Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 100m Twmpau

Gravel Pit Field (SJ 225 167)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 100m Twmpau, and the following details are in respect of a hill that was surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 on the 8^th August 2015.

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

100m Twmpau - All Welsh hills at and above 100m and below 200m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward.

The hill is a part of the Carnedd Wen range, which is an extensive group of hills situated in the southern part of north Wales.  It is positioned between the small communities of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain to the north, Four Crosses to the east north-east and Ardd-lin (Arddleen) to the east south-east.

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Gravel Pit Field

The hill appeared in the 100m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under an invented name of The Mount, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the South-East.  During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill, or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them, or as in this instance, use the name of a near house.  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.  

The Mount

154m

SJ225166

126

240

Name from buildings to the South-East. Trig pillar.

The name this hill is now listed by is Gravel Pit Field, 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.

Accessing information on the Tithe map is simplified by the use of a split screen enabling the lay of land as it is today on the map on the right to be compared against the lay of land as it was during the time of the Tithe map

With the aid of an overlay the two sets of information can be directly compared

The enclosed land where the summit of Gravel Pit Field is situated is given the number 288 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 Gravel Pit Field on the Tithe map; it appears in the county named as Montgomery and in the parish of Meifod. 

When cross referenced in the apportionments the enclosed land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as Gravel Pit Field

It is important when studying these apportionments to compare the number given on the Tithe map with the information given in the apportionments, as in this instance there are at least three other references to the number 288, by doing so it is relatively easy to ascertain which number applies to the land where the summit of the hill is situated, with this hill there are a number of clues, including the number 330 and its description as Mount House Buildings, this reference applies to the house that gave its name to this hill in the original P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Carnedd Wen

Name:  Gravel Pit Field

Previously Listed Name:  The Mount 

Summit Height:  154.9m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  126

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 22598 16703 

 

Drop:  c 47m

For details on the survey of Gravel Pit Field

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2016)