Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Cymin (SO 527 125)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height, their locations, the drop, dominance and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of Cymin (SO 527 125)

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

200m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 200m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m 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.

Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales - Welsh P30 hills whose prominence  equal or exceed half that of their absolute height.  With the criteria for Lesser Dominant status being those additional Welsh P30 hills whose prominence is between one third and half that of their absolute height, with the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3^rd December 2015, and which is now available in its entirety on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

The hill is adjoined to the Fforest y Ddena group of hills which are situated in the south-eastern part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C3), and it is positioned with the A4136 road to its north and the A466 road to its south-west, and has the town of Trefynwy (Monmouth) towards the west.

The hill appeared in the original 200m Welsh P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name of Kymin Tower, which is a name that appeared near the summit of this hill on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Outdoor Leisure maps of the day.

Kymin Tower

250c

SO528124

162

14

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.  The name of Kymin Tower refers to an 18^th century round house and naval temple that are positioned on the summit area of this hill, as these are inanimate objects a name that refers directly to the hill is more appropriate.

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

Contemporary Ordnance Survey maps use the name Kymin which is positioned near the summit of this hill.  This form of this name also appears in a number of online sources.  The word Kymin is anglicised from the Welsh word Cymin, meaning common or unenclosed land, with the definite article ‘Y’ lost as evidenced in the anglicised form (Place-names of Gwent, Richard Morgan, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch 2005).

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.  It is also standard practice to use a Welsh name for a hill if another name exists that has originated in a different language.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Cymin, and this was derived from the anglicised form that appears on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps. 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Fforest y Ddena

Name:  Cymin

Previously Listed Name:  Kymin Tower

OS 1:50,000 map:  162

Summit Height:  256.4m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 52771 12511 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  170.6m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 53644 12441 (LIDAR)

 

Drop:  85.8m (LIDAR)

Dominance:  33.47% (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (April 2020)