Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales

Corun Fanolau (SO 015 361)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Pedwarau, and the following details are in respect of a hill that was surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 on the 18^th August 2015.

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

Y Pedwarau - These are the Welsh hills at and above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams, and the introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appeared on the 30th January 2017.

The hill is a part of the Mynydd Epynt range, which is a group of hills situated in the south-eastern part of mid and west Wales.  The hill is positioned between the small communities of Merthyr Cynog to the west north-west and Lower Chapel to the east south-east.

Corun Fanolau (SO 015 361)

The hill appeared in the 400m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the partly invented name Bryn Fanolau, with an accompanying note stating; Name from farm to the South-West.  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 and as in this instance, use the name of what I presumed to be a farm and prefix it with the word Bryn.  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 Fanolau

423m

SO016362

160

188

Clem/Yeaman. Trig pillar. Name from farm to the South-West.

 

Since publication of these P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website there have been a number of Ordnance Survey maps made available online, some of these are historical such as the series of Six-Inch maps on the National Library of Scotland website, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the enlarged map on the Geograph website.  One of the historical maps now available is the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map which formed the basis for the first publicly available Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, and it is details on the Draft Surveyors map that formed the basis for the change in this hill’s listed name. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map

The Draft Surveyors maps consist of the preliminary drawings made by the Ordnance Survey’s surveyors between the 1780s and 1840 and formed the basis for the first publicly available One-Inch map.  They were drawn at scales of six inches to the mile for areas considered of particular military significance and down to two inches to the mile for other areas.  Fair copies were then produced from these preliminary drawings to one inch to the mile and then copper plates were prepared for printing.  The Draft Surveyors maps for the whole of Wales are now available online and they form an important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names as they bridge the time frame between the late 18^th century and the mid-19^th century when the Ordnance Survey produced their first One-Inch maps. 

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in Y Pedwarau is Corun Fanolau (conforming to standard modern Welsh), and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Epynt

Name:  Corun Fanolau

Previously Listed Name:  Bryn Fanolau

 

Summit Height:  423.2m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  160

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 01525 36160  

Drop:  96.5m

For details on the survey of Corun Fanolau

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (September 2016)