Gwaunceste Hill ( cy, Bryn Gwaun-cest) is a 542-metre-high

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

in the county of

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

in east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It falls within the

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

Gladestry Gladestry ( cy, Llanfair Llythynwg) is a small village and community in Radnorshire, Powys, mid-Wales, close to the border with England at the end of the Hergest Ridge and south of the large moorland area of Radnor Forest. People living in Gl ...

and

Glascwm Glascwm is a community in the upper Edw valley in Radnorshire, Powys, Wales. The main settlement is concentrated in the two centrally located small villages of Frank's Bridge, located on the eastern slope of the valley, and Hundred House, loc ...

around 4 km east of the village of Hundred House and about 2 km north of the hamlet of Glascwm. The headwaters of the River Arrow gather on the eastern slopes of the hill. Drainage of its western slopes is into the River Edw, a tributary of the

River Wye The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...

. Two subsidiary tops to the southeast and southwest are both known as ‘Little Hill’.

Geology

The hill is formed from

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...

s and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s of

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

age. To its southeast the Church Stretton Fault Zone runs NE-SW past Gwaunceste Hill. Surrounding valleys and some of the hill’s slopes are mantled with

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

from the last ice age whilst

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

is found in the valley floors and

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

deposits occupy hollows as at Beilibedw Mawn Pool and Llyn-y-waun to the north and west of the summit respectively.

Access

The entire hill is criss-crossed by public bridleways. Much of the hill is mapped as

open country "Open Country" is a designation used for some UK access land. It was first defined under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (and extended by the Countryside Act 1968), and was land over which an appropriate access agreeme ...

under the

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "Right to Roam" Act is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000. Right to roam The Act imp ...

and thereby available to walkers.Ordnance Survey Explorer map 200 ''Llandrindod Wells & Elan Valley''

References

{{reflist

External links

images of Gwaunceste Hill and area on Geograph website
Mountains and hills of Powys Marilyns of Wales