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

Long Park (SS 072 984)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop, dominance and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of Long Park (SS 072 984)

The criteria for the two listings 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, 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, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward.

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 which is now available in its entirety on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

The hill is adjoined to the Brandy Hill group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B4), and is positioned with the coast to its south, the A4139 road to its north and the B4585 road to its west and south, and has the village of Maenorbŷr (Manorbier) towards the south-west.

The hill originally appeared in the Welsh 30-99m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the transposed name of Middle Hill, with an accompanying note stating; Name from buildings to the South.

Middle Hill

80c

SS072984

158

36

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.  My preference was to use farm names and put Pen, Bryn or Moel in front of them or as in this instance transpose the 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.

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 633 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 Long Park in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Manorbeer [sic] and in the county named as Pembrokeshire.

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 30-99m Twmpau and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Long Park, and this name was derived from the Tithe map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Brandy Hill

Name:  Long Park

Previously Listed Name:  Middle Hill

  

OS 1:50,000 map:  158

Summit Height:  79.2m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SS 07255 98449 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  48.0m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SS 06985 99391 (LIDAR)

Drop:  31.1m (LIDAR)

Dominance:  39.34% (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2020)

Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Long Park (SS 072 984) – Lesser Dominant addition

There has been an addition to the listing of Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height, their locations, the drop, dominance and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of Long Park (SS 072 984)

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

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.

The name the hill is listed by is Long Park and this was derived from the Tithe map and it is adjoined to the Brandy Hill group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B4), and is positioned with the coast to its south, the A4139 road to its north and the B4585 road to its west and south, and has the village of Maenorbŷr (Manorbier) towards the 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 included in the accompanying Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used in the main P30 category. 

When 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 29m of drop based on an estimated c 80m summit height and an estimated bwlch height of c 51m, with both heights based on interpolation of 5m contouring that appears on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps.

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

The details for this hill were re-assessed when the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which is entitled the Interactive Coverage Map became available online.  This mapping had many spot heights not on other publicly available Ordnance Survey maps.  As no additional information was shown on this mapping, the details for the hill remained the same.

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 for Long Park

LIDAR bwlch image for Long Park

Therefore, the addition of this hill to Lesser Dominant status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 79.2m summit height and a 48.0m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 31.1m of drop and 39.34% dominance.  With the 48.0m bwlch height taken to a railway cutting which meets the criteria used in this list.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Brandy Hill

Name:  Long Park

OS 1:50,000 map:  158

Summit Grid Reference:  SS 07255 98449 (LIDAR)

Summit Height:  79.2m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SS 06985 99391 (LIDAR)

Drop Summit to Bwlch:  31.1m (LIDAR)

Drop Bwlch to ODN:  48.0m (LIDAR)

Dominance:  39.34% (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2020)

Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – 30-99m Twmpau

Long Park (SS 072 984) – 30-99m Sub-Twmpau reclassified to 30-99m Twmpau

There has been a reclassification of a hill in the listing of the 30-99m Twmpau, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of Long Park (SS 072 984)

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

30-99m Twmpau - Welsh hills at or above 30m and below 100m in height with 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, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward.

The name the hill is listed by is Long Park and this was derived from the Tithe map and it is adjoined to the Brandy Hill group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B4), and is positioned with the coast to its south, the A4139 road to its north and the B4585 road to its west and south, and has the village of Maenorbŷr (Manorbier) towards the 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 included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list that accompanied the main P30 list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used in the main P30 category. 

When 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 29m of drop based on an estimated c 80m summit height and an estimated bwlch height of c 51m, with both heights based on interpolation of 5m contouring that appears on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps.

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

The details for this hill were re-assessed when the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which is entitled the Interactive Coverage Map became available online.  This mapping had many spot heights not on other publicly available Ordnance Survey maps.  As no additional information was shown on this mapping, the details for the hill remained the same.

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 bwlch image for Long Park

The reclassification of this hill from 30-99m Sub-Twmpau status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 79.2m summit height and a 48.0m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 31.1m of drop which is sufficient for 30-99m Twmpau status.  With the 48.0m bwlch height taken to a railway cutting which meets the criteria used in this list.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Brandy Hill

Name:  Long Park

OS 1:50,000 map:  158

Summit Height:  79.2m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SS 07255 98449 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  48.0m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SS 06985 99391 (LIDAR)

Drop:  31.1m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (May 2020)