Meifod (SJ 043 595)
There has been a
Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their
locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from detail on contemporary
Ordnance Survey maps.
The criteria for the
list that this name change applies to are:
Y Trichant – The 300m
Hills of Wales. Welsh hills at or
above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the
Sub-Trichant with the criteria for
this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in
height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop.
The list is authored by
Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list and the renaming of it appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13th May 2017.
The hill is adjoined to the
Mynydd Hiraethog group of hills which are situated
in the north-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is
encircled by minor roads with the A543 road further to its north-west, the B5105
road further to its south and the A525 road further to its north-east, and has
the town of Dinbych (Denbigh) towards the north.
The hill appeared in the
original Welsh 300m P30 list published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under
the directional name of Foel Uchaf
North-west Top, with an accompanying note stating; Name from hill to the South-East.
| Foel Uchaf North-West Top | 330c | SJ044596 | 116 | 264 | Name from hill to the South-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 use a directional name based on supplanting the
name adjoined to the hill to the south-east and adding a directional component
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 120 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 a part of Meifod in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch
and in the county named as Denbighshire.
 |
| Extract from the apportionments |
Therefore, the name this hill is
now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m
Hills of Wales is Meifod, and this was derived from the Tithe map.
The full details for the
hill are:
Group: Mynydd Hiraethog
Name: Meifod
Previously Listed
Name: Foel Uchaf North-west Top
OS 1:50,000 map: 116
Summit Height: c 330m (interpolation)
Summit Grid
Reference: SJ 04329 59560
(interpolation)
Bwlch Height: c 305m (interpolation)
Bwlch Grid
Reference: SJ 04576 59489
(interpolation)
Drop: c 25m (interpolation)
Myrddyn Phillips (April
2020)
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