Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

High Grove Wood (ST 423 898)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop, dominance and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of High Grove Wood (ST 423 898)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m 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 30-99m Twmpau - The 30m - 99m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

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.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips with the Introduction to the start of the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3rd December 2015, and which is now available in its entirety on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Gwent Is Coed 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 A48 road to its north and the M4 motorway to south, and has the city of Casnewydd (Newport) towards the west.

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

The hill appeared in the original 30-99m Welsh P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name of High Grove, which is a name that appears close to this hill’s summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps.

High Grove

92m

ST424897

171/172

154

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.

As the summit of this hill comprises bounded land the details for it were examined on the Tithe map.  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 181 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 High Grove Wood in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Saint Brides Netherwent and in the county named as Monmouth.

Extract from the apportionments

Although the name High Grove is probably a shortened version of the name that appears on the Tithe, it is the full Tithe name that is now prioritised.  Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is High Grove Wood, and this name was derived from the Tithe map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Gwent Is Coed

Name:  High Grove Wood

Previously Listed Name:  High Grove

OS 1:50,000 map:  171, 172

Summit Height:  91.1m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  ST 42386 89851 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  59.1m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  ST 42368 90194 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  32.0m (LIDAR)

Dominance:  35.08% (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (September 2020)