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

Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700)

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 confirmed by LIDAR analysis instigated by Joe Nuttall who produced a summit analysis programme, and then by LIDAR analysis conducted initially by Jim Bloomer and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips, and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey.

LIDAR image of Hafod Llŷn (SN 625 700)

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.

Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Hafod Ithel group of hills, which are situated in the western part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B3), and it is encircled by minor roads and farther afield it has the B4576 road to its west and the A485 road to its east, and has the village of Lledrod towards the east.

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the partly invented and transposed name of Moel Cwm Crown, with an accompanying note stating; Name from cwm to the North-West.

Moel Cwm Crown

330m

SN626701

135

213

Name from cwm to the North-West

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 transpose the name of a near cwm and prefix it with the invented word of Moel.  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 362 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 Hafod Llyn in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Lledrod and in the county named as Cardigan.

Extract from the apportionments

When visiting this hill I met Ieuan and Avril Jones; the local farmers who live at Pwllclai.  Avril kindly drove me up this hill with me clinging on in the back of a trailer and stopped beside a caravan and what turned out to be a water slide and small pool that they had constructed for their grandchildren during lockdown.  I descended from the trailer with a broad smile on my face and said hello to Avril and thanked her for taking me up the hill.  Ieuan soon appeared and we stood and chatted for quite some time.

Ieuan and Avril Jones

During the conversation I explained my interest in hill names and asked what name they knew this hill by; the reply made me smile; Hafod Llŷn.  I showed them my notes for the hill with this name written out and told them that it appears on the Tithe.  Ieuan explained that the name is Hafod Llŷn and not Hafod Llyn, the former relates to Pen Llŷn (Lleyn Peninsula in north-west Wales), whilst the latter would relate to a lake.  The translation of this name can be the summer dwelling of the Llŷn.  The word Llŷn being used as from this vantage point you can see the great sweep of Cardigan Bay taking in the Pembrokeshire coast all the way north to the Llŷn Peninsula.

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

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Hafod Ithel

Name:  Hafod Llŷn

Previously Listed Name:  Moel Cwm Crown

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  330.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 62592 70023 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  300.0m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 62234 69672 & SN 62235 69675 (LIDAR)

Drop:  30.6m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2020)