Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales

 

Bryn Berw (SN 714 505)

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m 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 Bryn Berw (SN 714 505)

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

Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales.  Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are five categories of sub hills, with this hill being included in the 400m Sub-Pedwar category.  The criteria for this sub category being all Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is listed by is Bryn Berw, and it is adjoined to the Esgair Wen group of hills, which are situated in the central part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with a minor road to its north-east and west, and has the village of Llanddewibrefi towards the north-west.

When the original 400m height band of Welsh P30 hills was published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was included in the accompanying Hills to be surveyed sub list with a non-interpolated 430m summit height. 

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 28m of drop, based on the 433m summit spot height and the 405m bwlch spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map.  And these are the details the hill was listed by when the 1^st edition of the Y Pedwarau was published by Europeaklist in May 2013.

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 Bryn Berw (SN 714 505)

LIDAR analysis gives the highest ground on this hill as 430.7m positioned at SN 71433 50501, 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 430.7m and this was derived from LIDAR analysis, this is 2.3m lower than the previously listed summit height, which was based on the 433m spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Esgair Wen 

Name:  Bryn Berw 

OS 1:50,000 map:  146, 147

Summit Height (New Height):  430.7m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 71433 50501 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  403.3m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 71373 50607 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  27.4m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (March 2026)

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales

Wenallt (SN 967 784) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Aled Williams and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Wenallt (SN 967 784)

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

Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales.  Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main list are five categories of sub hills; 500m Sub-Pedwarau, 500m Double Sub-Pedwarau, 400m Sub-Pedwarau, 390m Sub-Pedwarau and the 390m Double Sub-Pedwarau.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is listed by is Wenallt, and it is adjoined to the Hirddywel group of hills, which are situated in the northern part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B2), and it is positioned with a minor road to its north-west and south, the A470 road to its west, and the B4518 road to its east, and has the town of Llanidloes towards the north.

When the original 400m height band of Welsh P30 hills was published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was included in the main P30 list with a 435m summit height.

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 40m of drop, based on the 435m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and the 395m bwlch spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map.  And these are the details the hill was listed by when the 1^st edition of the Y Pedwarau was published by Europeaklist in May 2013. 

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. 

LIDAR summit image of Wenallt (SN 967 784)

LIDAR analysis gives the highest ground on this hill as 433.0m positioned at SN 96743 78468, 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 433.0m and this was derived from LIDAR analysis, this is 2.0m lower than the originally listed summit height, which was based on the 435m spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Hirddywel 

Name:  Wenallt 

OS 1:50,000 map:  136, 147

Summit Height (New Height):  433.0m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 96743 78468 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  394.0m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 95366 78745 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  39.0m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2025)

  

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales

Moel Wnog (SH 735 440) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived from detail produced by Joe Nuttall in his surface analysis progamme, with subsequent LIDAR analysis conducted by the DoBIH team and independently by Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Moel Wnog (SH 735 440)

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

Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales.  Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main Y Pedwarau list are five categories of sub hills, with this hill now being listed in the 400m Sub-Pedwar category.  The criteria for 400m Sub-Pedwar status being all Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is listed by is Moel Wnog and it is adjoined to the Arenig Fach group of hills, which are situated in the north-westerly part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is positioned with a minor road to its west, the A470 road farther to its west, the B4391 road to its south-west and the B4407 road to its south-east, and has the village of Ffestiniog towards the south-west.

When the original 400m height band of Welsh P30 hills was published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was not included in the accompanying Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for this sub category.

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 29 of drop, based on an estimated c 468m summit height and an estimated c 439m bwlch height, with both heights based on interpolation of 10m contouring that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. 

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

Prior to the 1^st edition of the Y Pedwarau being published by Europeaklist in May 2013, the details for this hill were re-evaluated and it was listed as a Pedwar with an estimated c 34m of drop, based on the 473m summit spot height that appears on the Harvey 1:40,000 British Mountain Map and an estimated c 439m bwlch height.

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 Moel Wnog (SH 735 440)

LIDAR analysis gives the highest ground on this hill as 471.3m positioned at SH 73522 44084, 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 or Harvey 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 to the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis.

Therefore, the new listed summit height of this hill is 471.3m and this was derived from LIDAR analysis, this is 3.3m higher than the originally listed estimated height of c 468m which was based on interpolation of the uppermost 460m ring contour that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Arenig Fach 

Name:  Moel Wnog 

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Height (New Height):  471.3m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 73522 44084 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  441.5m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 73597 44355 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  29.8m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (August 2023)

 

 

  

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales and Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales

Ffridd Ddu (SH 726 064) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales and Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop, remoteness and status of the hill derived from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Ffridd Ddu (SH 726 064)

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

Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales.  Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main Y Pedwarau list are five categories of sub hills, with this hill being listed in the 400m Sub-Pedwar category.  The criteria for 400m Sub-Pedwar status being all Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

Y Pellennig –The Remotest Hills of Wales - Welsh hills whose summit is at least 2.5km from the nearest paved public road and the hill has a minimum 15m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is available as a downloadable e-booklet or print-booklet version on Mapping Mountains Publications with the up-to-date master list available on Mapping Mountains to download in Google Doc format. 

Y Pellennig - The Remotest Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is listed by is Ffridd Ddu and it is adjoined to the Tarren y Gesail group of hills, which are situated in the south-western part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A3), and it is positioned with the B4405 road to its north-west and the A487 road to its east, and has the town of Machynlleth towards the south.

When the original 400m height band of Welsh P30 hills was published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, this hill was not included in the accompanying Hills to be surveyed sub list, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used for this sub category. 

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 20m of drop, based on the 433m summit spot height and the 413m bwlch spot height that appeared on the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map.  These values also appeared for this hill when the 1^st edition of the Y Pedwarau was published by Europeaklist in May 2013 and the 1^st edition of Y Pellennig – The Remotest Hills of Wales was published by Europeaklist in April 2015. 

Extract from the interactive mapping hosted on the WalkLakes website

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 it also shows a 433m summit spot height.

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 Ddu (SH 726 064)

LIDAR analysis gives the highest ground on this hill as 435.0m positioned at SH 72667 06467, 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 or Harvey 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 to the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis.

Therefore, the new listed summit height of this hill is 435.0m and this was derived from LIDAR analysis, this is 2.0m higher than the previously listed height of 435m which was based on the spot height that appeared on Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which was entitled the Interactive Coverage Map.

 

ills of Wales, and are reproduced below@

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Tarren y Gesail

Name:  Ffridd Ddu

OS 1:50,000 map:  124

Summit Height (New Height):  435.0m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 72667 06467 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  413.0m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 72593 06527 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  22.0m (LIDAR)

Remoteness:  2.590km

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (July 2023)

  

Mapping Mountains – Significant Height Revisions – Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales

 

Stonewall Hill (SO 318 696) 

There has been a Significant Height Revision to a hill that is listed in the Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales under the classification of National Top status (for details relating to the concept of National Tops see separate post), with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis and a subsequent Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams. 

Stonewall Hill (SO 318 696)

The criteria for the list this height revision affects are:

Y Pedwarau – The 400m Hills of Wales.  Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main Y Pedwarau list are five categories of sub hills, with this hill being included in the 400m Sub-Pedwar category.  The criteria for 400m Sub-Pedwar status being all Welsh hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and is published on Mapping Mountains in Google Doc format.

Y Pedwarau - The 400m Hills of Wales by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is listed by is Stonewall Hill and it is adjoined to the Beacon Hill group of hills, which are situated in Mid and West Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with the A4113 road to its north, a minor road to its immediate west and the B4355 road farther to its west, and has the town of Trefyclo (Knighton) towards the north-west.

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

When the original 400m height band of Welsh P30 hills were published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website this hill was not included as the concept of National Tops had not been devised.  The hill was subsequently analysed using contemporary Ordnance Survey maps and LIDAR for height and drop.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales. 

LIDAR image of Stonewall Hill (SO 318 696)

LIDAR analysis confirms this hill as over 400m in height, and as the summit has now been surveyed with the Trimble GeoXH 6000, it is this result that is being prioritised for listing purposes 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 summit height and Ordnance Survey or Harvey 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 to the data produced by the Trimble or by LIDAR analysis. 

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Stonewall Hill

Therefore, this hill’s new listed summit height is 400.1m and this was derived from a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey, this is 5.1m higher than the uppermost 395m ring contour taking in the summit of this hill on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps, although an erroneous 400m ring contour is shown toward the west. 

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Beacon Hill 

Name:  Stonewall Hill

OS 1:50,000 map:  137, 148

Summit Height (New Height):  400.1m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 31823 69655

Bwlch Height:  376.4m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 31273 70279

Drop:  23.8m

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2021)