As with nearby Fan Gyhirych, it took me near on 14 years to actually confirm the prehistoric ancestry of this cairn... but... well.... perhaps it wasn't really needed after all because the great 2,176ft high lump of rock and (usually) sodden earth and grass it's perched upon - known to us as 'Fan Nedd' - just sort of feels 'right' anyway. So I guess I already knew. Hard to explain, but come here and I'm confident you'll know what I mean. The Fforest Fawr is far quieter and - dare I say it - less fashionable than the nearby Brecon Beacons, whose highest decapitated summits are clearly visible on a clear day beyond Fan Fawr.
Somewhat unusually for such a cairn, it is NOT located at or near the summit and therefore not to be confused with the prominent - if rather odd - walker's cairn on the northern apex of the summit plateau (not to mention an equally odd horseshoe shaped shelter). The site is most directly reached via a ladder stile not far from Maen Llia and a subsequent climb up the eastern flank of the mountain.
Hmm. Maen Llia...... I'd actually suggest first time visitors to the area save a foray to this fabulous Bronze Age monolith until later (betcha can't, however) since the physical cairn remains will inevitably be a disappointment following on from such a beauty. The views, however, will not be, particularly if you carry on to the summit itself. If you indeed choose to do so you may be tempted to ponder the fact that almost every visible mountain possesses a Bronze Age burial cairn, from Fan Llia across the valley, Fan Gyhirych, Waun Leuci and Mynydd Du itself to the west... not forgetting the aforementioned Beacons. Can't really ask for more, can you? And all the while Maen Llia guards Sarn Helen down below as it has for millennia.....
Oh, as for Coflein:
"Located on the edge of a level shelf on ground falling to the E is a circular mound 4.9m in diameter and .45m high. A few stones are visible, possibly kerb stones."
So, not the greatest cairn, granted..... but in just about the best location there is, in my opinion.
Actually, it turns out that the ridiculous walkers' cairn (SN91381887) on the north summit is probably built on top of a "proper" one as well. From Coflein:
On a natural shelf on the north side of Fan Hir, overlooking Blaen Senni to the north and the Llia valley to the east, lie the remains of a probable prehistoric burial cairn. Located at around 645m it is now the site of a recently erected marker cairn, 1.8m in diameter and about 2.5m high tapering from base to tip. Beneath and around it is the stony base of an earlier cairn out of which the modern one was built. It measures 7m in diameter and no more than 0.2m high. No structural features are apparent. On OS maps the site is marked simply as 'Cairn' in non-antiquity typeface.
Log in |
Register
Wales
0 discussions
Show map (inline Google Map)
Add an image 
Posted by GLADMAN
Posted by thesweetcheat
Top of page