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

Pt. c 380m (SN 712 827) 

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 detail on contemporary maps produced from Ordnance Survey data. 

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 Banc Llechwedd Mawr group of hills, which are situated in the northern part of South Wales (Region B, Sub-Region B1), and it is positioned with a minor road to its north and west, and the A44 road to its south, and has the village of Ponterwyd towards the east south-east.

The hill appeared in the original 300m height band of Welsh P30 hills published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, under the invented and transposed name of Moel Rhosgoch, with an accompanying note stating; Name from lake to the North.

Moel Rhosgoch

380c

SN713828

135

213

Name from lake to the North

 

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 lake and add the word Moel to it.  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

However, on occasion even when research is conducted an appropriate name for the hill may not be found, and on such occasions the listing protocol is to use the point (Pt. c 380m) notation, and for this hill this is such an example.

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Pt. c 380m, and this is being used as the author has not found an appropriate name for the hill either through historic research and/or local enquiry. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Banc Llechwedd Mawr 

Name:  Pt. c 380m 

Previously Listed Name:  Moel Rhosgoch 

OS 1:50,000 map:  135

Summit Height:  c 380m (interpolation)                                                           

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 71297 82783 (interpolation) 

Bwlch Height:  c 354m (interpolation) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 71140 82868 (interpolation) 

Drop:  c 26m (interpolated summit and bwlch) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (January 2023)

 

  

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

 

Coedcae Mawr (ST 036 958) 

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 initially confirmed by Joe Nuttall who produced a summit analysis programme using LIDAR, and then by LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Jim Bloomer and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of Coedcae Mawr (ST 036 958)

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. 

The hill is adjoined to the Cymoedd Morgannwg group of hills, which are situated in the central part of South Wales (Region C, Sub-Region C2), and it is encircled by minor roads with the A4233 road further to its west and the A4059 road and the A470 road further to its east, and has the town of Pontypridd towards the south-east. 

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the transposed and directional name of Y Dduallt South-West Top, with an accompanying note stating; Name from hill to the North-East. 

Y Ddaullt South-West Top

360c

ST036958

170

166

Name from hill to the North-East

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 use a directional name based on supplanting the name adjoined to the hill to the north-east and adding a directional component to it.  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 this hill comprises bounded land the Tithe map was consulted.  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 1641 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 Coedcae Mawr in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Llanwonno and in the county named as Glamorgan. 

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Coedcae Mawr, and this was derived from the Tithe map. 

 

The full details for the hill are: 

Group:  Cymoedd Morgannwg 

Name:  Coedcae Mawr 

Previously Listed Name:  Y Dduallt South-West Top 

OS 1:50,000 map:  170

Summit Height:  361.4m (LIDAR) 

Summit Grid Reference:  ST 03647 95811 (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Height:  333.3m (LIDAR) 

Bwlch Grid Reference:  ST 03865 96007 (LIDAR) 

Drop:  28.1m (LIDAR) 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (December 2020)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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

Foel (SJ 074 521)

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 and its location confirmed by LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips, and the bwlch height and its location, the drop and status of the hill derived from detail on contemporary maps produced from Ordnance Survey data.

LIDAR image of Foel (SJ 074 521)

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 13th May 2017.

The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Hiraethog group of hills which are situated in the north-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is positioned with the B5105 road to its north and minor roads to it immediate west and south-east, with the A494 road further to its south-east, and has the village of Clawddnewydd towards the east north-east.

The hill was not included in the Hills to be surveyed sub list that accompanied the original Welsh 300m P30 list published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website, as it was considered not to meet the criteria then used in this sub category.  It was later listed by the point (Pt. 325m) notation when the P30 lists were re-assessed.

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

As this hill comprises bounded land the Tithe map was consulted.  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 722 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 Foel in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Derwen yn Yal and in the county named as Denbigh.

Extract from the apportionments

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales is Foel, and this was derived from the Tithe map.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Hiraethog

Name:  Foel

Previously Listed Name:  Pt. 325m

OS 1:50,000 map:  116

Summit Height:  324.6m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 07414 52102 & SJ 07416 52103 (LIDAR)

Bwlch Height:  c 304m (interpolation)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 07133 52262 (interpolation)

Drop:  c 21m (LIDAR summit and interpolated bwlch)

Myrddyn Phillips (June 2020)

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales

Mynydd yr Hôb (SJ 294 568)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by LIDAR analysis and a summit survey with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 conducted by Myrddyn Phillips, with the latter taking place on the 13^th October 2015.

LIDAR image of Mynydd yr Hôb (SJ 294 568)

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

Y Trichant – 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.

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, with the Introduction to the Mapping Mountains publication of this list appearing on the 3^rd December 2015.

The hill is adjoined to the Moel y Gamelin group of hills, which are situated in the north-eastern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it has the A541 road to its east and the A5104 road to its north-west and the B5101 road to its west, and has the small communities of Caergwrle and Yr Hôb (Hope) towards the north-east.

This hill appeared in the original Welsh 300m P30 list published on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the name of Hope Mountain, which is the name appearing close to this hill’s summit on contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer maps of the day.

Hope Mountain

330m

SJ295569

117

256

Marilyn. Clem/Yeaman. Trig pillar.

During my early hill listing I paid little regard to the use of language, name placement on the map, or the meaning of names and to what feature the name was appropriately applied to.  Therefore I prioritised names for listing purposes that I now understand are either inappropriate or where another name is viewed as being more appropriate.   

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger 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.

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Mynydd yr Hôb

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant and Y Trechol – The Dominant Hills of Wales is Mynydd yr Hôb, and this was derived from online sources substantiating the present day use of its Welsh name, and this is prioritised over its English equivalent which for listing purposes is standard practice.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Moel y Gamelin

Name:  Mynydd yr Hôb 

Previously Listed Name:  Hope Mountain

 

OS 1:50,000 map:  117

Summit Height:  330.0m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SJ 29476 56892

Bwlch Height:  142.7m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SJ 26903 58849 (LIDAR)

 

Drop:  187.3m (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance:  56.76% (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch)

For details on the summit survey of Mynydd yr Hôb

Myrddyn Phillips (November 2019)

Mapping Mountains – Significant Name Changes – Y Trichant

Foel Las (SH 886 686)

There has been a Significant Name Change to a hill that is listed in the Y Trichant, with the summit height, bwlch height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill confirmed by a Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey conducted by Myrddyn Phillips on the 5^th April 2016, and latterly substantiated by LIDAR analysis.

LIDAR image of the two Foel Las summits at SH 886 686 and SH 894 687

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

Y Trichant – 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.

The hill is adjoined to the Mynydd Hiraethog group of hills, which are situated in the central northern part of North Wales (Region A, Sub-Region A2), and it is positioned with the A548 road and the Afon Elwy to its north and west, the B5382 road to its south and a minor road to its east, and has the small community of Llangernyw to the south-west and Llanfair Talhaiarn towards the east north-east.

The hill appeared in the original Welsh 300m P30 list on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website under the directional name of Tre-pys-llygod West Top, with an accompanying note stating; Name from hill to the East.

Tre-pys-llygod West Top

308m

SH887686

116

17

Name from hill to the East

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 use a directional name based on supplanting the name adjoined to the hill to the east and adding a directional component to it.  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.

As a variety of Ordnance Survey maps place the name Tre Pys Llygod applicable to the land mass taking in this and its adjacent higher easterly hill, I wanted to follow the history of this hill’s recorded name to see if another was more appropriate.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger 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 1842 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 foelas in the apportionments, with the details on the Tithe map appearing in the parish of Llanfair Talhaiarn in the county named as Denbigh.

Extract from the apportionments

Since publication of these P30 lists on Geoff Crowder’s v-g.me website there have been a number of Ordnance Survey 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 are current and digitally updated such as the Vector Map Local hosted on the Geograph website and which is named the Interactive Coverage Map.  One of the historic maps now available is the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map which formed the basis for the first publicly available Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map, and it is the Draft Surveyors map that I next examined.

The Draft Surveyors maps consist of the preliminary drawings made by the Ordnance Surveyor’s surveyors between the 1780s and 1840 and formed the basis for the first publicly available One-Inch map.  They were drawn at scales of six inches to the mile for areas considered of particular military significance and down to two inches to the mile for other areas.  Fair copies were then produced from these preliminary drawings to one inch to the mile and then copper plates were prepared for printing.  The Draft Surveyors maps for the whole of Wales are now available online and they form an important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names as they bridge the time frame between the late 18^th century and the mid-19^th century when the Ordnance Survey produced their first One-Inch maps, and importantly for this hill and its listed name, this map records the name for this and its higher easterly hill as Y Foelas.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map

The next map to examine was the One-Inch ‘Old Series,’ this was the first map that Ordnance Survey published, and they were based on the proceeding Draft Surveyors map.  Their publication culminated from the whole of Britain being surveyed between 1791 and 1874 and the detail gathered therein produced at a scale of one inch to the mile and published in sheet format between 1805 and 1874.  The One-Inch ‘Old Series’ maps for the whole of Wales are now available online; they are also available in map format as enlarged and re-projected versions to match the scale and dimensions of the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series and are published by Cassini.  This series of maps forms another important part in the study of Welsh upland place-names and bridge the time frame leading to the production of the Ordnance Survey base map of the Six-Inch series.  It is this map that first paces the name of Tre-pys-llygod against these hills, with the name of Y Foel las also placed adjacent to the lower westerly hill.     

Extract from the Ordnance Survey One-Inch 'Old Series' map

Finally the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps were examined and the name of Tre-pŷs-llygod is recorded in large letters, with the name of Foel-lâs being recorded adjacent to the westerly of the two hills next to what looks like a small-holding.

Extract from the series of Ordnance Survey Six-Inch maps

The detail on the Six-Inch map and the use of the term Ffridd on the Tithe map implies that the small-holding existed and it was named Foel Las and the enclosed land taking in the summits of these two hills was a part of their ffridd and this was known as Ffridd Foel Las, with the name of Tre Pys Llygod being a later addition.   

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the summit of Foel Las (SH 886 686)

Therefore, the name this hill is now listed by in the Y Trichant is Foel Las, and this was derived from a number of sources including the Tithe map, Ordnance Survey Draft Surveyors map, Ordnance Survey One-Inch ‘Old Series’ map and the Ordnance Survey series of Six-Inch maps.

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Mynydd Hiraethog

Name:  Foel Las

Previously Listed Name:  Tre-pys-llygod West Top

OS 1:50,000 map:  116

Summit Height:  307.1m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SH 88690 68624

Bwlch Height:  276.2m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SH 88939 68659

Drop:  30.9m

For details on the survey of Foel Las

Myrddyn Phillips (November 2019)