The first chapter describes the habitat of the gentry and the geographical perspectives so essential to the development of a sense of community. In Wales, miles are less important than hills: that is, two lowland communities ten or twenty miles apart might be 'closer' than villages separated by only a mile or two of steep hills and dangerous torrents. This meant that southern Glamorgan – the gentry homeland – had close ties with the coastal plain of south Monmouthshire, but very few links at all with the Welsh interior; and sea communications became of disproportionate importance at all levels of society. A study of Glamorgan's common people almost suggests that we are dealing with two distinct communities. Half the county looked to Bristol as its capital, half to Brecon or Carmarthen. In this context, southern Glamorgan was only ambiguously 'Welsh' before 1800, and one theme of this book will be the fusion of the county into new Welsh entities, both cultural and economic.

Links with south-western England were to be of profound importance beyond the economic sphere. Bristol connections also linked the area to Ireland and the colonies, sources of raw materials, and markets; but the western lands were not always so fruitful or rewarding. Until 1689, Ireland meant the catholic threat, which would thus be much more feared in coastal Wales than in more protected areas of the interior.