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

Coed Gwent (ST 411 943)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height, their locations, the drop, dominance and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR summit image of Coed Gwent (ST 411 943)

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

Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales.  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 13th May 2017.

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 which is now available in its entirety on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

The hill is adjoined to the Gwent Is Coed group of hills which are situated in the south-eastern part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C3), and it is positioned with the A449 road to its west, the A48 road to its south and the B4235 road to its north-east, and has the city of Casnewydd (Newport) towards the south-west.

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

The hill appeared in the original 300m Welsh P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name of Wentwood, which is a name that appeared near the summit of this hill on Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps of the day.

Wentwood

309m

ST411943

171/172

14/152

Marilyn. Clem/Yeaman. Trig pillar.

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 should be prioritised in favour of a contemporary anglicised or English version of the name, and ideally for this to be substantiated by either historic documentation and / or contemporary usage.  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.  It is also standard practice to use a Welsh name for a hill if another name exists that has originated in a different language.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Coed Gwent, as the Welsh name for this hill is prioritised over its English counterpart, which for listing purposes is standard practice.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Gwent Is Coed

Name:  Coed Gwent

Previously Listed Name:  Wentwood

OS 1:50,000 map:  171, 172

Summit Height:  309.1m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  ST 41125 94309 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  64.3m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 44099 08545 (LIDAR)

Drop:  244.8m (LIDAR)

Dominance:  79.21% (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2020)