Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 100m Twmpau

Coed Uchaf (SJ 232 683) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 100m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from detail produced by Joe Nuttall in his surface analysis programme, with subsequent LIDAR analysis conducted by the DoBIH team and independently by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Coed Uchaf (SJ 232 683)

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

100m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 100m Sub-Twmpau, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m 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 100m Twmpau 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 encircled by minor roads, with the A55 road farther to its north, the B5123 road farther to its west, the A541 road farther to its south and the A5119 road farther to its east, and has the town of Y Fflint (Flint) towards the north.

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 100m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the invented and transposed name of Pen Coed Uchaf, with an accompanying note stating; Name from wood to the West.

Pen Coed Uchaf

160c

SJ232686

117

265

Name from wood to the West

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill, or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them or as in this instance transpose the name of a wood and add the word Pen to it.  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, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

The summit of this hill has been relocated to its high point which is situated in a wood that takes in the upper western part of this hill, and as the name of Coed Uchaf appears adjacent to the summit of this hill on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, the Tithe map was consulted for confirmation of this name being applicable to this wood. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer 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 b90 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 Wood Coed Uchaf in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Northop and in the county named as Flint. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 100m Twmpau is Coed Uchaf, and this was derived from the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and confirmed via the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Moel y Gamelin

Name:  Coed Uchaf

Previously Listed Name:  Pen Coed Uchaf   

OS 1:50,000 map:  117

Summit Height:  161.7m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 23205 68344 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  132.6m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 23101 68383 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  29.1m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (February 2024)