Parc Bach (SO 051 717)
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 LIDAR analysis
conducted by Aled Williams.
 |
| Parc Bach (SO 051 717) |
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 that have 30m
minimum drop; with the list being co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled
Williams and published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.
The hill is adjoined
to the Hirddywel group of hills, which are situated in the north-eastern part of Mid and West Wales
(Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is
encircled by minor roads, with the B4518 road further to its west, the A44 road
further to its south and the A483 road further to its east, and has the small
community of Abaty Cwm-hir (Abbeycwmhir) towards the south.
The hill appeared in the original Welsh 400m P30
list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name of Little Park, which is a
name that appears adjacent to the summit of this hill on contemporary Ordnance
Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps. This is also the name the hill was listed by in
the 1st edition of the Y
Pedwarau published by Europeaklist in May 2013.
 |
| Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
Since publication of the
1st edition of Y Pedwarau
the Tithe maps for Wales have become available online. 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 50 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 Parc Bach in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Llanbister and in the
county named as Radnor.
 |
| 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 Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales is
Parc Bach, and this was derived from the
Tithe map, with the Welsh name for this hill prioritised
over its English counterpart, which for listing purposes is standard practice.
The full details for the
hill are:
Group: Hirddywel
Name: Parc Bach
Previously Listed
Name: Little Park
OS 1:50,000 map: 136, 147
Summit Height: 427.2m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid
Reference: SO 05193 71775 (LIDAR)
Bwlch Height: 396.5m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid
Reference: SO 05219 72085 (LIDAR)
Drop: 30.7m (LIDAR)
Myrddyn Phillips and
Aled Williams (November 2019)
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