Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

Grug (SN 441 328) 

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 Grug (SN 441 328)

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 with a minor road to its north and south-east, and the A485 road to its east, and has the town of Llandysul towards the north north-west.

When the original 200m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was not included in the accompanying Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for this sub category.

After the sub list was standardised, and interpolated heights and drop values also included the details for this hill were re-evaluated and it was listed under the point (Pt. 266m) notation with 25m of drop, based on the 266m summit spot height positioned on a road at SN 44142 32904 that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and the 241m bwlch spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map. 

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 2553 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 Grug in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Llanfihangel-ar-arth and in the county named as Carmarthenshire. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Grug, and this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Pencarreg

Name:  Grug

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 266m   

OS 1:50,000 map:  146

Summit Height:  266.6m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 44127 32866 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  240.6m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 45100 33058 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  26.0m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2024)