Creation
The county came into formal existence on 1 April 1974 when the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect. The new county consisted of the areas of:
- The county boroughs of Bristol and Bath,
- Part of the Administrative County of Gloucestershire:
- Kingswood Urban District, Mangotsfield Urban District
- Warmley Rural District, most of Sodbury Rural District and most of Thornbury Rural District
- Part of the Administrative County of Somerset:
- Municipal Borough of Weston-super-Mare
- Clevedon Urban District, Keynsham Urban District, Norton-Radstock Urban District, Portishead Urban District,
- Bathavon Rural District, Long Ashton Rural District, part of Axbridge Rural District and part of Clutton Rural District.
The county was divided into six districts. Bristol and Bath had identical boundaries to the former county boroughs. In the north the urban districts of Kingswood and Mangotsfield formed a single District of Kingswood, with the rest of the areas transferred from Gloucestershire becoming Northavon. In the south, there were two districts, Woodspring, on the coast, and Wansdyke, in the interior.
To the north the county bordered Gloucestershire, to the east Wiltshire and to the south Somerset. In the west it had a coast on the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel.
The area of Avon was 520 square miles (1,347 km2) and its population in 1991 was 919,800. Cities and towns in Avon included (in approximate order of population) Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Yate, Clevedon, Portishead, Midsomer Norton & Radstock, Bradley Stoke, Nailsea, Yatton, Keynsham, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton and Patchway.
Read more about this topic: Avon (county)
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—“Jennie June” Croly 1829–1901, U.S. founder of the woman’s club movement, journalist, author, editor. Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly and Mirror of Fashions, p. 44 (February 1870)
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—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)