A Field Not in England

[deleted]

No it wasn't. It was 'synonymous' only in the minds of liars and political enemies, after the Act of Union and especially in the 19th century, by those who controlled [and still control] public discourse. Vested interest is fully attuned to the importance of language. It knows well that if you avoid calling something by its right name it becomes anonymous and you don't have to other about it, which suits those who live off England down to the ground. The film is unknown to me. I gather it's about the English Civil War. There might conceivably be a legitimate dramatic explanation for a Welsh setting, if that is what it is, but 17th century England was an independent nation state [the oldest in Europe] and had been for the better part of a thousand years even by that time. Look to the history of the period, to the Diggers and the Levellers and the Puritans, to the endless, anguished debates about rights and morals and political justice, all of which invoke an Anglo Saxon past and hark back to early Common Law. I assure you Englishmen and women knew quite well who they were. 'British' they were not.

Did you actually read the post before making this inane, unoriginal joke? He's talking about where the film was set, not where it was filmed.

The second Laws in Wales Act of 1542 enumerated the counties of Wales and omitted Monmouthshire, which led to ambiguity as to whether the county was part of Wales or England.

~~Bayowolf
There's a difference between being frank... and being dick.

Well, if you think about it, as a civil war is going on all around, boundaries were changing all the time, depending on local lords and so on.
Us Welsh got involved a fair bit in the civil war, along with the Irish, who are represented by O'Neill in the film.
It all goes towards establishing uncertainty in the characters, I reckon.
But then, i could well be wrong.

Brippy, no need to be so rude, you completely misunderstood what the OP was questioning.

One of the CHARACTERS said that they were in Monmouthshire, so that is where the story is set. Monmouthshire is in fact now Welsh, and has always been Welsh speaking, so the confusion is understandable.

In the movie Moon, I'm fairly sure none of the characters ever say 'we're at Pinewood studios'.

I think the character said he was FROM Monmouthshire and had family in Gloucester (only about 10-15 miles away at it's nearest point)I don't think the field was said to be IN Monmouthshire.
That aside, and with some interesting historical facts being quoted on this thread, I'm not sure the comment that Monmouthshire always was (and still is) "Welsh speaking" is accurate. I live 5 miles away from the border and I have done all my life. I've spent a lot of time in South Wales, have friends and family there and thinking about it I can't recall ever hearing Welsh spoken in Monmouth ,or nearby Chepstow - either in the street, in the pubs or in the shops. I've only heard it spoken openly and naturally (ie. not for effect)in North Wales and then it was peppered with English terminology. My brother lived for years in The Valleys and loved it, but he never heard Welsh being spoken in everyday life and it initially amazed him that most of the Welsh people he worked with were openly critical of the amount of Welsh language TV broadcast in the region - which as a result they almost never watched.
I guess a century ago it may have been different in some parts (the border not being exactly set in stone over the course of several hundreds years) but to say Monmouthsire is, per se, 'Welsh Speaking' today is incorrect.