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

Ffridd Bryn Mawr (SH 981 065)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey and LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

Ffridd Bryn Mawr (SH 981 065)

The criteria for the list 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 Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Carnedd Wen group of hills, which are situated in the south-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A4), and it has minor roads to its east, north and west and farther afield has the A458 road to its north-east and the A470 road to its south-west, and has the village of Llanerfyl towards the north-east.

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

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

Cefnllys-uchaf

373m

SH982066

125

215/239

374m on 1984 1:50000 map

During my early hill listing I paid little regard to name placement on the map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to.  Therefore I prioritised names for listing purposes that I now understand are either inappropriate or where another name is viewed as being more appropriate.  The name of Cefnllys-uchaf comes under this category as it is not directly related to this hill as it is the name of the local township.

As this hill comprises bounded land the Tithe map was consulted.  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 1885 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 Bryn Mawr in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Llanerfyl and in the county named as Montgomery.

Extract from the apportionments

During my visit to this hill I called at Hafod Farm (SH 988 071) and met John Cadwalader Jones, whose family have farmed from Hafod since 1918.  John was very helpful naming a number of Ffriddoedd higher on the hill and confirming that the field where the summit of this hill is situated is named Ffridd Bryn Mawr.

John Cadwalader Jones of Hafod farm

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Ffridd Bryn Mawr, and this was derived from the Tithe map and substantiated by local enquiry.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Carnedd Wen

Name:  Ffridd Bryn Mawr

Previously Listed Name:  Cefnllys-uchaf

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Height:  372.9m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 98152 06576 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height:  303.8m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 97875 05991 (LIDAR)

Drop:  69.1m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

For details on the Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey of this hill

Myrddyn Phillips (November 2020)