Snowdon: Park to use mountain's Welsh name, Yr Wyddfa

Committee agrees to use Welsh language name after petition

Walkers on the Miners' Track in Snowdonia National Park, Wales. Snowdonia, a Unesco heritage site, will now be referred to by its Welsh name, Eryri. PA

Snowdon, one of Britain's tallest mountains, is to formally adopt its Welsh language name after a vote by national park authorities.

The peak will now be known as Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) after the Snowdon National Park Authority changed the name "as a mark of respect for our cultural heritage".

More than 5,000 people had previously signed a petition requesting the name change after a councillor last year brought a motion encouraging the authority to drop the English names.

The park committee on Wednesday agreed to the switch after a vote. During the decision, it was announced that the nearby Snowdonia, a Unesco heritage site, will be referred to as Eryri (Snowdonia).

Moves to use the Welsh names in English context have been in motion for several years, with many of the authority’s communications already adopting the names Eryri and Yr Wyddfa, with a reference to the English names in brackets.

The national park will still be legally obliged to use both the Welsh and English names in official documentation.

Naomi Jones, head of cultural heritage at the Snowdonia National Park Authority, said that many public bodies in Wales have already moved to both Welsh and English names, or the Welsh name only.

"This is very encouraging, and gives us confidence that this change in the authority’s approach will be accepted for the benefit of the Welsh language and as a mark of respect to our cultural heritage," she said.

“By referring to our most renowned landmarks by their Welsh names we give people from all over the world the opportunity to engage with the Welsh language and its rich culture,” she added.

The Welsh language has official status in Wales and is said to be spoken by nearly a third of the three-million-strong population.

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