Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

 

Moel Erfyl (SJ 105 144) 

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 Moel Erfyl (SJ 105 144)

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.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, 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 Foel Cedig group of hills, which are situated in the central part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned encircled by minor roads, with the B4393 road farther to its north, the B4382 road farther to its west and the A495 road farther to its south-east, and has the village of Meifod towards the east south-east.

When the original 200m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was listed under the transposed and invented name of The Voel Hill, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the East.

The Voel Hill

252m

SJ106144

125

239

Name from buildings to the East

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 an anglicised farm and add the word Hill 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.

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 field number on the Tithe map can be cross referenced against the apportionments, which give the name of the owner or occupier as well as the name of the land.  In this instance it is the Tithe map that names the land where the summit of this hill is situated as a common named Moel Erfyl.

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

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Foel Cedig

Name:  Moel Erfyl

Previously Listed Name:  The Voel Hill

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Height:  253.3m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 10565 14445 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  216.6m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 10926 14742 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  36.7m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2024)