Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

 

Cefn Uchaf (SJ 157 072) 

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 confirmed by LIDAR analysis and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

Cefn Uchaf (SJ 157 072)

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 Carnedd Wen group of hills which are situated in the south-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A4), and it is positioned with the B4392 road to its north-west and the A458 road to its south, and has the town of Y Trallwng (Welshpool) towards the east. 

The hill appeared in the original 200m Welsh P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the transposed name of Fron Hydan [sic], which is a prominent name that appears near this hill on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps.

Fron Hydan

262m

SJ157073

125

215/239

 

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 638 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 Cefn Uchaf, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Castle Caereinion and in the county named as Montgomery. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Cefn Uchaf, and this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Carnedd Wen

Name:  Cefn Uchaf

Previously Listed Name:  Fron Hydan   

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Height:  261.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 15739 07264 (Trimble GeoXH 6000) 

Bwlch Height:  235.1m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 15745 07416 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  26.6m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (June 2021)