Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

Gallt y Celyn (SH 811 542)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau, and the following details are in respect of a hill whose summit was surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 on the 24^th December 2013 and whose bwlch was surveyed on the 23^rd February 2016. 

The hill is situated in the Mynydd Hiraethog group of hills, and is positioned to the north of the Afon Conwy and the A5 road and between the towns of Betws-y-coed to its north-west, Pentrefoelas to its south-east and Llanrwst to its north.

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Gallt y Celyn

The hill appeared in the Sub List that accompanied the 200m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website and was later added to the P30 list when drop values based on interpolation were included.  It was subsequently reclassified to a 200m Sub-Twmpau based on its summit survey and finally reinstated as a 200m Twmpau after its bwlch was surveyed.

The hill originally appeared in this Sub List under an invented name of Bryn Graeanllyn, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the West.  As was my liking during my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to invent a name for a hill if no name seemed to appear for it on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with research either conducted locally or historically an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

Bryn Graeanllyn

258m

SH811542

116

18

Name from buildings to the West

The name this hill is now listed by is Gallt y Celyn and this was derived from the Tithe map.  The term Tithe map is generally given to a map of a Welsh or English parish or township and which was prepared after the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act.  This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods.  The Tithe maps gave names of owners and occupiers of land in each parish and importantly for place-name research they also included the name of enclosed land.  This enclosed land is usually based on a field system, however not every field is given a name, but many are and especially so in Wales.

The enclosed land is given the number of 2434 on the Tithe map

The enclosed land where the summit of Gallt y Celyn is situated is given the number of 2434 on the Tithe map, this can be cross referenced against the apportionments; it is these apportionments that give the name of the owner or occupier of the land as well as the name of the land.  The land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as Allotment on Gallt y Celyn and is described as Rocky Pasture; it appears in the county named as Denbigh.

When cross referenced in the apportionments the enclosed land is named as part of Gallt y Celyn

This is an example where the practice of transferring the map name given to a lower heighted hill to that of a near higher hill that is unnamed on current Ordnance Survey maps, and then using a directional name for the lower hill based on the name now given to the higher hill is foolhardy.  The details of this example appear below:


200m Twmpau:

Dinas Mawr    254.0m (converted to OSGM15) summit at SH 808 539

Gallt y Celyn    257.6m (converted to OSGM15) summit at SH 811 542

The hill at SH 808 539 is named Dinas Mawr on Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps, whereas that of Gallt y Celyn is unnamed on Ordnance Survey maps.  By transferring the name of the lower hill to the higher hill and then using a directional name for the lower hill, you get:

Tumps:

Dinas Mawr SW Top at SH 808 539

Dinas Mawr at SH 811 542

Both of these names are now inappropriate for the hill they are given to.  This is how these hills are currently listed in Mark Jackson’s Tumps.  If only the same amount of time were spent on place-name data when compared to the time spent on numerical data the contents within all hill lists would improve dramatically.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Hiraethog

Name:  Gallt y Celyn

Previously Listed Name:  Bryn Graeanllyn 

Summit Height:  257.6m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  116

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 81121 54259  

Drop:  30.1m (converted to OSGM15)

For details on the summit survey and the bwlch survey of Gallt y Celyn.

Myrddyn Phillips (June 2016)