A study of socio-geographic change in the central Welsh marchland since the mid-nineteenth century.

The zones of territory through which boundaries between states are demarcated are areas in which cultural features of the adjoining counties commonly merge. In the Central Welsh Marchland the location of the political boundary along the zone of the physical contact of the Mountains with the plains rather than along a high watershed or other features of physical separation has played a dominant role in its early and more recent history. The character of the relief was reflected in the movements of peoples east and west, and this has been the dominant influence in the evolution of the many transitions which continue both to separate and to integrate the Welsh znd the English. Such an area is considered ideal for a study of socio-geographic change from both a structural and a process viewpoint, particularly, during the past one hundred years. Emphasis is laid upon changes in its demographic, settlement, linguistic, and religious structure. In addition, the effect of the process of geographical mobility in bringing about such structural changes is also considered. During the past one hundred years the direction of major movements of socio-geographic change has been from England towards Wales, and the effect of such changes has meant that the economic, social, and cultural differences which distinguished Wales from England have become increasingly less manifest in the lives of the peoples in the occupance of the land.