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

Banc Cwmnewydion (SN 718 749) 

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 derived from LIDAR analysis and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

Banc Cwmnewydion (SN 718 749)

Although the name of this hill remains as first listed, this was based on invention which has fortunately been substantiated by an early edition Ordnance Survey map available via the website hosting the Tithe maps; therefore as the name of this hill has been substantiated the details for it are worth documenting under the Significant Name Changes heading. 

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 13^th May 2017. 

Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Elenydd group of hills which are situated in the central part of the Mid and West Wales Region (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is encircled by minor roads with farther afield the A4120 road to its north and the B4343 road to its east, and has the village of Pontarfynach (Devil’s Bridge) towards the north-east. 

When the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website this hill was listed with what was then an invented and transposed name of Banc Cwmnewydion, with an accompanying note stating; Name from stream to the South.

Banc Cwmnewydion

344m

SN718749

135/147

213

Name from stream to the South

 

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 transpose the name of a near stream and prefix it with the word Banc.  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

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. 

The Website hosting the Tithe maps also has projections of other maps including an early edition Ordnance Survey map and an Ordnance Survey Six-Inch map, and importantly is it the former that names the land taking in this hill as Banc Cwmnewydion. 

Extract from an early edition Ordnance Survey map

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Banc Cwmnewydion and this was derived from an early edition Ordnance Survey map. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Elenydd 

Name:  Banc Cwmnewydion 

Previously Listed Name:  Banc Cwmnewydion 

OS 1:50,000 map:  135, 147

Summit Height:  343.3 (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 71839 74977 (Trimble GeoXH 6000) 

Bwlch Height:  306.0m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 71791 76371 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  37.3m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2021)