Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales

Foel (SJ 074 521)

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 and its location confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips, and the bwlch height and its location, the drop and status of the hill derived from detail on contemporary maps produced from Ordnance Survey data.

LIDAR image of Foel (SJ 074 521)

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 positioned with the B5105 road to its north and minor roads to it immediate west and south-east, with the A494 road further to its south-east, and has the village of Clawddnewydd towards the east north-east.

The hill was not included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list that accompanied the original Welsh 300m P30 list published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used in this sub category.  It was later listed by the point (Pt. 325m) notation when the P30 lists were re-assessed.

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 722 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 Foel in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Derwen yn Yal and in the county named as Denbigh.

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Foel, and this was derived from the Tithe map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Hiraethog

Name:  Foel

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 325m

OS 1:50,000 map:  116

Summit Height:  324.6m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 07414 52102 & SJ 07416 52103 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  c 304m (interpolation)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 07133 52262 (interpolation)

Drop:  c 21m (LIDAR summit and interpolated bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (June 2020)