Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

 

Allt Pen Bwlch (SN 295 389) 

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 derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Allt Pen Bwlch (SN 295 389)

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 that have 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. 

200m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Pencarreg group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned encircled by minor roads, with the A484 road farther to its north and the B4333 road farther to its east, and has the town of Castellnewydd Emlyn (Newcastle Emlyn) towards the north-east.

When the original 200m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was included in the accompanying Hills to be surveyed sub list under the incomplete and transposed name of Bwl-y-foel, which is a prominent name that appears adjacent to the summit on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map.

Bwl-y-foel

225c

SN296389

145

185

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 an incomplete name that appeared on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and use it for that of the hill.  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. 

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 345 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 Banc y Foel in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Cenarth and in the county named as Carmarthen. 

Extract from the apportionments

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.

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 Allt Pen Bwlch adjacent to the summit of this hill.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Allt Pen Bwlch and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps.  With the caveat that the complete name of Bwlch y Foel appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and the name of Banc y Foel appears on the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Pencarreg

Name:  Allt Pen Bwlch

Previously Listed Name:  Bwl-y-foel   

OS 1:50,000 map:  145

Summit Height:  225.7m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 29545 38920 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  200.4m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 29786 38865 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  25.3m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (September 2024)