Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales

Pen y Ffridd Glap (SH 728 339)

There has been a Significant Name Change that is retrospective to a hill listed in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill initially derived from detail on the Harvey 1:40,000 British Mountain Map and the drop ascertained from a basic levelling survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on the 11^th July 2003, with confirmation of the numerical data from subsequent LIDAR analysis. 

LIDAR image of Pen y Ffridd Glap (SH 728 339)

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

Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales.  Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are five categories of sub hills, with this hill being classified as a 400m Sub-Pedwar.  The criteria for 400m Sub-Pedwar status being all Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The hill is adjoined to the Arenig Fawr group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of North Wales (Region C1, Sub-Region C1A), and it is positioned with the A4212 road and the Afon Prysor to its north and the A470 road to its west, and has the village of Trawsfynydd towards the north-west.

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 400m P30 list compiled by Myrddyn Phillips and published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the transposed name of Ffridd Wen, which is a name that appears adjacent to the summit of the hill on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.  The name of Ffridd Wen is also the name this hill was listed by in the 1^st edition of the Y Pedwarau co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and published by Europeaklist in May 2013.

Ffridd Wen

410c

SH728339

124

18

MP survey: 26.7m / 87.5'

During the original compilation of this list Myrddyn Phillips 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.  His preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them or as in this instance transpose a name that appeared adjacent to the summit on Ordnance Survey maps of the day.  This is not a practice that is now advocated 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.

Since publication of the 1^st edition of the Y Pedwarau the Tithe maps for Wales are now available online and therefore 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 1330 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 Ffridd Glap in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Trawsfynydd and in the county named as Merioneth.

Extract from the apportionments

Importantly the Tithe map names the bounded land to the south and below the highest ffridd as Ffridd Wen, with the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps naming land that would comprise the summit as Pen y Ffridd Glap.

Extract from the Tithe map showing detail on the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales is Pen y Ffridd Glap, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps with the name of the bounded land substantiated by the Tithe map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Arenig Fawr

Name:  Pen y Ffridd Glap

Previously Listed Name:  Ffridd Wen

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Height:  416.3m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 72820 33957 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  389.7m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 73046 33741 (LIDAR)

Drop:  26.6m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2019)