Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 100m Twmpau

Caer Lleiniau Uchaf (SN 521 198)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 100m Twmpau, with the summit height, drop and status of the hill being confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

The criteria for the list that this name change applies to are:

100m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 100m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m 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.

LIDAR image of Caer Lleiniau Uchaf

The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Sylen group of hills, which are situated in the western part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C1), and it is positioned with the B 4300 and A 40 roads, and the Afon Tywi (River Towy) to its north, and has the small community of Llanarthne towards the east north-east.

The hill appeared in the accompanying sub list to the 100m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name of Allt Cae-blawd, which is a name consistently given to a wooded area to the north-west of this hill’s summit on Ordnance Survey maps.  During my early hill listing I paid little regard to name placement on the map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to.  Therefore I prioritised names for listing purposes that I now understand are either inappropriate or where another name is viewed as being more appropriate.

Allt Cae-blawd

110c

SN523195

159

186

Two points of same height - other at SN521198

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 1403 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 Caer Lleinau [sic] uchaf in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the county named as Carmarthen and in the parish of Llanarthney [sic].

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 100m Twmpau is Caer Lleiniau Uchaf, and this name was derived from the Tithe map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Sylen

Name:  Caer Lleiniau Uchaf

Previously Listed Name:  Allt Cae-blawd 

Summit Height:  113.2m (LIDAR)

OS 1:50,000 map:  159

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 52155 19862 (LIDAR)

  

Drop:  31.2m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2018)