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

Tyfaenor Park (SO 070 715)

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 18^th February 2016.

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to 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 publication history of this list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13^th May 2017.

The hill is a part of the Pegwn Mawr range, this group of hills is situated in the north-eastern part of Mid and West Wales, and the hill is positioned to the east north-east of the small community of Abaty Cwm-hir (Abbeycwmhir) and to the north north-west of the meeting of the Bachell Brook and the Clywedog Brook.

Tyfaenor Park (SO 070 715)

The hill appeared in the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name Tyfaen.  This name was derived from that of Tyfaenor Park which appeared on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps.  It is not known why the first word of the name which is appropriate for the hill was shortened.  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, shorten the name that in itself is appropriate to use.  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.    

Tyfaen

382m

SO071715

136/147

200/214

383m on 1986 1:50000 map

    

Since publication of these P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website there have been a number of Ordnance Survey maps made available online, some of these are historical such as the series of Six-Inch maps on the National Library of Scotland website, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the enlarged map hosted on the Geograph website.  Two of the historical maps now available are the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map which formed the basis for the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, and these maps coupled with that of the Tithe map formed the basis for the confirmation of this hill’s name.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map

The Draft Surveyors maps consist of the preliminary drawings made by the Ordnance Survey’s surveyors between the 1780s and 1840 and formed the basis for the first publicly available One-Inch map.  They were drawn at scales of six inches to the mile for areas considered of particular military significance and down to two inches to the mile for other areas.  Fair copies were then produced from these preliminary drawings to one inch to the mile and then copper plates were prepared for printing.  The Draft Surveyors maps for the whole of Wales are now available online and they form an important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names as they bridge the time frame between the late 18^th century and the mid-19^th century when the Ordnance Survey produced their first One-Inch maps. 

The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ was the first map that Ordnance Survey published, and  they were based on the preceding Draft Surveyors map.  Their publication culminated from the whole of Britain being surveyed between 1791 and 1874 and the detail gathered therein produced at a scale of one inch to the mile and published in sheet format between 1805 and 1874.  The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ maps for the whole of Wales are now available online; they are also available in map format as enlarged and re-projected versions to match the scale and dimensions of the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series and are published by Cassini.  This series of maps forms another important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names and bridge the time frame leading to the production of the Ordnance Survey base map of the Six-Inch series.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey One-Inch 'Old Series' map

The name this hill is now listed by is Tyfaenor Park and the land that this name is applicable to was confirmed via 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.

Accessing information on the Tithe map is simplified by the use of a split screen enabling the summit to be pinpointed on the map on the right and for the same point to appear on the Tithe map on the left

The enclosed land where the summit of this hill is situated is given the number 466 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 Defanner Park on the Tithe map and described as Plantantion; it appears in the county named as Radnor and in the parish of Llanbister. 

The name where the summit of the hill is situated is named in the apportionments

Extract from the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps

There are many maps that are now available online and these give the opportunity to compare the composition of a hill’s name and in the instance of Tyfaenor Park this can be followed from the Draft Surveyors map, through the Tithe map, to the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’, the Six-Inch map and to the current Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps.  There are of course many other maps also available for this form of comparison, but the study of the ones mentioned above can give us inkling to how this hill’s name was represented through the ages and this is depicted below:

Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map:  Divanner Park

Tithe Map:  Defanner Park/Devanner Park

Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map:  Devanner Park

Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map:  Ty-faenor Park

Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 map:  Tyfaenor Park 

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant is Tyfaenor Park, and this was derived from a number of sources, including the Tithe map for consideration of what land the name applied to, and the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps for name confirmation.  


The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Pegwn Mawr

Name:  Tyfaenor Park

Previously Listed Name:  Tyfaen 

Summit Height:  383.1m (converted to OSGM15)

OS 1:50,000 map:  136, 147

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 07078 71589

 

Drop:  32.7m (converted to OSGM15)

For details on the survey of Tyfaenor Park

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2016)