Change Register - The Hewitts of England

Change Register

The Hewitts of England

In June 1997 TACit Tables published a booklet entitled The Hewitts and Marilyns of England, with a sister booklet to The Hewitts and Marilyns of Wales being published in February of the same year.  These booklets are two in a series of many that the list author; Alan Dawson, compiled and had published by TACit Tables for P30 hills throughout Britain that are 2,000ft (609.6m) and above in height. 

The Hewitts (an acronym for Hill in England, Wales or Ireland over Two Thousand feet high) are all hills in these countries at or above 2,000ft (609.6m) in height that have a minimum drop of 30m, accompanying the main list are two sub category’s entitled SubHewitts, with the two sets of criteria being any hill at or above 600m and below 2000ft (609.6m) in height that has a minimum drop of 30m and any hill at or above 2000ft (609.6m) in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop.

The listing originated as the Sweats (an acronym for Summits in Wales and England Above Two-thousand FEET) and appeared as The Absolute Summits of England and Wales in The Relative Hills of Britain book published by Cicerone Press in 1992, its author; Alan Dawson then separated the component parts and renamed them the Hewitts and published each in the TACit Tables booklets as detailed above.

For those people who have completed an ascent of each listed hill they would have visited all summits in England at or above 2,000ft (609.6m) in height that have a minimum prominence of 30m.  These hills take in the majority of upland areas in England from the wilderness of the Cheviot in the north, to the openness of the Pennines and the compact beauty of the Lake District, to the rock tors of Dartmoor in the south, each and every hill can leave memories that refresh the soul and body, and for many it is the TACit Table booklet that has taken them on a journey through some of the most beautiful landscape that Britain has to offer.

When the booklet was first published England was listed with 178 hills.  Since these early days the influx of independent surveyors, the availability of LIDAR and the diligence of map study have reclassified a number of hills to Hewitt status.  But what hills have now entered this list and who was responsible for their inclusion?

It seems fitting to list these reclassified English Hewitts as there have been three alterations to this list within a two year period between September 2016 and September 2018 with two hills being promoted and one deleted from the list, with their overall total now being 180, an increase of two since they were listed in 1997.  These reclassifications are just the latest in a line that stretches back to September 2006 when the first of many surveys that reclassified a hill to English Hewitt status was conducted, and it seems appropriate to list these with their respective details, now that there are three hills that have recently changed classification.  However, there have also been two other promotions over the years, and these are also listed with their respective details.

The Change Register to The Hewitts of England appears below in receding order under the hill name used by Alan Dawson:

Change Register

The Hewitts of England

Carl Side    746.8m at NY 25494 28086 

LIDAR image of Carl Side (NY 254 280)

Prior to this hill’s reclassification to Subhewitt status it was listed as a Hewitt with 30m of drop, based on a 746m summit height and a 716m col height.  The details for this hill were subsequently analysed via LIDAR which was prompted by the result produced by Joe Nuttall’s summit analysis programme which uses LIDAR to ascertain heights and drops of hills.  LIDAR analysis resulted in a 746.8m summit height and a 718.6m col height, with these values giving this hill 28.3m of drop.  The reclassification of Carl Side to Subhewitt status was augmented by Alan Dawson in to the Hewitts list on the 11^th January 2021.  English Hewitt total decreases by one and confirmed as 180. 

 

 

Combe Head    735.3m at NY 24972 10939 

LIDAR image of Combe Head (NY 249 109)

This hill is included in the listing of English Hewitts based on detail produced from Joe Nuttall’s summit analysis programme which uses LIDAR to ascertain heights and drops of hills.  Prior to this hill’s inclusion it was listed with 28m of drop, based on a 735m summit height and a 707m col height.  The details for this hill were subsequently analysed via LIDAR, resulting in a 735.3m summit height and a 704.1m col height, with these values giving this hill 31.2m of drop.  The addition of Combe Head to Hewitt status was augmented by Alan Dawson in to the Hewitts list on the 11^th January 2021.  English Hewitt total increases by one and confirmed as 181.

Green Side    794.1m at NY 35270 18750

LIDAR image of Green Side (NY 352 187)

This is the second hill to be reclassified within the Hewitts, and the first to lose its Hewitt status solely based on LIDAR analysis.  Prior to this hill’s reclassification it was listed with 30m of drop, based on a 795m summit height and a 765m col height.  The details for this hill were subsequently analysed via LIDAR by Alan Dawson, resulting in a 794.1m summit height and a 765.2m col height, with these values giving this hill 28.9m of drop.  The reclassification of Green Side from Hewitt status was augmented by Alan Dawson in to the Hewitts list in September 2018.  English Hewitt total decreases by one and confirmed as 180.

Striding Edge    862.9m at NY 35061 14922

LIDAR image of Striding Edge (NY 350 149)

Prior to this hill’s reclassification to Hewitt status it was listed with an estimated c 28m of drop, based on an 863m summit height and an 835m col height.  The details for this hill were subsequently analysed via LIDAR by Alan Dawson, resulting in an 862.9m summit height and an 831.6m col height, with these values giving this hill 31.2m of drop, and it became the first hill to be reclassified within the Hewitts listing solely based on LIDAR analysis.  The reclassification of Striding Edge to Hewitt status was augmented by Alan Dawson in to the Hewitts list in September 2018.  English Hewitt total increases by one and confirmed as 181.

Calf Top    609.61m at SD 66450 85624 

Calf Top from the summit of Castle Knott

This hill was surveyed by John Barnard, Graham Jackson and Myrddyn Phillips using a Leica 530, firstly on the 15^th April 2010 when a two hour summit data set was gathered, and secondly on the 20^th May 2010 when a four hour summit data set was gathered.  Both data sets were subsequently processed by Ordnance Survey who confirmed that this hill was 609.58m high and therefore just 2cm under 2,000ft (609.6m) in height.  However, six years later the Ordnance Survey produced their new geoid model; OSGM15, resulting in all known accurate heights throughout England and also Wales increasing by 2cm – 4cm, this resulted in Calf Top increasing in known height to all of 6mm over 609.6m (2,000ft).  The reclassification of Calf Top to Hewitt status was accepted by Alan Dawson and augmented in to the Hewitts list in September 2016, with a retrospective Hill Reclassifications post being published on Mapping Mountains.    English Hewitt total increases by one and confirmed as 180.

Thack Moor    609.65m at NY 61166 46278 

Thack Moor 

This hill was surveyed by John Barnard, Graham Jackson and Myrddyn Phillips using a Leica 530 and Leica GS15, firstly on the 22^nd August 2012 when a two hour summit data set was gathered, and secondly on the 3^rd March 2013 when a four hour summit data set was gathered.  Both data sets were subsequently processed by Ordnance Survey who confirmed that this hill is 609.65m high and therefore over 2,000ft (609.6m) in height.  The reclassification of Thack Moor to Hewitt status was accepted by Alan Dawson and augmented in to the Hewitts list in April 2013, with a retrospective Hill Reclassifications post being published on Mapping Mountains.  English Hewitt total increases by one and confirmed as 179.

Birks Fell    610.4m at SD 91879 76371  

LIDAR image of Birks Fell (SD 918 763)

This hill had been proposed for inclusion as a Hewitt by several people, most notably John Barnard and Graham Jackson who on the 3^rd June 2006 used an automatic level in calculating the height of this hill.  The Ordnance Survey subsequently confirmed its height and the reclassification of Birks Fell to Hewitt status was accepted by Alan Dawson and augmented in to the Hewitts list in September 2006.  The hill was subsequently analysed via LIDAR by Myrddyn Phillips resulting in a 610.3m summit height and a 452.2m col height, with these values giving this hill 158.1m of drop with the 610.4m optical survey result preferred by the author.  English Hewitt total increases by one and confirmed as 178.

Black Mountain    703.7m at SO 25520 35383  

Black Mountain is now listed as just a Welsh Hewitt

When The Hewitts and Marilyns of England booklet was published this hill was included in both the English and Welsh Hewitt list as its summit was considered to be positioned on the border between each country.  This dual listing status was reassessed by Alan Dawson and its Welsh Hewitt listing retained and its English Hewitt listing relinquished when the Update to The Relative Hills of Britain was published in April 2006, with an accompanying note stating; Black Mountain is on the border but counted in Wales.  The hill was subsequently surveyed on the 28^th September 2017 with a repeat summit survey taking place on the 12^th July 2018 by Myrddyn Phillips using a Trimble GeoXH 6000 to determine the summit height and its position relating to the border between England and Wales, with assistance from Mark Trengove on the second survey.  Subsequent consultation with Ordnance Survey and the Boundary Commission for Wales resulted in confirmation that the border between England and Wales as given on the Ordnance Survey MasterMap is positioned 12 metres east from the grid coordinates for the summit of this hill, and even though evidence supports the border follows the watershed the summit for now is considered to be positioned in Wales.  English Hewitt total decreases by one and confirmed as 177.

1997 (June) - TACit Tables publishes The Hewitts and Marilyns of England.    

English Hewitt total confirmed as 178.