High Willhays of the highest hill on nearby Bodmin Moor, and suggested that a watch for beacon fires used to be kept here. He also posited a possible link to the word "gwili" meaning winding or tortuous, but said it was unlikely this was where it originated from. "The Place-Names of Devon" (1931) notes that the peak was named "Hight Wyll" in a document of 1532, and was known in 1827 as "High Willows". The authors state that the name may simply be a compound of "high" and "well" (meaning "spring"), though they admit that the additional syllable at the end is
High Willhays summits in England south of Kinder Scout in the Peak District to rise above , apart from Black Mountain on the Welsh border. Before Ordnance Survey measured accurately the heights of High Willhays and Yes Tor many people believed Yes Tor was the higher of the two, and it was only the local farmers and moormen that believed the contrary. However, the first topographical survey of the area carried out by Ordnance Survey suggested that High Willhays was higher, although the difference has now been measured at just . William Crossing stated that High Willhays was the highest point in