Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales and Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales

Lan Ucha Ty’n y Wern (SN 996 423) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales and the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Aled Williams and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Lan Ucha Ty'n y Wern (SN 996 423)

The criteria for the lists 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

Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales – Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are five categories of sub hills, with this hill listed in the 390m Sub-Pedwar category.  The criteria for this category are all Welsh hills at or above 390m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop.  The list is co-authored byMyrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Epynt group of hills, which are situated in the central part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the B4519 road to its north-east and a minor road to its south, and has the small community of Capel Uchaf (Upper Chapel) towards the south-east.

The hill appeared in the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills compiled by Myrddyn Phillips and published on GeoffCrowder’s v-g.me website, under the invented and transposed name of Twyn y Mynachdy, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the West.

Twyn y Mynachdy

398m

SN996423

147/160

188

Included by contour configuration. Name from buildings to the West

During the original compilation Myrddyn Phillips 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.  His preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them or as in this instance transpose a name of a farm and add the words Twyn y to it.  This is not a practice that is now advocated 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. 

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 1909 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 Lan Ucha (of the farm) Ty’n y Wern in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Merthyr Cynog and in the county named as Brecon. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales and the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales is Lan Ucha Ty’n y Wern and this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Mynydd Epynt 

Name:  Lan Ucha Ty’n y Wern 

Previously Listed Name:  Twyn y Mynachdy 

OS 1:50,000 map:  147, 160

Summit Height:  396.7m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 99632 42324 (LIDAR)                                         

Bwlch Height:  362.65m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 99601 42833 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  34.1m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (July 2024)