Myrddyn Phillips - Mapping Mountains: Mynydd Cas-fuwch

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Tuesday, 7 March 2023

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales

Mynydd Cas-fuwch (SN 028 296)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales, 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 Mynydd Cas-fuwch (SN 028 296)

The criteria for the list that this name change 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

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-west and south, the B4329 road to its south-east and the B4313 road to its north-east, and has the village of Cas-mael (Puncheston) towards the west.

The hill appeared in the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the transposed name of Mynydd Castlebythe, which is the mixed language name prescribed the hill on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.

Mynydd Castlebythe

347m

SN029296

145/157/158

Clem/Yeaman. Trig pillar

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 mixed language name prescribed the hill on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map. 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

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.

As the previously listed name for this hill comprises mixed language the Gazetteer of Welsh Place-Names and the Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales were consulted, resulting in the English element of Castlebythe being dropped in favour of the full Welsh name.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Mynydd Cas-fuwch and this was derived from prioritising a full Welsh language term for the hill in favour of a mixed language version.

The full details for the hill are:

Group: Mynydd Preseli

Name: Mynydd Cas-fuwch

Previously Listed Name: Mynydd Castlebythe

OS 1:50,000 map: 145, 157, 158

Summit Height: 346.4m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference: SN 02872 29646 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height: 231.5m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 05870 29855 & SN 05868 29843 (LIDAR)

Drop: 114.9m (LIDAR)

Myrddyn Phillips (March 2023)

Wednesday, 1 March 2023

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

Mynydd Cas-fuwch (SN 028 296) – Lesser Dominant deletion

There has been a deletion to the list of the Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop, dominance and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.

LIDAR image of Mnydd Cas-fuwch (SN 028 296)

The criteria for the list that this deletion 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 inits entirety on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Trechol - The Dominant Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is now listed by is Mynydd Cas-fuwch, and it 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-west and south, the B4329 road to its south-east and the B4313 road to its north-east, and has the village of Cas-mael (Puncheston) towards the west.

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

When the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website were standardised and interpolated heights and drop values also included, this hill was listed with 116m of drop and 33.43% dominance, based on the 347m summit spot height adjoined to a triangulation pillar that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and the 231m bwlch spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger 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 deletion of this hill from Lesser Dominant status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 346.4m summit height and a 231.5m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 114.9m of drop and 33.17% dominance, which is insufficient for this hill to be classified as a Lesser Dominant.