Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – The Welsh P15s

Ffridd Mathrafal (SJ 114 102) 

There has been confirmation of a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the The Welsh P15s, 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 Ffridd Mathrafal (SJ 114 102)

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

The Welsh P15s – Welsh hills with 15m minimum drop, irrespective of their height, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Sub-P15s, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills with 14m or more and below 15m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 10^th May 2019. 

The Welsh P15s by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Esgeiriau Gwynion group of hills, which are situated in the southern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned with the A495 road to its immediate south, and has the town of Llanfair Caereinion towards the south south-west.

When the listing that became known as The Welsh P15s was being compiled, this hill was not included in the main P15 or Sub P14 list, as with an uppermost 140m ring contour and bwlch contouring between 130m – 140m that appear on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, it was deemed not to have sufficient prominence to be listed. 

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

One of the mapping resources now available online is the WalkLakes website which hosts an interactive map originated from the Ordnance Survey Open Data programme.  This map has many spot heights not on other publicly available maps and for this hill a 148m summit spot height is given, with subsequent interpolation giving the hill an estimated c 13m of drop and being listed under the point (Pt. 148m) notation.

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 829 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 Ffridd Mathrafal in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish named as Llangynyw and in the county named as Montgomery. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the The Welsh P15s is Ffridd Mathrafal, and the confirmation of this name was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Esgeiriau Gwynion 

Name:  Ffridd Mathrafal 

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 148m 

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Height:  150.0m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 11408 10233 (LIDAR)                                                  

Bwlch Height:  132.8m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 11315 10265 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  17.2m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2025)

  

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – The Welsh P15s

 

Ffridd Mathrafal (SJ 114 102) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in The Welsh P15s, 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 Ffridd Mathrafal (SJ 114 102)

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

The Welsh P15s – Welsh hills with 15m minimum drop, irrespective of their height, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Sub-P15s, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills with 14m or more and below 15m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 10^th May 2019. 

The Welsh P15s by Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Ffridd Mathrafal, and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it is adjoined to the Esgeiriau Gwynion group of hills, which are situated in the southern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned with the A495 road to its immediate south, and has the town of Llanfair Caereinion towards the south south-west.

When the listing that became known as The Welsh P15s was being compiled, this hill was not included in the main P15 or Sub P14 list, as with an uppermost 140m ring contour and bwlch contouring between 130m – 140m that appear on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, it was deemed not to have sufficient prominence to be listed. 

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

One of the mapping resources now available online is the WalkLakes website which hosts an interactive map originated from the Ordnance Survey Open Data programme.  This map has many spot heights not on other publicly available maps and for this hill a 148m summit spot height is given, with subsequent interpolation giving the hill an estimated c 13m of drop. 

Extract from the interactive mapping hosted on the WalkLakes website

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. 

LIDAR summit image of Ffridd Mathrafal (SJ 114 102)

The summit height produced by LIDAR analysis is 150.0m and when compared to the details on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and the WalkLakes map, this comes within the parameters of the Significant Height Revisions used within this page heading, and 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 150.0m and this was derived from LIDAR analysis.  This is 2.0m higher than the subsequently listed 148m summit heigth which was derived from the spot height that appears on the interactive WalkLakes map. 

 ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Esgeiriau Duon 

Name:  Ffridd Mathrafal 

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Height (New Height):  150.0m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 11408 10233 (LIDAR)                                                  

Bwlch Height:  132.8m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 11315 10265 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  17.2m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2025)

Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – The Welsh P15s

 

Ffridd Mathrafal (SJ 114 102) – Welsh P15 addition 

There has been an addition to the list of The Welsh P15s, 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 Ffridd Mathrafal (SJJ 114 102)

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

The Welsh P15s – Welsh hills with 15m minimum drop, irrespective of their height, with an accompanying sub list entitled the Welsh Sub-P15s, with the criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills with 14m or more and below 15m of drop.  The list is authored by Myrddyn Phillips, with the Introduction to the list appearing on Mapping Mountains on the 10^th May 2019. 

The Welsh P15s by Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Ffridd Mathrafal, and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it is adjoined to the Esgeiriau Gwynion group of hills, which are situated in the southern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned with the A495 road to its immediate south, and has the town of Llanfair Caereinion towards the south south-west.

When the listing that became known as The Welsh P15s was being compiled, this hill was not included in the main P15 or Sub P14 list, as with an uppermost 140m ring contour and bwlch contouring between 130m – 140m that appear on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, it was deemed not to have sufficient prominence to be listed. 

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

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 addition of this hill to Welsh P15 status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 150.0m summit height and a 132.8m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 17.2m 0f drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a Welsh P15. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Esgeiriau Duon 

Name:  Ffridd Mathrafal 

OS 1:50,000 map:  125

Summit Height:  150.0m (LIDAR)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 11408 10233 (LIDAR)                                                  

Bwlch Height:  132.8m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 11315 10265 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  17.2m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2025)