Myrddyn Phillips - Mapping Mountains: Cefn y Coed (SO 211 934)

Showing posts with label Cefn y Coed (SO 211 934). Show all posts

Monday, 25 May 2026

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Cefn y Coed (SO 211 934)

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales and the Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop, the dominance and status of the hill derived from a Leica RX1250 survey conducted by Alan Dawson and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit survey and LIDAR bwlch analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

Cefn y Coed (SO 211 934)

The criteria for the two listings that this height revision applies to are:

Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales – Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height that have 30m minimum drop, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Sub-Trichant, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 300m and below 400m in height with 20m or more and below 30m of drop. The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips with the Introduction to the list and the renaming of it appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 13^th May 2017, and the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of the list appearing on the 1^st January 2022.

Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales 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

The name the hill is listed by is Cefn y Coed and this was derived from the Tithe map, the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map and local enquiry, and it is adjoined to the Cilfaesty group of hills, which are situated in the north-eastern part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is positioned with a minor road to its north and the A489 road to its south, and has the town of Trefaldwyn (Montgomery) to its north north-east.

When the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was listed with a non interpolated summit height of c 355m, based on the uppermost ring contour that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map.

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

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 with an estimated c 173m drop, based on an estimated c 356m summit height and an estimated c 183m bwlch height, with both heights based on interpolation of 5m contouring that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map.

The Leica RX1250 set-up position at the summit of Cefn y Coed

However, it was not until the survey with the Leica RX1250 and subsequent LIDAR analysis and the survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Cefn y Coed

The summit height produced by the Leica RX1250 survey is 353.5m positioned at SO 21163 93413 and the summit height produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey is 353.6m positioned at SO 21164 93411, and this comes within the parameters of the Significant Height Revisions used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Significant Height Revisions applies to any listed hill whose interpolated height and Ordnance Survey, Harvey or other interactive map summit spot height has a 2m or more discrepancy when compared to the survey result produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 or analysis of data produced via LIDAR. Also included are hills whose summit map data is missing an uppermost ring contour when compared with the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis.

Therefore, the new listed summit height of this hill is 353.6m and this was derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey, this is 2.4m lower than the previously listed summit height of c 356m, which was based on interpolation of the uppermost ring contour that appears on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group: Cilfaesty

Name: Cefn y Coed

OS 1:50,000 map: 137

Summit Height (New Height): 353.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference: SO 21164 93411 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height: 184.2m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 20667 90868 (LIDAR)

Drop: 169.3m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance: 47.89% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2026)

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales and Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales

Cefn y Coed (SO 211 934)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales and Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from a Leica RX1250 survey conducted by Alan Dawson and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit survey and LIDAR bwlch analysis conducted b Myrddyn Phillips.

Cefn y Coed (SO 211 934)

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

Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is a part of the Cilfaesty range, this group of hills is situated in the north-eastern part of Mid and West Wales, and is positioned above the A 489 road and between the town of Trefaldwyn (Montgomery) to its north, Yr Ystog (Churchstoke) to its east, Aber-miwl (Abermule) to its west north-west and Sarn to its south.

The hill appeared in the 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the transposed name of Caeliber Isaf, which is a name that appeared close to the summit of the hill on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.

During my early hill listing I paid little regard to name placement on a map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to. Therefore I prioritised names for listing purposes that I now understand are inappropriate, and Caeliber Isaf is such an example as this name has been consistently applied by the Ordnance Survey to land on the southern side of this hill. The name Caeliber Isaf can be translated in to English as the lower fair copse, which is an unusual name if applicable to the highest hill hereabouts, and especially so when one considers that the name Caeliber Uchaf also appears on Ordnance Survey maps and has been consistently applied to land to the west of where the name Caeliber Isaf appears, the translation in to English of Caeliber Uchaf can be given as the upper fair copse. Both names are known locally as applicable to areas or districts of land and not to hills.

Caeliber Isaf

355c

SO212934

137

216

Marilyn. Clem/Yeaman.

Since publication of these P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website there have been a number of Ordnance Survey maps made available online, some of these are historical such as the series of Six-Inch maps on the National Library of Scotland website, whilst others are current and digitally updated such as the enlarged map hosted on the Geograph website. One of the historical maps now available is the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, which was the first map made publicly available by the Ordnance Survey and it is this map that has the name of Cefn y Coed running across the summit of this hill and beyond, and when coupled with detail later found on the Tithe map and also through local enquiry it formed the basis of this name being considered the most appropriate for this hill.

The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ was the first map that Ordnance Survey published, and they were based on the preceding Draft Surveyors map. Their publication culminated from the whole of Britain being surveyed between 1791 and 1874 and the detail gathered therein produced at a scale of one inch to the mile and published in sheet format between 1805 and 1874. The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ maps for the whole of Wales are now available online; they are also available in map format as enlarged and re-projected versions to match the scale and dimensions of the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series and are published by Cassini. This series of maps forms another important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names and bridge the time frame leading to the production of the Ordnance Survey base map of the Six-Inch series.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey One-Inch 'Old Series' map

However, many local people now know the name Cefn y Coed to be applicable to an area/district of land and not necessarily to the hill, this was confirmed by Gordon Davies who has lived at Camp Farm all of his life, with his grandfather moving here in 1904, this farm is situated approximately 1.3 km west of the hill’s summit. This hill was surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 in the company of Rick Salter and Jenny Hatfield and we visited Camp Farm on our descent and I took the opportunity to ask Gordon about the name of the hill.

Gordon knows this hill as Cwm Bromley Top, as the land where the summit of the hill is situated is a part of the farm of Cwm Bromley. This farm is situated to the east of the summit at grid reference SO 226 934. He also knows the point at SO 20930 92921 as Black Hill and explained that this land takes in at least three bounded and fenced fields. Gordon confirmed that Caeliber Isaf is a small district of land which is in the main on the other (southern) side of the hill, and that there are also other areas of land with Caeliber in their names that are also close by.

Gordon Davies

Although Gordon knows the hill as Cwm Bromley Top this is only applicable as the land where the summit of the hill is situated, is on land of Cwm Bromley farm. Ideally this needed confirming and therefore I contacted Ted and Merle Davies who have farmed Cwm Bromley since Ted’s family moved there in 1937. Ted is now aged 65 and told me that he knows the field where the high point of the hill is situated as the Tank Field, as there’s a water tank in the field. I asked if he had ever heard, used or referred to the hill or the upper field as Cwm Bromley Top, he had not, although he did say that he’s referred to it as the top of Cwm Bromley, Ted then told me that Cefn y Coed is a little hamlet. As there is no confirmation that Cwm Bromley Top is the name of the hill or the upper field by the farmer from Cwm Bromley farm it may be surmised that this name is not frequently used.

I later checked 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.

The enclosed land where the summit of this hill is situated is given the number Q33 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 Cefn y Coed (conforming to standard modern Welsh) on the Tithe map and described as Pasture; it appears in the county named as Montgomery and in the parish of Ceri.

Accessing information on the Tithe map is simplified by the use of a split screen enabling the summit to be pinpointed on the map on the right and for the same point to appear on the Tithe map on the left

The land where the summit of this hill is situated is named as Cefn y Coed on the Tithe map

Although there is now consensus amongst the local community that the name of Cefn y Coed is applicable to a small hamlet or area of land and not necessarily the hill, the Tithe map confirms that the bounded land at the summit of this hill that once took in what is now a number of individual fields was known at the time of the Tithe map as Cefn y Coed, and this is substantiated by the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map. One may presume from this that Cefn y Coed is the name of the land at the summit of this hill, and in all likelihood is the name of the hill itself, and that the passage of time has supplanted this name to also take in the small hamlet and area of land surrounding the hill.

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

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant - The 300m Hills of Wales and Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales is Cefn y Coed, and this was derived from the Tithe map and the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, coupled with information given from local enquiry.

The full details for the hill are:

Group: Cilfaesty

Name: Cefn y Coed

Previously Listed Name: Caeliber Isaf

OS 1:50,000 map: 137

Summit Height: 353.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Summit Grid Reference: SO 21164 93411 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)

Bwlch Height: 184.2m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 20667 90868 (LIDAR)

Drop: 169.3m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance: 47.89% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2016)

Saturday, 15 October 2016

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Cilfaesty and Stiperstones

03.10.16 Cefn y Coed (SO 211 934), Black Hill (SO 209 929), Lan Fawr (SO 297 967, previously Trimbled) and Cefn Digoll (SJ 264 058, subsequently Trimbled)

Cefn y Coed (SO 211 934)

After visiting Stingwern Hill (SJ 132 014) with Rick and Jen we navigated toward Trefaldwyn (Montgomery) and onward to the area known locally as Cefn y Coed, the top of which has another Marilyn to add to the growing number already bagged during the last twelve months by Jenny and Rick, who are fast approaching the record for the greatest number of Marilyns visited during a twelve month timeframe.

I’d visited this hill twice before, the first time in July 2004, and the second time in the company of Alan Dawson in October 2013 when he surveyed the hill with his Leica RX1250. The hill is no more than a high pasture used for sheep grazing but it has extensive views and is situated in a quiet spot that is seldom visited unless you’re a Marilyn, Hump or P30 bagger.

We approached from the north where a gate gave access to the first of many fields. There was a slightly chilling breeze whisking across the land as we gained height beside a row of stunted trees which shielded us from a tractor working away to our east on a complex of large barns that had appeared on the land since my first visit.

The top of this hill is slightly rounded and I remember watching Alan on my last visit as he used an Abney level to sight across to an adjacent point which is given a 355m spot height on Ordnance Survey maps, compared to the 355m ring contour where the listed summit appears, each point was surveyed by Alan with the results being 353.2m and 353.5m respectively.

As we approached the summit I crouched down and assessed the lay of land leading up to the high point from its north, once reached I put my rucksack on the ground as an indicator and Rick then assessed the lay of land from a number of directions and directed me toward where he judged the high point to be situated.

I set the Trimble up on top of my rucksack to give it elevation above the grass, measured a 0.43m offset between its internal antenna and the ground at its base and waited for the 0.1m accuracy level to be attained before pressing ‘Log’. As data were gathered I joined Rick and Jen for a natter, as the last of the designated 300 datum points were stored the Marilyn bagging couple made a move toward the top where the 355m spot height appears on current Ordnance Survey maps.

Gathering data at the summit of Cefn y Coed

The route toward this southerly high point took us through a field of cows, they all rather obediently skipped through an open gate in to the field that we were vacating, all that was left in the field where they had once been and where we now were, was a rather big looking and slightly inquisitive bull, thankfully he seemed more concerned where his female company had gone rather than wondering why three people were roaming through his field.

As we arrived in the field where the 355m spot height is situated Rick directed me to a point to set the Trimble up, whilst Jenny headed toward a point nearer to where a conifer plantation is situated. We decided that each point needed Trimbling, making three data sets in all including that already taken at what is designated the summit of the hill.

Once the five minutes of allotted data were gathered I headed toward Rick and Jen who had found the high point near to the conifer plantation, visually this looked higher than the point where I had just gathered data from, but lower than the point where the designated summit is given and where the first data set was taken with the Trimble.

Again the Trimble was set up on top of my rucksack to give it elevation above its immediate surrounds, and as it beeped away gathering its all-important data I kept Rick and Jen amused telling them stories of how I re-met Lou, a date we had whilst in school and also the fact that I’d lived with her younger sister.

The Trimble set-up position at the high point of Black Hill near to the conifer plantation

After the Trimble was packed away we descended north-west toward where a public footpath leads in to a wood; in front of us was a superb view stretching for miles, it was good to be out on the hill in good company with good conversation. The path through the wood led us to Camp Farm where I went hunting its occupant.

Gordon Davies was busying himself in the sunshine when I introduced myself and explained my interest in Welsh upland place-names. We then spent the next 30 minutes with him talking about all manner of things.

Gordon’s grandfather had moved to Camp Farm in 1904 from the Trefeglwys area, I asked about the names of the two tops we had visited, the latter beside the conifer plantation was just in view from where we were standing and Gordon told me that it is known as Black Hill. I asked about the name of Caeliber Isaf which appears on the southern side of the hill on current Ordnance Survey maps, Gordon explained that Caeliber Isaf is mainly on the other side of the hill and takes in a small district and that there are other local places with Caeliber in their names (the name Caeliber Uchaf also appears toward the west on current Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps). I then asked about the name of Cefn y Coed which appears across the summit area of this hill on the Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, Gordon told me that he knew Cefn y Coed to be a local area rather than the hill itself. The high point of the hill was out of view from where we were standing but Gordon pointed toward where it was situated and said that it was a little higher than Black Hill and that it was known locally as Cwm Bromley Top, with Cwm Bromley being a farm on the eastern side of the hill.

Gordon Davies

I scribbled all necessary details in my note book as Gordon kindly gave me all this information, he then asked us to follow him as he was going to try and point out where Snowdon was, we walked to the top of his drive and on to a scrub piece of land from where the high Berwyn and Aran, and the bulging profile of Cadair Idris were on fine display, and way off in the distance were two pyramidal summits and Gordon pointed toward them and said ‘there it is, that’s Snowdon.’

We’d spent a very pleasant half hour or so in Gordon’s company and thanked him for his time and shook his hand before saying our goodbyes. It was only a short walk back on the road to the awaiting car and then it was off to Churchstoke and the minor road leading toward the base of Corndon.

We approached Corndon from its north-west and I dropped Rick and Jen off next to a foot stile which gave access to the path that leads steeply up the hill’s western slopes, this is adjacent to where a mall conifer plantation has recently been felled. Whist they bagged another Marilyn I continued up to the top of the track, parked, had a butty and watched the two of them nearing the summit. I just had time to visit the summit of Lan Fawr; a 426.1m Pedwar before jumping in the car and driving back down the track to pick them up as they arrived back at the foot stile – good timing.

Jenny and Rick approaching the summit of Corndon

Corndon from the summit of Lan Fawr

Next on the agenda was the Stiperstones, an excellent hill, I dropped them off for their fifth Marilyn of the day on the high point of the road to the south of the summit and then drove to the main car park and sat in the sun and slightly chilly breeze and waited for them to wander down the path from the summit.

Before the last hill of the day we visited the Horseshoe Inn at the Bridges where Rick and Jen sampled a number of brews. This is a lovely pub situated next to a bunkhouse that accommodates 22 people beside the trickling waters of the River East Onny.

Ready to sample the brews at the Horseshoe Inn at the Bridges

All that remained was a drive toward and through Churchstoke and Forden and up the steep minor road that leads to the ridge road passing over Cefn Digoll (Long Mountain). By the time we reached the gate that gives access up the track to the summit the sun had sank in the sky, the gate was open and we took full advantage and gained a few metres in distance by driving up the track to park beside the large mast just to the south-east of the summit.

Leaving the car we followed the path to the northerly side of the ancient earthen embankment that encircles this hill’s summit and joined its top and walked round to the western side where the view opened up with slithers of orange hued against subtle blues as day turned to night.

The last light of a great day out with Rick and Jen

There was just time to venture in to the wood to visit the trig and the high point of the hill, before heading out of the wood and back to the car before darkness fell. It had been a great day out in the company of Rick and Jen which was topped off with an extremely good meal at Spice UK in Welshpool.

Beside the trig pillar at the summit of Cefn Digoll

Postscript:

After arriving home I contacted Ted and Merle Davies at Cwm Bromley farm, Ted told me that he knows the high point where the summit of the hill is situated as the Tank Field as there’s a water tank in it, and confirmed that he occasionally refers to the field where the summit is situated as top of Cwm Bromley but doesn’t really know this field or the hill itself as either Cwm Bromley Top or as top of Cwm Bromley, preferring to call it the Tank Field. However, study of the Tithe map confirmed that the old bounded land of this hill that now takes in many of the upper fenced fields and importantly also includes the summit was named as Cefn y Coed at the time of the Tithe map, this confirms that in all likelihood the hill is also named Cefn y Coed.

Survey Result:

Cefn y Coed (significant name changes)

Summit Height: 353.6m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000) 353.5m (converted to OSGM15, Leica RX1250) (significant height revision)

Summit Grid Reference: SO 21164 93411 (Trimble GeoXH 6000) SO 21163 93413 (Leica RX1250)

Bwlch Height: 184.2m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 20667 90868 (LIDAR)

Drop: 169.4m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance: 47.89% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Black Hill

Summit Height: 353.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference: SO 20930 92921

Bwlch Height: c 344m (interpolation)

Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 21118 93177 (interpolation)

Drop: c 9m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and interpolated bwlch)

Dominance: 2.55% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and interpolated bwlch)

Lan Fawr

Summit Height: 426.1m (converted to OSGM15, from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Summit Grid Reference: SO 29711 96759 (from previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Bwlch Height: 392.6m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference: SO 29966 96784 (LIDAR)

Drop: 33.5m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance: 7.86% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Cefn Digoll (significant name change)

Summit Height: 408.3m (converted to OSGM15, from subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Summit Grid Reference: SJ 26479 05819 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height: 103.3m (converted to OSGM15, and average of three subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 surveys)

Bwlch Grid Reference: SJ 28827 02177 ( from subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)