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

Parc Mawr (SO 057 720)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is 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 confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Aled Williams.

LIDAR image of Parc Mawr (SO 057 720)

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 Y Pedwarau list are five categories of sub hills, with this hill being listed in the 400m Sub-Pedwar category.  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.

The hill is adjoined to the Hirddywel group of hills, which are situated in the north-eastern part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is encircled by minor roads, with the B4518 road further to its west, the A44 road further to its south and the A483 road further to its east, and has the small community of Abaty Cwm-hir (Abbeycwmhir) towards the south.

When the original 400m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website this hill was not included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list that accompanied the main P30 list, as it did not meet the criteria then used in this sub category.

After the sub list was standardised, and interpolated heights and drop values also included the hill was listed by the name of Pt. 438m, Great Park in the 1^st edition of the Y Pedwarau published by Europeaklist in May 2013.  The point notation was applied as Ordnance Survey spot heights give this hill 1m lower than its adjacent hill positioned at SO 05947 71717, with both hills a part of land named as Great Park on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps.   

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

Since publication of the 1^st edition of Y Pedwarau the Tithe maps for Wales have become available online.  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 2 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 Parc Mawr in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Llanbister and in the county named as Radnor.

Extract from the apportionments

The intricacies of language and prioritising one in favour of another for listing a hill is fraught with complication, with originating Cymraeg names being anglicised and also originating English names being cymricised, examples such as these are more common in border country and especially so for anglicised forms.  There is no steadfast rule that fits all, but as a standard a name that has its origins in the Welsh language and where this is substantiated by either historic documentation and / or contemporary usage should be prioritised in favour of a contemporary anglicised or English version of the name.  Likewise, if a name exists where an element of it is in English and if this name applies to a hill that is situated in a Welsh speaking part of Wales it is standard practice to use a full Welsh term for the name.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales is Parc Mawr, and this was derived from the Tithe map, with the Welsh name for this hill prioritised over its English counterpart, which for listing purposes is standard practice.  The use of the point notation for lower heighted hills where the same name is also applicable to higher heighted adjacent hills is also now dispensed with if both share the same name.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Hirddywel

Name:  Parc Mawr

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 438m, Great Park

OS 1:50,000 map:  136, 147

Summit Height:  439.7m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 05765 72091 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  414.5m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 05903 72253 (LIDAR)

Drop:  25.2m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (December 2019)