Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales

Craigol (SN 979 587)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant, and the following details are in respect of a hill that was surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 on the 23^rd May 2015.

The criteria for the list that this name change affects are:

Y Trichant - These are the Welsh hills at and above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop,  with the introduction to the re-naming and the publication history of this list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13^th May 2017.

The hill is situated in the Elenydd, which is an extensive range of hills in the central heartland of Wales.  The hill is positioned to the west of Pontnewydd ar Wy (Newbridge-on-Wye), and further west from this small town are vast tracts of open moor.

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data on the summit of Craigol

The hill appeared in the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under an invented name of Bryn Craigol, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the South-East, with Craigol being the name of a farm.  

   

Bryn Craigol

361m

SN979587

147

200

Name from buildings to the South-East

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to invent a name for a hill if no name seemed to appear for it on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with research either conducted locally or historically an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

The name this hill is now listed by is Craigol, and this was derived from local enquiry.  It is not uncommon in Wales for farms to be named after hills, or in respect of the cynefin naming system for land where the summit of a hill is situated to take on the name of a farm; however before jumping to any conclusion it is always advisable to make either local enquiries or try to substantiate a name through historical documentation.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Elenydd

Name:  Craigol

Previously Listed Name:  Bryn Craigol 

Summit Height:  361.0m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  147

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 97939 58725  

Drop:  33.9m (converted to OSGM15)

For details on the survey of Craigol

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2016)