Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Pedwarau

Graig Fawr (SJ 197 588)

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 and its position confirmed from LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams.

Graig Fawr (SJ 197 588)

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, accompanying the main Y Pedwarau list are five categories of sub hills, with this hill being listed in the 400m Sub-Pedwar category.  The criteria for 400m Sub-Pedwar status being all Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of 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.

As the authors did not know an appropriate name for this hill either from local enquiry or historic documentation it was listed under the point (Pt. 403m, Bryn Alyn) notation in the 1^st edition of the Y Pedwarau published by Europeaklist in May 2013, with the Bryn Alyn component being a name that appears relatively close to the summit of this hill on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps.

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

Since publication of the 1^st edition of Y Pedwarau there are now 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.  One of the historic maps now available is 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 this map 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, and importantly for this hill and its listed name, it is the Draft Surveyors map that name the hill as Graig Fawr.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors 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 Graig Fawr, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Moel y Gamelin

Name:  Graig Fawr

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 403m, Bryn Alyn

OS 1:50,000 map:  116

Summit Height:  403.7m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 19712 58866 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  c 377m (interpolation)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 19939 58832 (interpolation)

Drop:  c 27m

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2019)