Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 100m Twmpau

Cae Bengard & Cae Graig (SO 427 101)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 100m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height, their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of Cae Bengard & Cae Graig (SO 427 101)

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 Mynyddoedd Duon group of hills which are situated in the eastern part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C3), and it is encircled by minor roads with the Afon Troddi (River Trothy) and the B4233 road further to its north and the A40 road further to its south, and has the town of Y Fenni (Abergavenny) towards the west north-west and Trefynwy (Monmouth) towards the east north-east.

The hill originally appeared in the 100m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under a transposed name of The Hand, which is a prominent name that appears near the summit of this hill on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps.

The Hand

111m

SO427101

161

14

Trig pillar

During my early hill listing I paid little regard to name placement on the map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to.  Therefore I prioritised names for listing purposes that I now understand are either inappropriate or where another name is viewed as being more appropriate.

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 302 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 Cae Bengard & Cae Graig in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Tregare [sic] and in the county named as Monmouth.

Extract from the apportionments

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

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynyddoedd Duon

Name:  Cae Bengard & Cae Graig

Previously Listed Name:  The Hand

OS 1:50,000 map:  161

Summit Height:  110.9m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 42757 10187 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  79.7m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 41460 11339 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  31.2m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (February 2020)