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

Carreg Wen (SH 762 583)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant, with the summit height and its location derived from a spot height and the bwlch height, its location and the drop of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR bwlch image for Carreg Wen

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

Y Trichant – Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Sub-Trichant with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list and the renaming of it appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13^th May 2017.

The hill is adjoined to the Carneddau group hills which are situated in the north-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A1), and it is positioned with the A5 road and the Afon Llugwy to its south, and has the village of Capel Curig towards the east and the village of Betws-y-coed towards the east south-east.

The hill originally appeared in the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the partly invented and transposed name of Pen Llyn Bodgynydd, with an accompanying note stating; Name from lake to the North.

Pen Llyn Bodgynydd

327m

SH762583

115

17

Name from lake to the North

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, use the name of a lake and put the word Pen in front of 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

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 historic 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 Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which is entitled the Interactive Coverage Map.  One of the historic maps now available is the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map which formed the basis for the first publicly available Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, and it is the Draft Surveyors map that formed the basis for the change in this hill’s listed name.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map

The Draft Surveyors maps consist of the preliminary drawings made by the Ordnance Surveyor’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, and importantly for this hill and its listed name, it is this map that shows the name of Carreg Wen as applicable to this hill.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant is Carreg Wen, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Carneddau

Name:  Carreg Wen

Previously Listed Name:  Pen Llyn Bodgynydd

OS 1:50,000 map:  115

Summit Height:  327m (spot height)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 76257 58352 (spot height)

Bwlch Height:  254.4m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 75783 58836 (LIDAR)

Drop:  73m (spot height summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2019)