Racecourse (SO 091 862)
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit survey and subsequent LIDAR bwlch analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.
The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of the Racecourse |
The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:
The hill is a part of the Cilfaesty range, this group of hills is situated in the north-eastern part of Mid and West Wales, and the hill is positioned above the A 483 road and between the town of Y Drenewydd (Newtown) to its north and the small community of Llanbadarn Fynydd to its south.
The hill appeared in the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the transposed and invented name Glog Wood Top, with an accompanying note stating; Name from wood to the West.
Glog Wood Top
|
371m
|
136
|
214
|
Name from wood to the 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 or as in this instance, use the name of the wood which takes in the lower westerly slopes of this hill and add the word Top ti it. 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.
Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
The name this hill is now listed by is the Racecourse, and this was derived from local enquiry with the Morris family who live at Garth-Heilyn which is positioned under the hill to its north. When I made enquiries Gwyn Morris told me that he didn’t know why the hill is known as the Racecourse and explained that Gilfach farm used to own the land, with his family moving to Garth-Heilyn in 1935 and purchasing the land from Gilfach in 1969, and the hill was known as the Racecourse even when Gilfach owned the land.
Gwyn Morris |
I then spoke to Gwyn’s
brother; Andrew Morris, and as soon as I mentioned the hill, he said ‘You mean the
Racecourse.’ He proceeded to tell me that
he didn’t know why it was called by this name, but that was the name the locals
had known it by for decades.
Andrew Morris |
I later checked 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 where the summit of this hill is
situated is given the number A. 236 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 Race Course on
the Tithe map and described as Pasture; it
appears in the county named as Montgomery and in the parish of Ceri.
The land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as the Race Course on the Tithe map |
Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales is
the Racecourse, and this was derived
from local enquiry, and later substantiated as the land where the summit of this hill is
situated being confirmed by the use of the same name on the Tithe map.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Cilfaesty
Name: Racecourse
Previously Listed Name:
Glog Wood Top
OS 1:50,000 map: 136
Summit Height: 370.7m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Summit Grid Reference: SO 09122 86296 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 326.6m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 09105 89515 (LIDAR)
Drop: 44.1m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Myrddyn Phillips (November 2016)
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