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

Moel y Geraint (SJ 201 420) 

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 LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Moel y Geraint (SJ 201 420) 

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, and the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of the list appearing on the 1^st January 2022. 

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

The hill is adjoined to the Craig Berwyn group of hills, which are situated in the eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned encircled by minor roads with the A5 road farther to its north-east, and has the town of Llangollen towards the east. 

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the name of Geraint or Barber’s Hill; which is the name given the hill on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.

Geraint or Barber's Hill

340c

SJ202420

117

255/256

 

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.  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. 

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

Since publication of these P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website there have been a number of Ordnance Survey maps made available online, some of these are historic such as the series of Six-Inch maps on the National Library of Scotland website, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the old Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map and the interactive mapping available on the Magic Maps and WalkLakes websites.  Two of the historic maps now available online are the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map which formed the basis for the first publicly available Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, and it is these maps and online research that form the basis for the change in the listed name of this hill. 

The Draft Surveyors maps consist of the preliminary drawings made by the Ordnance Survey surveyors between the 1780s and 1840 and formed the basis for the first publicly available One-Inch map.  They were drawn at scales of six inches to the mile for areas considered of particular military significance and down to two inches to the mile for other areas.  Fair copies were then produced from these preliminary drawings to one inch to the mile and then copper plates were prepared for printing.  The Draft Surveyors maps for the whole of Wales are now available online and they form an important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names as they bridge the time frame between the late 18^th century and the mid-19^th century when the Ordnance Survey produced their first One-Inch maps, and importantly for this hill and its listed name, it is this map that names the hill as Y Foel Geraint. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map

The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map was the first map that Ordnance Survey produced, and their publication culminated from the whole of Britain being surveyed between 1791 and 1874 and the detail gathered therein produced at a scale of one inch to the mile and published in sheet format between 1805 and 1874.  The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ maps for the whole of Wales are now available online; they are also available in map format as enlarged and re-projected versions to match the scale and dimensions of the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series and are published by Cassini.  This series of maps form another important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names and bridge the timeframe leading up to the production of the Ordnance Survey base map of the Six-Inch series, and importantly for this hill and its listed name, it is this map that gives the name of Moel y Geraint. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey One-Inch 'Old Series' map

The name of Moel y Geraint is also documented for this hill by the Llangollen museum, with detail given to how the Barbwr/Barber part of the name originated.  However, for listing purposes this hill is reverting to its originating and wholly Welsh name. 

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Moel y Geraint, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map and the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, with the name also documented by the Llangollen museum. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Craig Berwyn 

Name:  Moel y Geraint 

Previously Listed Name:  Geraint or Barber’s Hill 

OS 1:50,000 map:  117

Summit Height:  341.5m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 20158 42014 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  302.3m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 19930 41642 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  39.1m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (April 2022)