Has Wales got 41 acres of land that really belongs to England?
THE border between England and Wales has been incorrectly marked by 39ft for 132 years with the English owed more than 41 acres of land, a mountain surveyor has claimed.
Welshman Myrddyn Phillips said the line separating the countries in the Black Mountains has been wrongly traced in Ordnance Survey maps dating back to 1887.
The current border follows the natural watershed – ridge of land – from the summit of Twyn Llech mountain. But Mr Phillips, 58, and his friend Mark Trengove said they re-measured the summit of the 2,308ft peak and found it to be further into Wales than thought.
Using state-of-the art surveying equipment, the pair found the peak Powys. border of should Mr Twyn Phillips now Llech be insisted moved 39ft into the to line up with the new watershed.
He added that since the ridge stretches for nine miles, there is more than 41 acres (1,800,000 sq ft) of land that England is entitled to grab back from Wales. However, Ordnance Survey, the national mapping Mr Phillips agency was wrong, of the UK, claiming said he worked from outdated maps. Unlike the England-Scotland border, there is no legal mechanism in place for reviewing the boundary between England and Wales. Mr Phillips, from Welshpool, said he had been over the summit of Twyn Llech 18 times. He added: ‘The that hill for no simple where one had fact its ever of summit the surveyed matter is positioned. this is Having taken a series of measurements, I finally pinpointed where the summit was positioned. ‘The hill is neither just Welsh nor just English. It is a dual national hill and the strip of land that many thought a part of Wales incorporating a part of this hill’s summit is in fact a part of England. Therefore the border placement on the Ordnance Survey MasterMap, although very close to the summit, is still 12 metres from it and can be thought of as being presumptive.’
A spokesman for Ordnance Survey said the current boundary was correct. He added: ‘ The 1887 maps Mr Phillips has used are guidelines only where the boundary is 15m (49ft) wide.
‘We are not obliged to put a boundary in but we do so as a guide. In our most detailed mapping product the border is located accurately and correctly.’
Matt Redmond, of the Boundary Commission for Wales, said: ‘The Ordnance Survey MasterMap is the definitive boundary – and it is fine. To make the changes that Mr Phillips would like to see would require primary legislation. There is no legal mechanism in place to change the boundary.’