Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

 

Cae Pen y Maen (SN 656 694) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Cae Pen y Maen (SN 656 694)

The criteria for the list 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. 

The 200m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Elenydd group of hills which are situated in the central part of the Mid and West Wales Region (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is positioned with the A485 road to its west, the B4575 road farther to its north, the B4340 road to its east and a minor road to its immediate north, and has the village of Lledrod towards the north-west. 

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 200m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the transposed name of Comins Pen-y-banc, which is a prominent name positioned to the south-east of this hill’s summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps.  As this name implies this refers to named common land that is now indicated by its open access designation and which does not take in the summit of this hill.

Comins Pen-y-banc

297m

SN656694

135

199/213

Trig pillar at 295m to the North

 

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 Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

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 143 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 Cae Pen y Maen, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Lledrod and in the county named as Cardigan. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Cae Pen y Maen and this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Elenydd

Name:  Cae Pen y Maen

Previously Listed Name:  Comins Pen-y-banc   

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  296.6m (converted to OSGM15) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 65690 69496 

Bwlch Height:  268.8m (converted to OSGM15) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 66401 68910 

Drop:  27.9m 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2021)