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

Durham Woods Tower (NZ 014 239) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that has been excluded from the listing of 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 conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Durham Woods Tower (NZ 014 239)

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 Phillips and 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 Burnhope Seat group of hills, which are situated in the Pennines of northern England, and it is positioned with the B6282 road to its south, and has the village of Eggleston towards the west.

When the Introduction to the first group of hills for the updated and revised listing of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published by Mapping Mountains on the 10^th September 2022, it was announced that the accompanying sub lists were being revised with the two 390m categories dispensed with and the criteria and name of the 400m Sub-Fours revised.  The one accompanying sub list is now named the Sub-Fours with its criteria being all English hills 400m and above and below 500m in height that have 15m and more and below 30m of drop.

Prior to this revision this hill was listed under the point (Pt. 418m) notation with an estimated c 15m of drop, based on the 418m summit spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map, and an estimated c 403m col height, based on interpolation of 10m contouring between 400m – 410m. 

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

Since the 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, and it is the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps in conjunction with the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map that form the basis of the change in the listed name of 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 Six-Inch maps that position the name of Durham Woods Tower adjacent to land where the summit of this hill is situated.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by is Durham Woods Tower and this was derived from the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map with confirmation of name placement from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Burnham Seat

Name:  Durham Woods Tower

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 418m 

OS 1:50,000 map:  92

Summit Height:  418.6m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  NZ 01448 23976 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  404.9m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  NZ 01460 24039 (LIDAR)

Drop:  13.7m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (August 2025)