Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Penarth (ST 188 720)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop, dominance and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR summit image of Penarth (ST 188 720)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m 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.

Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales - Welsh P30 hills whose prominence  equal or exceed half that of their absolute height.  With the criteria for Lesser Dominant status being those additional Welsh P30 hills whose prominence is between one third and half that of their absolute height, with the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3^rd December 2015, and is now available in its entirety on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

The hill is adjoined to the Bro Morgannwg group of hills, which are situated in the southern part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C2), and it is positioned with the A4160 road to its south-west and the Bristol Channel to its east, and with the summit of the hill being a part of the town that takes its name from the hill; Penarth, which is situated to the south of the city of Caerdydd (Cardiff).

The hill appeared in the original 30-99m Welsh P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under a partly transposed and invented name of Penarth Head Hill, with an accompanying note stating; Name from headland to the East.

Penarth Head Hill

70c

ST189720

171

151

Name from the headland to the East

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 transpose the name of a headland and add the word Hill to it.  This is not a practice that I now advocate 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.

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

The land this hill incorporates takes in the headland that encloses the hill to its east; this is named Penarth Head on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps.  The summit of this hill is now a part of an urban development and town, which is named Penarth; with the town taking its name from the hill.  The translation of Penarth can mean head of the promontory; therefore Penarth Head is tautological, albeit with the repetition in a different language.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Penarth, and this was derived from contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps and deduction of the names meaning. 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Bro Morgannwg

Name:  Penarth

Previously Listed Name:  Penarth Head Hill

 

OS 1:50,000 map:  171

Summit Height:  72.2m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  ST 18875 72029 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  35.5m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  ST 16791 72417 (LIDAR)

 

Drop:  36.7m (LIDAR)

Dominance:  50.81%

Myrddyn Phillips (November 2019)