Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Pedwarau

Craig yr Ywen (SJ 200 587)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by a Leica 530 survey conducted by John Barnard, Graham Jackson and Myrddyn Phillips which took place on the 17^th January 2012.

Craig yr Ywen (SJ 200 587)

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

Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales.  Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height with 30m minimum drop, the list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

The hill is adjoined to the Moel y Gamelin group of hills, which are situated in the north-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is positioned with the A494 road and the Afon Alun (River Alyn) to its north-west and the B5430 road to its south, and has the town of Rhuthun (Ruthin) towards the west.

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 400m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the transposed name of Pen-y-coed, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the East.

Pen-y-coed

408m

SJ200587

117

256/265

Name from buildings 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 what I presumed to be a farm and use it for that of the hill.  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

The name of this hill was re-evaluated and listed as Bryn Alyn in the Y Pedwarau publication by Europeaklist in May 2013, and this is a name that appears relatively close to the summit of this hill on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps.

Since publication of these P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website there have been a number of Ordnance Survey maps made available online, some of these are historic such as the series of Six-Inch maps on the National Library of Scotland website, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which is entitled the Interactive Coverage Map.  Two of the historic maps now available are the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map which formed the basis for the first publicly available Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map and it is these maps that formed the basis for the change in this hill’s listed name.

The Draft Surveyors maps consist of the preliminary drawings made by the Ordnance Surveyor’s surveyors between the 1780s and 1840 and formed the basis for the first publicly available One-Inch map.  They were drawn at scales of six inches to the mile for areas considered of particular military significance and down to two inches to the mile for other areas.  Fair copies were then produced from these preliminary drawings to one inch to the mile and then copper plates were prepared for printing.  The Draft Surveyors maps for the whole of Wales are now available online and they form an important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names as they bridge the time frame between the late 18^th century and the mid-19^th century when the Ordnance Survey produced their first One-Inch maps.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map

The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map was the first map that the Ordnance Survey produced, and their publication culminated from the whole of Britain being surveyed between 1791 and 1874 and the detail gathered therein produced at a scale of one inch to the mile and published in sheet format between 1805 and 1874.  The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ maps for the whole of Wales are now available online; they are also available in map format as enlarged and re-projected versions to match the scale and dimensions of the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series and are published by Cassini.  This series of maps form another important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names and bridge the timeframe leading up to the production of the Ordnance Survey base map of the Six-Inch series, and importantly for this hill and its listed name, it is these two maps that name the hill as Craig yr Ywen.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey One-Inch 'Old Series' map

Although the name of Bryn Alyn appears close to the summit of this hill on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps it is applicable to a farm and not necessarily the hill, as evidenced by its position given on the Ordnance Surveys series of Six-Inch maps.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales is Craig yr Ywen, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map and the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Moel y Gamelin

Name:  Craig yr Ywen

Previously Listed Name:  Bryn Alyn

OS 1:50,000 map:  117

Summit Height:  408.3m (converted to OSGM15, Leica 530)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 20079 58749

Bwlch Height:  307.4m (converted to OSGM15, Leica 530)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 21155 56206

Drop:  100.8m

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2019)