Carreg Wen Fawr Y Rugos Stone Row / Alignment View all content for Carreg Wen Fawr Y Rugos

When I added this site to TMA, it was just an intruiging feature on the OS map, I didn't necessarily expect to be able to get here myself. But Gladman's postings and my own growing fascination with the area have made it not only do-able but also necessary. I walked up here in light drizzle on 1.5.2010, after getting the bus to Bwlch and walking via Llangynidr. The route up was the same as that taken by Mr G, past Pant Llwyd farm. Once out onto the open moorland, it's compass bearings only, as there's not much to guide the visitor to the row. In fact, I managed to walk past it, slightly to the south, then veer back around it to the east, around the north, back round it to the west and then south again before actually spotting the low stones. I was probably no more than 10 or 15 yards away at each increasingly irritated pass. All the time, I watched a big black weather system moving eastwards and over the Black Mountains (how aptly named they are!) across the valley and was thankful that it didn't come my way. Even in light drizzle, this is a lonely, boggy, unforgiving place and I wouldn't want to be lost up here in mist and fog. Before finally finding the row, I headed slightly uphill to get a better vantage point and just under the band of rocks to the south I came across what may be a small bronze age cairn - not really sure if it's the one mentioned on Coflein or something else. My navigating skills are not sophisticated enough to be sure. And then, poking out of some reedy grass, I saw one of the stones! Once spotted it's unmistakable. At the southern end is a huge recumbent stone, tapering to a point at its eastern end, which suggests it may have been upright at one time. It measures about 2.8m in length (height), 55cm 'deep', and now forms a 'T' shaped cross-piece to the row. There are a number of stones in the row, some of which may just be fragments rather than individual stones themselves. The row is on a bearing of 54 degrees (from grid north) and points towards the Black Mountains saddle between Pen Cerrig-calch and Pen Gloch-y-pibwr. Working north from the recumbent stone, I took the following measurements, as best as I could given the tall grass the stones are sticking out of: 1. Stone 75cm tall 2. Stone 58cm tall 4. Stone 20cm tall 5. Stone 38cm tall 6. Stone 90cm tall, appears to have been shattered at some time (by frost?) and and may have been taller 7. Stone 20cm tall 11 paces north of this one, hidden in the grass, is a short stump of stone which appears to be on the alignment (I didn't see it until pacing back to the row from the outlier). There is then a small outlier (48cm tall) 47 rather approximate paces north of the row. I had intended to go from here to Carreg Waun Llech, but Mr G's photos of Garn Caws and Pant Llwyd cairns were recent and it wasn't far away from my route (one day this will be the kind of thing that gets me into trouble), so I headed up there for a look...

Posted by thesweetcheat 9th May 2010ce

Comments (3)
If it's 54 then sun sets on the indicated horizon on 31/May and 10 July . Solstice would need be 50.4 degrees so not too far off given that there may be error with the compass . As mentioned previously standstill is about 43 degrees .	Posted by tiompan 10th May 2010ce
Good stuff SC... the sort of technical notes I could never do but which are obviously needed for our understanding of the site. Let's hear it for astro-field-archeaology.....	Posted by GLADMAN 10th May 2010ce
Cheers ... I've never normally bothered with that kind of thing, but since people asked. Must admit it did make me pay more attention to what was there, but to be honest I just like to go and have a look.	Posted by thesweetcheat 10th May 2010ce
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