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

 

Mountain (SJ 235 555) 

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 maps produced from Ordnance Survey data and LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Mountain (SJ 235 555)

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 13^th May 2017. 

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

The hill is adjoined to the Moel y Gamelin 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 A5104 road to its west and the B5430 road to its south, and has the village of Treuddyn towards the north-north-east. 

When the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills was published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was not included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list that accompanied the main P30 list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for this sub category. 

After the P30 lists were standardised, and interpolated heights and drop values also included, this hill was listed under the name of Bedlwyn, with 25m of drop based on the 334m summit spot height and the 309m bwlch spot height that appear on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

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

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. 

Extract from the Tithe 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 979 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 given the same name as that adjoined to field number 976 and named as Mountain in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Mold and in the county named as Flintshire. 

Extract from the apportionments

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

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Moel y Gamelin 

Name:  Mountain 

Previously Listed Name:  Bedlwyn 

OS 1:50,000 map:  117

Summit Height:  334.0m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 23575 55527 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  309m (spot height) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 23660 55008 (spot height) 

Drop:  25m (LIDAR summit and spot height bwlch) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2020)