Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – 200m Twmpau

 

Ugain (SO 126 320 & SO 127 320) 

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. 

LIDAR image of Ugain (SO 126 320 & SO 127 320)

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

The 200m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Epynt group of hills, which are situated in the central part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned enclosed by minor roads, with the A470 road farther to its north-west and the B4560 road and A479 road farther to its east, and has the town of Talgarth towards the north-east. 

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 200m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the invented and transposed name of Moel Meiadd, with an accompanying note stating; Name from wood to the South.

Moel Meiadd

243m

SO127320

161

12

Name from wood 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 near wood and prefix it with the word Moel.  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 609 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 Ekan [sic] in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Talgarth and in the county named as Brecon. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the 200m Twmpau is Ugain and this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Epynt

Name:  Ugain

Previously Listed Name:  Moel Meiadd   

OS 1:50,000 map:  161

Summit Height:  243.0m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 12694 32007 & SO 12698 32008 & SO 12700 32007 & SO 12699 32004 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  212.1m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 12214 32682 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  30.8m (LIDAR) 

 

My thanks to Gwyn Jones and Richard Morgan for advice in relation to this name, with the following detail given: 

Gwyn Jones: (The acreage is documented as) 19, so 20 (ugain) may have been a previous estimate.  The ai>a and g>c are both SE Wales dialect features. 

Richard Morgan:  South Wales u sounds like English ee.  That’s the trouble with historical spellings.  They don’t always lend themselves to standardisation or identification. 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (March 2022)

 

Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – 200m Twmpau

Ugain (SO 126 320 & SO 127 320) – 200m Sub-Twmpau reclassified to 200m Twmpau

There has been confirmation of a reclassification to the list of 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.

LIDAR image of Ugain (SO 126 320 & SO 127 320)

The criteria for the list that this reclassification 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, with the word Twmpau being an acronym standing for thirty welsh metre prominences and upward. 

The 200m Twmpau by Myrddyn Phillips

The name the hill is listed by is Ugain and this was derived from the Tithe map, and it is adjoined to the Mynydd Epynt group of hills, which are situated in the central part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned enclosed by minor roads, with the A470 road farther to its north-west and the B4560 road and A479 road farther to its east, and has the town of Talgarth towards the north-east. 

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 Hills to be surveyed sub list that accompanied the main P30 list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for 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 the 243m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and an estimated c 214m bwlch height, based on interpolation of 10m contouring between 210m – 220m. 

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 such as the interactive mapping on the Magic Maps and WalkLakes websites. 

The details for this hill were re-assessed when the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map became available online.  This mapping had many spot heights not on other publicly available Ordnance Survey maps and for this hill it had a 213m bwlch spot height, which when coupled with the 243m summit spot height gave this hill 30m of drop. 

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 confirmation of the reclassification of this hill from 200m Sub-Twmpau status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 243.0m summit height and a 212.1m bwlch height, with these values giving this hill 30.8m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a 200m Twmpau. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Mynydd Epynt 

Name:  Ugain 

OS 1:50,000 map:  161

Summit Height:  243.0m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 12694 32007 & SO 12698 32008 & SO 12700 32007 & SO 12699 32004 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  212.1m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 12214 32682 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  30.8m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips (March 2022)