Coed Cae Maen (ST 362
998)
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill
that is listed in the 100m Twmpau,
with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status
of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.
 |
| LIDAR image of Coed Cae Maen (ST 362 998) |
The criteria for the list that this name change applies to
are:
100m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m in height with 30m
minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 100m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all
Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m 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 is encircled by minor roads with the A472 road further to
its north and the A449 road further to its east, and has the town of Brynbuga
(Usk) towards its north-east.
The hill originally appeared in the 100m P30 list
on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the partly invented and transposed name
of Pen Cae-maen Wood, with an accompanying
note stating; Name from wood to the East.
Pen Cae-maen Wood
|
100c
|
171
|
152
|
Name from wood to the East
|
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 transpose the name of a wood and add the word Pen to it. 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.
 |
| Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
As the name of Cae-maen Wood appears adjacent to
this hill’s summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps the Tithe map was
consulted. 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 |
The enclosed land where the summit of this hill is
situated is given the number 431 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 Coed Cae Main in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of LLanbaddock [sic] and in the county named as
Monmouth.
 |
| Extract from the apportionments |
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 100m Twmpau is Coed Cae Maen, and
this was derived from the Tithe map with contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000
Explorer maps using a mixed language version of this name.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Cymoedd Gwent
Name: Coed Cae Maen
Previously Listed Name:
Pen Cae-maen Wood
OS 1:50,000 map: 171
Summit Height: 101.0m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid Reference:
ST 36203 99841 (LIDAR)
Bwlch Height: 67.6m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference:
ST 35963 99882 (LIDAR)
Drop: 33.1m (LIDAR)
Myrddyn Phillips (August 2019)
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