Mapping Mountains – Summit Relocations – 200m Twmpau

 

Cae Gwar y Tŷ (SO 035 495) 

There has been a Summit Relocation 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 Cae Gwar y Tŷ (SO 035 495)

The criteria for the list that this summit relocation 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 name the hill is now listed by is Cae Gwar y Tŷ, and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it 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 a minor road to its west and immediate east, and the B4520 road farther to its east, and has the town of Llanfair-ym-Muallt (Builth Wells) towards the north.

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 main P30 list with a 235m summit height, based on the spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map.

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 with 37m of drop, based on the 235m summit spot height positioned at SO 03503 49545 and the 198m bwlch spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

However, it was not until LIDAR became available that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales.

LIDAR analysis gives the highest ground on this hill as 232.84m positioned at SO 03504 49538.  However, this is a part of a raised field boundary and protocols dictate that as this is deemed a relatively recent man-made construct such ground is discounted from the height of a hill. 

LIDAR summit image of Cae Gwar y Tŷ (SO 035 495)

The height produced by LIDAR analysis to the natural summit of this hill is 232.81m and this is positioned at SO 03502 49537 and SO 03504 49535, and this comes within the parameters of the Summit Relocations used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Summit Relocations applies when the high point of the hill is found to be positioned; in a different field, to a different feature such as in a conifer plantation,  within a different map contour either on Ordnance Survey maps or interactive mapping, to a different point where a number of potential summit positions are within close proximity, when natural ground or the natural and intact summit of a hill is confirmed compared to a higher point such as a raised field boundary or covered reservoir that is considered a relatively recent man-made construct, or a relocation of approximately 100 metres or more in distance from either the position of a map spot height or from where the summit of the hill was previously thought to exist.

Therefore, the summit height produced by LIDAR analysis is 232.81m and this is positioned at SO 03502 49537 and SO 03504 49535, and this position is approximately three metres west south-westward from the high point of the raised field boundary. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Mynydd Epynt 

Name:  Cae Gwar y Tŷ                  

OS 1:50,000 map:  147

Summit Height:  232.8m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference (New Position):  SO 03502 49537 & SO 03504 49535 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  198.4m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 03391 49083 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  34.4m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (February 2025)