Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Castell y Dryslwyn (SN 554 203) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop, dominance and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Castell y Dryslwyn (SN 554 203)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m 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 30-99m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

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.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips with the Introduction to the start of the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3^rd December 2015, and the list is now available in its entirety on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format. 

Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 30-99m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the invented and transposed name of Dryslwyn Fort and Castle, with an accompanying note stating; Name from hamlet to the North and remains of ancient fort and castle at the summit.

Dryslwyn Fort and Castle

71m

SN554203

159

186

Name from hamlet to the North and remains of ancient fort and castle at the summit.

 

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 small community and the words fort and castle which appear in ancient script on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map.  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

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 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Castell y Dryslwyn and this is prioritised over its English counterpart of Dryslwyn Castle, which for listing purposes is standard practice. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Mallaen

Name:  Castell y Dryslwyn

Previously Listed Name:  Dryslwyn Fort and Castle   

OS 1:50,000 map:  159

Summit Height:  72.4m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 55420 20301 (LIDAR)               

Bwlch Height:  25.3m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 55696 20577 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  47.1m (LIDAR) 

Dominance:  65.02% (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2022)