Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

 

Mynydd Cefn Maes Mawr (SN 728 985) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Mynydd Cefn Maes Mawr (SN 728 985)

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

200m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height with 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 200m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m 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. 

The 200m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Pumlumon group of hills, which are situated in the north-western part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is positioned with the A487 road to its north-west and minor roads to its south and east, and has the town of Machynlleth towards the north-east. 

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 200m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name of Mynydd Cae-du, which is a prominent name that appears on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps close to the summit of this hill.

Mynydd Cae-du

220c

SN728985

135

23

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. 

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

As the summit of this hill comprises bounded land the details for it were examined on the Tithe map.  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 1055 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 the Sheepwalk for the farm of Cefnmaesmormawr, with the sheepwalk being the cynefin, or mountain land of this farm.  In instances like this it is appropriate to use the farm name preceded by the word Mynydd, as in Mynydd Cefn Maes Mawr.  This is also in keeping with other such examples for adjacent land, such as Mynydd Cae Du and Mynydd Garth Gwynion, both of which are the cynefin, or mountain land of the farms of Cae-du and Garth-gwynion respectively.  The details on the Tithe map appear in the parish of Machynlleth and in the county named as Montgomery.

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Mynydd Cefn Maes Mawr, and this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Pumlumon

Name:  Mynydd Cefn Maes Mawr

Previously Listed Name:  Mynydd Cae-du   

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  226.8m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 72878 98500 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  193.9m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 72854 97986 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  32.85m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips (February 2021)