Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – The Fours – The 400m Hills of England

 

Belstone Tor (SX 614 920) 

There has been a Significant Name Change that is retrospective to a hill that is listed in the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England, with the summit height, col height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Aled Williams and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Belstone Tor (SX 614 920)

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

The Fours – The 400m Hills of England.  English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are three categories of sub hills, these are the 400m Sub-Fours, the 390m Sub-Fours and the 390m Double Sub-Fours.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and the 2^nd edition of the booklet containing this list was published by Mapping Mountains Publications on the 24^th April 2018.

The Fours - The 400m Hills of England by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The hill is adjoined to the High Willhays group of hills, which are situated in Dartmoor in the south-west of the country, and it is positioned with a minor road and the A30 road to its north, and has the town of Okehampton towards the north-west.

When the listing that is now known as The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was originally compiled by Myrddyn Phillips this hill appeared under the name of Belstone Common; which is a prominent name that appears close to its summit on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, and this was also the name it appeared as when the list was uploaded to the RHB Yahoo group file database. 

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

When the 1^st edition of the The Fours now co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams was published by Europeaklist in December 2013, the listed name of this hill was amended to Belstone Tor, with an accompanying note stating; Also recorded by Ordnance Survey as Higher Tor with the position of Belstone Tor and Higher Tor reversed on early Ordnance Survey maps (Draft Surveyors Map and One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map).

Consequently, the listed name of this hill was also given as Belstone Tor when the 2^nd edition of The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published by Mapping Mountains Publications in April 2018.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in The Fours - The 400m Hills of England is Belstone Tor and this was derived from a variety of Ordnance Survey maps, including the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  High Willhays

Name:  Belstone Tor

Previously Listed Name:  Belstone Common 

OS 1:50,000 map:  191

Summit Height:  479.8m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SX 61434 92025 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  430.7m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SX 61118 91403 (LIDAR)

Drop:  49.0m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (February 2024)