the royal family, but the title, born of conquest, divides opinion, as the 1969 investiture showed.
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
Modern attitudes
Welsh first, mostly. In the 2021 census 55.2% of people in Wales described their national identity as Welsh only and another 8.1% as Welsh and British, while 18.5% said British only. Many people born in England, about a fifth of Wales’s population, have settled here.
- National identity, England and Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
Devolution accepted, independence debated. Few now want to abolish the Senedd, though some do. Independence, once a fringe idea, has grown into a serious minority position, especially among younger and Welsh-speaking people.
- Wales Says Yes: Devolution and the 2011 Welsh Referendum — Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully, University of Wales Press (2012)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
Brexit. Wales voted 52.5% to leave the EU in 2016, despite having received large EU regional funds, with Welsh-speaking and university areas voting Remain and the former industrial and border areas voting Leave.
- Results and turnout at the EU referendum — The Electoral Commission (UK) (2016)
Left-leaning and communitarian. Wales has long voted to the left of England, and Welsh governments have prided themselves on keeping public services public. Wales was also the first UK nation to introduce a charge on plastic bags and to set wellbeing goals for future generations in law.
- Wales — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Not all Welsh people are the same
Welsh speakers and English speakers. The great divide in Wales is linguistic. In Gwynedd most people speak Welsh; in Monmouthshire, very few do. Some English-speaking Welsh people feel just as Welsh as any speaker; others feel looked down on, or that “Welshness” has been defined without them.
- Welsh language, Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
North and south. Northerners, gogs, and southerners, hwntws, have different accents, different Welsh dialects and, in the north, strong ties to Liverpool and Manchester rather than Cardiff. Travel between north and south is famously slow, and many northerners feel the government in Cardiff Bay forgets them.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
The “three Wales”. The political scientist Denis Balsom described a Welsh-speaking Y Fro Gymraeg in the north and west, a “Welsh Wales” of the English-speaking valleys with a strong Welsh identity, and a more anglicised “British Wales” along the border and the coast. The model is old but still often used.
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
Cardiff and Swansea. The two biggest cities enjoy a fierce rivalry, especially in football, and Cardiff, a young, diverse capital, can feel a world away from rural Wales.
- Wales — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Newcomers and minorities. Wales has old Black and Somali communities in Cardiff’s docklands, Italian families who came to the valleys in the nineteenth century, and many English incomers. Being Welsh is increasingly understood as a civic identity open to all.
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
Meeting someone
Conversation starters
- Where they’re from. Ask which part of Wales, and you may get a lesson in local rivalries, accents and dialect.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Rugby. Ask about the Six Nations, or their local club; a famous win over England is a good place to start.
- Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 1881–1981 — David Smith and Gareth Williams, University of Wales Press (1980)
- A few words of Welsh. Bore da (good morning), diolch (thanks) and iechyd da (cheers) are warmly received, even if you mangle them.
- Music and singing. Choirs, hymns, Tom Jones, the Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals or Cerys Matthews.
- The landscape. Snowdonia (Eryri), the Gower, Pembrokeshire’s coast and the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) are huge sources of pride.
Topics to approach carefully
- Calling Wales part of England, or a Welsh person English. The quickest way to cause offence.
- National identity, England and Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
- Jokes about the language. Don’t call it dead, made-up or unpronounceable; it is spoken every day by hundreds of thousands of people.
- Welsh language, Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
- Aberfan and Tryweryn. Treat them as the tragedies they are.
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
- Tryweryn — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- Sheep jokes and old stereotypes. Welsh people have heard them all.
- Second homes and English incomers. This can be raw in rural areas; listen before taking sides.
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
Common misconceptions
- “Wales is part of England.” It is a nation within the United Kingdom, with its own parliament, language and national teams.
- Wales Says Yes: Devolution and the 2011 Welsh Referendum — Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully, University of Wales Press (2012)
- “Everyone in Wales speaks Welsh.” About one in six people aged three and over spoke Welsh in 2021, though many more understand some.
- Welsh language, Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS (2022)
- “Welsh is a dialect of English.” It is a separate Celtic language, closer to Breton and Cornish than to English.
- Wales and the Britons, 350–1064 — T. M. Charles-Edwards, Oxford University Press (2013)
- “Wales is all mines and sheep.” Wales has universities, a growing film and TV industry, a vibrant capital, and is often said to have more castles per square mile than anywhere in Europe.
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd — UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO
- “The Welsh hate the English.” Many Welsh people have English parents, partners or neighbours. What they dislike is being ignored or patronised, and losing to England at rugby.
People everyone knows
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the Last)
Prince of Gwynedd who united most of Wales under his rule and was recognised by Henry III as Prince of Wales in the Treaty of Montgomery, 1267. His clash with Edward I ended in war, and he was killed near Cilmeri on 11 December 1282. Welsh people call him Llywelyn ein Llyw Olaf, "our last leader", and his death marks the end of independent native rule in Wales.
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
Owain Glyndŵr
A gentleman of north-east Wales, descended from Welsh princes, who was proclaimed Prince of Wales on 16 September 1400 and led the last great Welsh rising against English rule. At its height he held parliaments at Machynlleth and planned Welsh universities and an independent Welsh church. The revolt was crushed and he vanished, never captured or betrayed, which made him the enduring national hero of modern Wales.
- The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1995)
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
William Morgan
A farmer's son from the Conwy valley, later Bishop of Llandaff and St Asaph, whose complete Welsh translation of the Bible was published in 1588. It gave Welsh a dignified standard literary form and put the language into every parish church, at a time when other Celtic languages were losing their written traditions. Many historians argue it did more than anything else to keep Welsh alive.
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan
A miner's son from Tredegar who went down the pit at thirteen, became Labour MP for Ebbw Vale and, as Minister of Health, founded the National Health Service in 1948. He modelled it partly on the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, through which local workers had paid into a fund for doctors. In Wales and England alike he is remembered as the man who made healthcare free at the point of use.
- Aneurin Bevan: A Biography — Michael Foot, MacGibbon & Kee (1962)
- The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State — Nicholas Timmins, HarperCollins (2017)
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
Saunders Lewis
Dramatist, critic and a founder of Plaid Cymru in 1925. In 1936 he and two others set fire to an RAF bombing school being built at Penyberth on the Llŷn peninsula, and were jailed. His 1962 BBC radio lecture Tynged yr Iaith ("The Fate of the Language") warned that Welsh would die without direct action, and inspired the founding of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, the Welsh Language Society. A brilliant and divisive figure, he shaped the modern language movement.
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
Gwynfor Evans
President of Plaid Cymru for over three decades and, after the Carmarthen by-election of July 1966, its first MP. A pacifist and Christian nationalist, he campaigned against the drowning of Capel Celyn. In 1980 he threatened to fast to death unless the government kept its promise of a Welsh-language television channel; it gave way, and S4C began broadcasting in 1982.
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Try it yourself
The quickest way into a culture: a song, a film, a book and a dish.
“Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad. (Nation, nation, I am loyal to my nation.)”
“Wales is an artefact which the Welsh produce. If they want to.”
Listen
- Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau "Land of My Fathers", written in Pontypridd in 1856 by Evan and James James; the national anthem, sung in Welsh, at full volume and often in tears, before every international match.▶ Listen
- Yma o Hyd Dafydd Iwan's 1983 song, "Still Here", about the Welsh nation surviving everything since the Romans; football fans adopted it as an anthem when Wales reached the 2022 World Cup.▶ Listen
- Calon Lân A late nineteenth-century hymn about a "pure heart", sung by rugby crowds and male voice choirs, the sound of chapel Wales in the stands.▶ Listen
Read
- Under Milk Wood Dylan Thomas's 1954 "play for voices" about a day in the life of a small seaside town, Llareggub; funny, bawdy and full of the music of Welsh English.Find it
- Un Nos Ola Leuad Caradog Prichard's 1961 Welsh-language novel ("One Moonlit Night") of a boy growing up in a north Wales quarrying village; often called the greatest Welsh novel of the twentieth century.Find it
Taste
- Cawl and Welsh cakes Cawl, a slow-cooked stew of lamb or beef with leeks and root vegetables, and picau ar y maen, Welsh cakes cooked on a griddle; bara brith fruit loaf and laverbread from Gower are close behind.Recipe
See & do
- Gavin & Stacey The 2007–2010 sitcom about an Essex boy and a girl from Barry, much loved for its gentle comedy about the differences, and similarities, between the English and the Welsh.Look it up
- The National Eisteddfod A week-long festival of Welsh-language poetry, music and culture held each August, alternating between north and south; its climax is the chairing of the bard, presided over by the druids of the Gorsedd.Look it up
- Rugby The national game, especially in the south; the golden era of the 1970s and the roar of the stadium in Cardiff are sources of enormous pride, and losing to England is never forgotten.Look it up
Where
Homeland Diaspora Significant place
Related
England · Scotland · Ireland · Northern Ireland · Protestantism · Catalonia
Sources & further reading
- Englishness: The Political Force Transforming Britain — Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones, Oxford University Press, 2021
- Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography — Charles Moore, Allen Lane, 2019
- The Span of the Cross: Christian Religion and Society in Wales 1914–2000 — D. Densil Morgan, University of Wales Press, 1999
- The Law of Hywel Dda: Law Texts from Medieval Wales — Dafydd Jenkins (translator and editor), Gomer Press, 1986
- The Last Rising: The Newport Insurrection of 1839 — David J. V. Jones, Oxford University Press, 1985
- Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 1881–1981 — David Smith and Gareth Williams, University of Wales Press, 1980
- Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s — David W. Bebbington, Unwin Hyman, 1989
- Wales — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Marching to the Fault Line: The 1984 Miners' Strike and the Death of Industrial Britain — Francis Beckett and David Hencke, Constable, 2009
- A Concise History of Wales — Geraint H. Jenkins, Cambridge University Press, 2007
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press, 1987
- The Welsh in Patagonia: The State and the Ethnic Community — Glyn Williams, University of Wales Press, 1991
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin, 1985
- The Merthyr Rising — Gwyn A. Williams, Croom Helm, 1978
- The Language of the Blue Books: The Perfect Instrument of Empire — Gwyneth Tyson Roberts, University of Wales Press, 1998
- History on Our Side: Wales and the 1984–85 Miners' Strike — Hywel Francis, Iconau, 2009
- The Fed: A History of the South Wales Miners in the Twentieth Century — Hywel Francis and David Smith, Lawrence & Wishart, 1980
- The Eisteddfod — Hywel Teifi Edwards, University of Wales Press, 1990
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press, 2000
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press, 1998
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin, 2007
- Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 — Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press and University of Wales Press, 1981
- How the United Kingdom voted on Thursday… and why — Lord Ashcroft Polls, 2016
- The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England — Marc Morris, Hutchinson, 2021
- Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics — Maria Sobolewska and Robert Ford, Cambridge University Press, 2020
- The Welsh Not: Education and the Welsh Language in the Nineteenth Century — Martin Johnes, University of Wales Press, 2024
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press, 2012
- Aneurin Bevan: A Biography — Michael Foot, MacGibbon & Kee, 1962
- Tryweryn — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography — National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales
- The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State — Nicholas Timmins, HarperCollins, 2017
- Welsh language, Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS, 2022
- National identity, England and Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, ONS, 2022
- Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021 — Office for National Statistics, 2022
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press, 1991
- The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press, 1995
- Wales Says Yes: Devolution and the 2011 Welsh Referendum — Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully, University of Wales Press, 2012
- The English and Their History — Robert Tombs, Allen Lane, 2014
- The Enemy Within: The Secret War Against the Miners — Seumas Milne, Verso, 1994
- Wales and the Britons, 350–1064 — T. M. Charles-Edwards, Oxford University Press, 2013
- Results and turnout at the EU referendum — The Electoral Commission (UK), 2016
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd — UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO
- Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers — Welsh Government, Welsh Government, 2017