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

Ale Oak Bank (SO 224 835) 

There has been a Significant Name Change 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 Ale Oak Bank (SO 224 835)

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 is a sub list entitled the Sub-Fours, the criteria for which are all English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 15m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillipsand Aled Williams and is available to download in Google Doc format from the Mapping Mountains site.

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

The hill is adjoined to the Cilfaesty group of hills, which are situated in the county of Shropshire close to the Welsh border, and it is positioned with minor roads to its north-east and north-west, and the B4368 road to its south-west, and has the town of Clun towards the east south-east.

During the updating of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England prior to the 1^st edition publication by Europeaklist in December 2013, this hill was provisionally listed by Myrddyn Phillips under the transposed name of Clun Forest, which was a prominent name that appeared near its summit on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map. 

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 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.  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 the Draft Surveyors map that formed the basis of the initial 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 and its border country 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 it is this map that places the name Fron Hill close to the summit of this hill. 

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map

Consequently, this hill appeared under the name of Fron Hill when the 1^st edition of The Fours was published by Europeaklist in December 2013 and the 2^nd edition of The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published by Mapping Mountains Publications in April 2018.

The listed name of this hill was reviewed by Aled Williams for the July 2024 publication of this list by Mapping Mountains and was subsequently altered with the following appearing in the Notes section accompanying its listing:

Name taken from 1847 inclosure award. The place-name Ale Oak is a rendering of the originating Welsh name Derwen y Cwrw. The land-name Fron Hill recorded in 1816 (OS) may only apply to the western hillside, which is recorded as Fron Aber Dwynant in the 1847 inclosure award.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in The Fours - The 400m Hills of England is Ale Oak Bank and this was derived from the 1847 inclosure award. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Cilfaesty

Name:  Ale Oak Bank

Previously Listed Name:  Fron Hill 

OS 1:50,000 map:  137

Summit Height:  413.0m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 22428 83599 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  391.7m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SO 22050 84209 (LIDAR)

Drop:  21.3m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (August 2024)