Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – 100m Twmpau

Crwn Hir (SN 670 993) – 100m Sub-Twmpau reclassified to 100m Twmpau

There has been a reclassification to the list of 100m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Crwn Hir (SN 670 993)

The criteria for the list that this reclassification applies to are:

100m Twmpau – Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 100m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 100m and below 200m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. 

100m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is now listed by is Crwn Hir, and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it is adjoined to the Tarren y Gesail group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned with a minor road to its north and the A493 road to its east, and has the village of Cwrt towards the east north-east.

When the original 100m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was not included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for this sub category.

After the sub list was standardised, and interpolated heights and drop values also included the details for this hill were re-assessed and it was listed with an estimated c 20m of drop, based on an estimated c 146m summit height and an estimated c 126m bwlch height, with both heights based on interpolation of 10m contouring that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

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

Since the original publication of the Welsh P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website 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.

Another resource now available online is the interactive mapping hosted on the Welsh Government website and entitled the DataMapWales.  This mapping has 5m contours and its detail matches that produced from the OS Terrain 5 product, which compliments much of that produced from LIDAR.  And for this hill a 151m summit spot height appears on this mapping. 

Extract from the DataMapWales

However, it was not until LIDAR became available that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales.

Therefore, the reclassification of this hill from 100m Sub-Twmpau status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 151.4m summit height and a 121.25m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 30.1m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a 100m Twmpau. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Tarren y Gesail 

Name:  Crwn Hir 

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  151.4m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 67079 99365 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  121.25m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 67030 99444 & SN 67034 99447 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  30.1m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (October 2025)