Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 100m Twmpau

Bryn (ST 008 824)

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 Bryn (ST 008 824)

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 Bro Morgannwg group of hills, which are situated in the southern part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C2), and it is encircled by roads with the A473 to its north and minor roads to its west and south, with the M4 motorway further to the south, and has the small community of Llanharan towards its north-west.

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 Coed-y-bryn, with an accompanying note stating; Name from wood to the South-West.

Pen Coed-y-bryn

120c

ST008825

170

151

Name from wood to the South-West

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 this hill comprises bounded land 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 215 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 Brynn & Nursery in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of LLanharran [sic] and in the county named as Glamorgan.

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 100m Twmpau is Bryn, and this was derived from the Tithe map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Bro Morgannwg

Name:  Bryn

Previously Listed Name:  Pen Coed-y-bryn 

OS 1:50,000 map:  170

Summit Height:  123.7m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  ST 00857 82495 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  83.5m (LIDAR, natural bwlch)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  ST 00667 80714 (LIDAR, natural bwlch) 

Drop:  40.2m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (September 2019)