Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Bryn (SH 426 361)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is now listed in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with it suggested as a P30 by Chris Pearson in February 2018 and its status confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Chris Crocker.  The hill was subsequently analysed by LIDAR and surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 by Myrddyn Phillips, with the latter taking place on the 10^th September 2018.

LIDAR image of Bryn

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward.

Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales - Welsh P30 hills whose prominence  equal or exceed half that of their absolute height.  With the criteria for Lesser Dominant status being those additional Welsh P30 hills whose prominence is between one third and half that of their absolute height, with the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3^rd December 2015.

The hill is adjoined to the Pen Llŷn group of hills, which are situated in the western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A1), and is positioned overlooking the sea to its south and the A 497 road to its north, and has the town of Pwllheli towards the west.

The hill originally appeared in the accompanying sub list entitled Hills to be surveyed and which is adjoined to the 30-99m P30 list published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the invented name of Creigiau Penychain, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the North.

Creigiau Penychain

36m

SH427362

123

254

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 or as in this instance use the word Creigiau instead.  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 historic documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

As the summit of this hill comprises bounded land the details for it were examined on the Tithe map, and the upper section of the hill which now comprises one field, used to comprise two, with the boundary between each showing as a slight elevation on LIDAR.  This boundary although old, is not ancient, and is a relatively recent man-made construct.

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.

Extract from the Tithe map

Extract from the Tithe map

The two upper fields at the time of the Tithe are orientated north-west – south-east of one another.  The enclosed land where the north-westerly field is situated is given the number 2183 on the Tithe map, whilst the south-easterly field is given the number 2212 on the Tithe map, these 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 north-westerly field is named Bryn Cefn Tŷ and the south-easterly field is named Cae Bryn in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Aber-erch and in the county named as Caernarfonshire.

Extract from the apportionments

Extract from the apportionments

After visiting the hill I took the opportunity to call at the farm of Penychain which is situated to the immediate north of the hill, and met Griffith Owen; the local farmer, who is now aged 76 and has lived at this farm for many years.  Griffith told me that the headland to the south-east of this hill’s summit is known as Penychain and that the hill is known as Bryn, with some locals also knowing it as Bryn Penychain to differentiate this generic name from other hills in the vicinity that are also known as Bryn.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Bryn, and this was derived from local enquiry.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Pen Llŷn

Name:  Bryn

Previously Listed Name:  Creigiau Penychain

 

OS 1:50,000 map:  123

Summit Height:  36.7m (converted to OSGM15) (natural summit)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 42656 36173 (natural summit)

Bwlch Height:  6.6m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 43103 36535 (LIDAR)

 

Drop:  30.0m (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance:  81.88% (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch)

For details of the summit survey of this hill

Myrddyn Phillips (January 2019)