The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the
Local Government Act 1972. It covered the whole area of four former districts and parts of a fifth from the
administrative county of
Caernarfonshire, which were all abolished at the same time: •
Beddgelert parish from
Gwyrfai Rural District •
Clynnog parish from Gwyrfai Rural District •
Criccieth Urban District •
Llŷn Rural District •
Porthmadog Urban District •
Pwllheli Municipal Borough The new district was named after the river
Dwyfor. Dwyfor was notable for being the last stronghold of the Sabbatarian
temperance movement in Wales. Under the terms of the
Licensing Act 1961, local referendums prevented the opening of
public houses on Sundays until 1996. Under the
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, the previous two tier system of counties and districts was replaced with new principal areas (each designated either a "county" or a "county borough"), whose councils perform the functions previously divided between the county and district councils. The Dwyfor area merged with
Arfon and
Meirionnydd to become a county which the government initially called "Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire". During the transition to the new system, the shadow authority requested a change of name from "Caernarfonshire and Meirionethshire" to "Gwynedd". The government confirmed the change with effect from 2 April 1996, one day after the new council came into being. The Dwyfor area remains in use as an
area committee of
Gwynedd Council. ==Political control==