Bigni (SN 199 311)
There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 200m 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.
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| LIDAR image of Bigni (SN 199 311) |
The criteria for the list that this name change
applies to are:
200m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 200m and below 300m in height that have 30m
minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the 200m Sub-Twmpau, with
the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 200m and
below 300m 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.
 |
| 200m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips |
The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Preseli group
of hills, which are situated in the south-western
part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with minor roads to its north,
south and east, and the A478 road to its west, and has the village of Crymych towards
the north-west.
When the original 200m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was included
in the main P30 list under the transposed name of Bryn-eithin, with an accompanying note stating; Name from building to the South.
| Bryn-eithin | 263m | SN199311 | 145 | 35 | Name from buildings to the South |
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 and where it was appropriately
applied to. My preference was to use
farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them or as in this instance transpose a name of a
farm and use it for that of the hill. 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.
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| 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, and it is the series of Ordnance
Survey Six-Inch maps that form the basis of the change in the listed name of
this hill.
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 Begney adjacent to the summit of this hill.
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| Extract from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps |
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. With online sources, including Coflein giving the
alternate name of Bigni.
Therefore, the name this hill
is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is
Bigni, and
this was derived from the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps, with
the language protocol also being used.
The full details for the hill are:
Group: Mynydd Preseli
Name: Bigni
Previously Listed Name:
Bryn-eithin
OS 1:50,000 map: 145
Summit Height: 262.9m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 19911 31149 (LIDAR)
Bwlch Height: 211.8m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 19869 31901 (LIDAR)
Drop: 51.1m (LIDAR)
Myrddyn Phillips
(February 2025)
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