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

 

Rhos (SJ 191 371) 

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 conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Rhos (SJ 191 371)

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, and the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of the list appearing on the 1^st January 2022. 

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

The hill is adjoined to the Craig Berwyn group of hills, which are situated in the eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned encircled by minor roads with the B4500 road farther to its east, and has the village of Glyn Ceiriog 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 not included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for this sub category. 

After the sub list was standardised, and interpolated heights and drop values also included the details for this hill were re-assessed and it was listed under the point (Pt. 377m) notation with 26m of drop, based on the 377m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map and the 1:25,000 Explorer map and the 351m bwlch spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map, with these values giving this hill 26m of drop. 

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, and importantly for this hill and its listed name, it is this map that names the land taking in the summit of this hill as The Rhos Common. 

Extract from the Tithe map

Since publication of these P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website there have been a number of Ordnance Survey maps made available online, some of these are historic such as the series of Six-Inch maps on the National Library of Scotland website, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the old Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map and the interactive mapping available on the Magic Maps and WalkLakes websites.  One of the historic maps now available online is the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map which formed the basis for the first publicly available Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, and it is this map coupled with the information on the Tithe map that form the basis for the change in the listed name of this hill.  

The Draft Surveyors maps consist of the preliminary drawings made by the Ordnance Survey surveyors between the 1780s and 1840 and formed the basis for the first publicly available One-Inch map.  They were drawn at scales of six inches to the mile for areas considered of particular military significance and down to two inches to the mile for other areas.  Fair copies were then produced from these preliminary drawings to one inch to the mile and then copper plates were prepared for printing.  The Draft Surveyors maps for the whole of Wales are now available online and they form an important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names as they bridge the time frame between the late 18^th century and the mid-19^th century when the Ordnance Survey produced their first One-Inch maps, and importantly for this hill and its listed name, it is this map that names the hill as Rhos. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Rhos, and this was derived from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map with land incorporating its summit named as a part of The Rhos Common on the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Craig Berwyn 

Name:  Rhos 

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 377m 

OS 1:50,000 map:  125 

Summit Height:  378.9m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 19136 37199 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  351.8m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 18658 37474 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  27.2m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (April 2022)