Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales

Craignant Hill (SJ 119 165)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant, with the height, drop, highest summit and status of the hill being confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey which took place on the 6^th April 2017.

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

Y Trichant - These are the Welsh hills at and above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop,  with the introduction to the re-naming and publication history of this list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13^th May 2017.

The hill is a part of the Y Berwyn range, this group of hills is situated in the south-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A4), and is positioned above the town of Llanfyllin to the north-east and the village of Meifod to the south-east.  

Craignant Hill (SJ 119 165)

The hill appeared in the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the partly invented name of Pen Craignant-mawr, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the North.  

Pen Craignant-mawr

329m

SJ119166

125

239

Included by contour configuration. Name from buildings to the North

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.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historical documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found, and in the case of this hill it was the local farmer who works the land where the summit of this hill is situated who gave the name of Craignant Hill.

John Evans on the right with Aled Watkins

The local farmer is John Evans who farms from Tyncelyn which is situated towards the south-west of the hill.  John farms the land that the hill is a part of and when I met him he was shepherding sheep up the country lane to their field, once the sheep were penned in we talked about the hill which was adjacent to us.  John explained that although he now farms this land the hill is still known by the name of Craignant Hill, through its past association with Craignant-mawr; which is a farm to the immediate north of the hill.  I asked if he had ever heard a separate name for the other top (the hill has two distinct summits, which are close to one another and given the same map height and which the Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey separated), he said no, they are both known by the same name; Craignant Hill.     

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant is Craignant Hill and this was derived from local enquiry. 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Y Berwyn

Name:  Craignant Hill

Previously Listed Name:  Pen Craignant-mawr

 

Summit Height:  329.5m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 11926 16590 

  

Drop:  30.3m (converted to OSGM15)

For details on the survey of Craignant Hill

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2017)