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

Lucott Moor (SS 844 429) 

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 Lucott Moor (SS 844 429)

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 Dunkery Beacon group of hills, which are situated in the counties of Somerset and Devon, and it is positioned with a minor road to its north-west and east, the A39 road to its north, the B3223 road to its west and the B3224 road to its south, and has the village of Porlock towards the north-east.

When the listing that is now known as The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was originally compiled this hill appeared under the name of Black Mires; which is a prominent name that appears close to its summit on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 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

Since the original compilation of this list there have been a number of 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 were digitally updated such as the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local that was hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the interactive mapping on the Magic Maps and WalkLakes websites.  Two of the historic maps now available online are the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map and the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, and it is these maps coupled with detail on the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps that formed the basis in 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 are now available online and 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.

The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map was the first map that Ordnance Survey produced, and their publication culminated from the whole of Britain being surveyed between 1791 and 1874 and the detail gathered therein produced at a scale of one inch to the mile and published in sheet format between 1805 and 1874.  The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ maps are now available online; they are also available in map format as enlarged and re-projected versions to match the scale and dimensions of the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series and are published by Cassini.  This series of maps form another important part in the study of upland place-names and bridge the timeframe leading up to the production of the Ordnance Survey base map of the Six-Inch series.  Importantly for this hill and its listed name, it is these two maps that give the name Lucott Hill applying to this hill. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps

The Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps formed the base map Ordnance Survey used for many decades leading to the production of the 1:10,000 Series of maps, both have now been superseded by the digitised Master Map.  The series of Six-Inch maps are excellent for name placement and especially so compared to the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map, and it is the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps that give the name Lucott Moor applying to land incorporating the summit of this hill. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map

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

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Dunkery Beacon

Name:  Lucott Moor

Previously Listed Name:  Black Mires 

OS 1:50,000 map:  181

Summit Height:  465.6m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SS 84453 42946 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  423.8m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SS 82529 41801 (LIDAR)

Drop:  41.8m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (February 2024)