Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau

Emsger (SM 651 226) 

There has been a Significant Name Change that is retrospective to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m Twmpau, with the summit height and its location, the drop and status of the hill derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.                       

Emsger (SM 651 226)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m 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. 

30-99m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Garn Fawr group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the nearest minor road on the mainland to its east north-east, and has the city of Tyddewi (St David’s) on the mainland towards the east north-east.

When the original 30-99m height band of Welsh P30 hills compiled by Myrddyn Phillips were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill appeared under the transposed name of Em-sger or South Bishop, which is a prominent name that appears adjacent to this island on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.  Soon afterward Myrddyn Phillips compiled the dominant and remote listings, and in these original compilations the name of Emsger was prioritised. 

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

Both names are applicable to the same island, with South Bishop originating from English and Emsger probably originating from Old Norse, with the latter documented in 1717  incorporating a Welsh word as Carreg Emskar (Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen and Richard Morgan and published by Gomer Press in 2007).

Therefore, the prioritised name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau is Emsger, and this was derived from a variety of sources, including the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Garn Fawr

Name:  Emsger 

Previously Listed Name:  Em-sger or South Bishop   

OS 1:50,000 map:  157

Summit Height:  33.8m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 65116 22619               

Bwlch Height:  N/A (sea level) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  N/A (sea level) 

Drop:  33.8m (Trimble GeoXH 6000) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (July 2026) 

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau

Gwales (SM 598 094 & SM 598 093) 

There has been a Significant Name Change that is retrospective to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m Twmpau, with the summit height and its location, the drop and status of the hill derived from detail on maps produced from Ordnance Survey data.                       

Gwales (SM 598 094 & SM 598 093)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m 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. 

30-99m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Garn Fawr group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the nearest minor road on the mainland to its east, and has the town of Hwlffordd (Haverfordwest) on the mainland towards the east north-east. 

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

When the original 30-99m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill appeared under the transposed name of Grassholm Island, which is a prominent name that appears adjacent to this island on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.

Grassholm Island

42m

SM598093

157

36

During my early hill listing I thought it appropriate to either invent a name for a hill or use a name that appeared near to the summit of the hill on Ordnance Survey maps of the day, with little consideration for the meaning of the name or the language used and where the name was appropriately applied to.  This is not a practice that I now advocate as with time and inclination place-name data can be improved either by asking local people or by examining historic documents, through this form of research an appropriate name for the hill can usually be found.

The intricacies of language and prioritising one in favour of another for listing a hill is fraught with complication, with originating Cymraeg names being anglicised and also originating English names being cymricised, examples such as these are more common in border country and especially so for anglicised forms.  There is no steadfast rule that fits all, but as a standard a name that has its origins in the Welsh language and where this is substantiated by either historic documentation and/or contemporary usage should be prioritised in favour of a contemporary anglicised or English version of the name.  Likewise, if a name exists where an element of it is in English and if this name applies to a hill that is situated in a Welsh speaking part of Wales it is standard practice to use a full Welsh term for the name.  It is also standard practice to use a Welsh name for a hill if another name exists that has originated in a different language.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau is Gwales, and this was derived from various sources including the Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen and Richard Morgan and published by Gomer Press. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Garn Fawr

Name:  Gwales 

Previously Listed Name:  Grassholm Island   

OS 1:50,000 map:  157

Summit Height:  42m (spot height) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 59840 09415 & SM 59825 09366 (spot height)               

Bwlch Height:  N/A (sea level) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  N/A (sea level) 

Drop:  42m (spot height) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (June 2026)

 

  

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau, Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales and Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales

Skomer (SM 726 094) 

There has been a Significant Name Change that is retrospective to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m Twmpau, Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales and Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales, with the summit height and its location, the drop, dominance and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.                       

LIDAR image of Skomer (SM 726 094)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m 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. 

30-99m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales – Welsh P30 hills whose prominence equal or exceed half that of their absolute height.  With the criteria for Lesser Dominant status being those additional Welsh P30 hills whose prominence is between one third and half that of their absolute height.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips with the Introduction to the start of the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3^rd December 2015, and the list is now available in its entirety on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format. 

Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales - Welsh hills whose summit is at least 2.5km from the nearest paved public road and the hill has 15m minimum drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is available as a downloadable e-booklet and print-booklet version on Mapping Mountains Publications with the up-to-date master list available to download on the Mapping Mountains site in Google Doc format.

Y Pellennig - The Remotest Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The hill is adjoined to the Garn Fawr group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the nearest minor road on the mainland to its east, and has the town of Hwlffordd (Haverfordwest) on the mainland towards the east north-east.

When the original 30-99m height band of Welsh P30 hills compiled by Myrddyn Phillips were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill appeared under the transposed name of Gorse Hill, which is a prominent name that appears to the south of the summit on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.  Soon afterward Myrddyn Phillips compiled the dominant and remote listings, and in these original compilations the name of Gorse Hill was also used for this hill. 

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

The listed name of this hill was subsequently revised to Pt. 79m, Skomer when the 1^st edition of the Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales was published by Europeaklist in April 2015.  With the point notation used to differentiate hills of the same name.  For hills such as this, the point notation protocol has now been dropped in favour of just using the main name.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau, Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales and Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales is Skomer, and this was derived from a variety of different scaled Ordnance Survey maps. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Garn Fawr

Name:  Skomer 

Previously Listed Name:  Gorse Hill (originally listed), Pt. 79m, Skomer (previously listed)   

OS 1:50,000 map:  157

Summit Height:  79.3m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SM 72695 09460 (LIDAR)               

Bwlch Height:  N/A (sea level) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  N/A (sea level) 

Drop:  79.3m (LIDAR) 

Dominance:  100.00% (LIDAR) 

Remoteness:  3.410km 

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2025)

  

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau

Penpontbren Mochno (SN 630 925) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m 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 Penpontbren Mochno (SN 630 925)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 30m minimum drop, this height band of hills has two accompanying sub lists, the first of which is entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop, and the second sub category is entitled the Double Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 20m and below 30m 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. 

30-99m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Banc Llechwedd Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the northern part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the B4353 road to its north and west, and the A487 road to its east, and has the small community of Borth towards the south south-west.

When the original 30-99m 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-evaluated and it was listed under the point (Pt. 26m) notation with 24m of drop, based on the 26m 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 the 2m bwlch spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

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

As the summit of this hill comprises bounded land the details for it were examined on the Tithe map.  The term Tithe map is generally given to a map of a Welsh or English parish or township and which was prepared after the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act.  This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods.  The Tithe maps gave names of owners and occupiers of land in each parish and importantly for place-name research they also included the name of enclosed land.  This enclosed land is usually based on a field system, however not every field is given a name, but many are and especially so in Wales. 

Extract from the Tithe map

The enclosed land where the summit of this hill is situated is given the number 362 on the Tithe map, this can be cross referenced against the apportionments; it is these apportionments that give the name of the owner or occupier of the land as well as the name of the land.  The land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as a part of the farm of Penpontbren Mochno in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish named as Llangynfelyn and in the county named as Cardigan. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau is Penpontbren Mochno, with this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Banc Llechwedd Mawr

Name:  Penpontbren Mochno

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 26m 

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  26.9m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 63095 92547 (LIDAR)               

Bwlch Height:  2.0m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 62775 92295 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  24.8m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (September 2025)

  

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 30-99m Twmpau

 

Yr Ynys (SN 614 896) 

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m 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 Yr Ynys (SN 614 896)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 30m minimum drop, this height band of hills has two accompanying sub lists, the first of which is entitled the 30-99m Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop, and the second sub category is entitled the Double Sub-Twmpau with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 20m and below 30m 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. 

30-99m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Banc Llechwedd Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the northern part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with a minor road and the B4353 road to its west, and has the small community of Borth towards the south-west. 

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

When the original 30-99m 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, as with no contours on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map it was difficult to know whether any hill of note existed.  However, although details for this list were initially taken from the 1:25,000 series of mapping the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map does have a 20m uppermost ring contour for this hill and it was subsequently listed under the point (Pt. c 22m) notation. 

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

As the summit of this hill comprises bounded land the details for it were examined on the Tithe map.  The term Tithe map is generally given to a map of a Welsh or English parish or township and which was prepared after the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act.  This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods.  The Tithe maps gave names of owners and occupiers of land in each parish and importantly for place-name research they also included the name of enclosed land.  This enclosed land is usually based on a field system, however not every field is given a name, but many are and especially so in Wales.

Extract from the Tithe map

 

Extract from the Tithe map

The enclosed land where the summit of this hill is situated is given the number 123 on the Tithe map, this can be cross referenced against the apportionments; it is these apportionments that give the name of the owner or occupier of the land as well as the name of the land.  The land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as Yr Ynys in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish named as Llanfihangel Genau’r Glyn and in the county named as Cardigan. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau is Yr Ynys, with this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Banc Llechwedd Mawr

Name:  Yr Ynys

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. c 22m 

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  25.45m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 61402 89639 (LIDAR)               

Bwlch Height:  3.0m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 61317 89488 & SN 61319 89492 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  22.4m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (August 2025)