Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

Comin Caerffili (ST 153 855)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill initiated by Joe Nuttall who produced a summit analysis programme using LIDAR, and then by LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Jim Bloomer and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of Comin Caerffili (ST 153 855)

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

200m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 200m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m 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.

The hill is adjoined to the Cymoedd Gwent group of hills, which are situated in the eastern part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C2), and it has the A469 road to its west and south and the B4623 road to its east, and has the town of Caerffili (Caerphilly) towards its north.

This hill was first listed in the original Welsh 200m P30 list published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the name of Caerphilly Common, which is the name appearing close to this hill’s summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps of the day.

Caerphilly Common

271m

ST153855

171

151

Clem/Yeaman. Trig pillar.

During my early hill listing I paid little regard to the use of language, name placement on the map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to.  Therefore I prioritised names for listing purposes that I now understand are either inappropriate or where another name is viewed as being more appropriate.    

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

The intricacies of language and prioritising one in favour of another for listing a hill is fraught with complication, with originating Cymraeg names being anglicised and also originating English names being cymricised, examples such as these are more common in border country and especially so for anglicised forms.  There is no steadfast rule that fits all, but as a standard a name that has its origins in the Welsh language and where this is substantiated by either historic documentation and / or contemporary usage should be prioritised in favour of a contemporary anglicised or English version of the name.  Likewise, if a name exists where an element of it is in English and if this name applies to a hill that is situated in a Welsh speaking part of Wales it is standard practice to use a full Welsh term for the name. 

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Comin Caerffili, and this was derived from online sources substantiating the present day use of its Welsh name, and this is prioritised over its English equivalent which for listing purposes is standard practice.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Cymoedd Gwent

Name:  Comin Caerffili

Previously Listed Name:  Caerphilly Common

 

OS 1:50,000 map:  171

Summit Height:  270.8m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  ST 15301 85529 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  239.2m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  ST 15573 85129 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  31.5m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2019)