Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – The Fours – The 400m Hills of England

Ringfield (SO 260 894) 

There has been a Significant Name Change that is retrospective to a hill that is listed in the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England, with the summit height, col height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Ringfield (SO 260 894)

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

The Fours – The 400m Hills of England.  English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are three categories of sub hills, with this hill being included in the 400m Sub-Four category, the criteria for which are all English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and the 2^nd edition of the booklet containing this list was published by Mapping Mountains Publications on the 24^th April 2018.

The Fours - The 400m Hills of England by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The hill is adjoined to the Cilfaesty group of hills, which are situated in the county of Shropshire close to the Welsh border, and it is positioned encircled by minor roads and tracks, with the B4385 road farther to its north-east, the A489 road farther to its north-west, the B4368 road farther to its south-west and the A488 road farther to its south-east, and has the town of Bishop’s Castle towards the east.

During the updating of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England prior to the 1^st edition publication by Europeaklist in December 2013, this hill was provisionally listed under the point (Pt. 403m) notation.  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

Since the original compilation of this list there have been a number of 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 were digitally updated such as the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local that was hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the interactive mapping on the Magic Maps and WalkLakes websites, and it is the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps that form the basis of the change in the listed name of this hill.

Since the original publication of the Welsh P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website there have been a number of 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 were digitally updated such as the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local that was hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the interactive mapping on the Magic Maps and WalkLakes websites, and it is the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps that form the basis of the change in the listed name of this hill. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps

The Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps formed the base map Ordnance Survey used for many decades leading to the production of the 1:10,000 Series of maps, both have now been superseded by the digitised Master Map.  The series of Six-Inch maps are excellent for name placement and especially so compared to the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map, and it is the series of Six-Inch maps that position the name of Ringfield adjacent to the summit of this hill.

Consequently, this hill appeared under this name when the 1^st edition of The Fours was published by Europeaklist in December 2013 and the 2^nd edition of The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published by Mapping Mountains Publications in April 2018.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in The Fours - The 400m Hills of England is Ringfield and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Cilfaesty

Name:  Ringfield

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 403m (only provisional name) 

OS 1:50,000 map:  137

Summit Height:  403.0m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 26089 89449 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  375.9m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SO 24639 89603 (LIDAR)

Drop:  27.1m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (November 2023)