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Wales
Y PigwynStone Circle
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Y Pigwn Cairn 2 Cairn(s) |
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Visited 23.1.11 It was with much relief I actually managed to find this site! I hadn't done as much preparation as I should have and expected to be able to drive along the track right up to the Roman camps and then a short walk to the stone circles – wrong! Instead I had to park a mile away, where the tarmac ends, and carry Dafydd the rest of the way. He is nearly three and quite a lump to have to carry that far along an ice bound, rutted track! (Apparently he will happily walk for his mother but seems to lose the use of his legs when out with me!) Anyway, along the track we went and I decided to head straight for the Roman camps and find the stone circles from there. The O/S map show a footpath to the stones but don't be fooled, there isn't one – just open, bleak moorland. It took me about half hour to walk/carry Dafydd to the Roman camp and I was hoping to be able to spot the stone circles from the top of the ramparts, but I couldn't. We did however see 10 (presumably wild) horses grazing along the ramparts. Using guess work I headed across the moorland in the general direction where I thought the circles should be and as luck would have it, found them without too much problem. I first spotted a single standing stone (outliner?) and then the smaller circle with the larger stones. I counted 4 standing and 1 fallen. From here the larger circle (25 smaller stones) is easily seen. The smaller circle is nice enough but the larger circle is a beauty. Although the stones are small (no doubt only survived due to the remoteness of the site) they appear to be a complete circle and have great views to the north. I really liked it here but by now Dafydd was complaining of the cold which was fair enough (after all it is January in the Brecon Beacons!) so we headed back to Karen and Sophie who had wisely decided to stay in the warmth of the car. It has been a long time since I have visited a stone circle and there really is something special about these types of site, particularly when they are as well preserved as these two circles are. Well worth a visit but be prepared for a long walk and I would recommend wellies in wet weather – the path would be a mud trap. |
Posted by CARL 25th January 2011ce |
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We parked by the Pant Madog barrow and walked the mile or so over the almost barren moor to the circles. First into view comes the hill called Y Pigwyn with its roman camps, and in the distance at the foot of the hill from the path we can just make out the stones. It was cold and windy but the sun was shining and with the step ladders (inspired by Cope at Ardblair)we brought some good pictures were due. The large stone circle was almost perfect, at its southern side there are two stones one a pointy chair and the other a flat topped boulder I thought male and female maybe ? The other smaller stone circle is only thirty yards away but its remaining stones are larger than its niegbours though only numbering four, with the other stones gone the last four make it look like an intentional four poster. Fifty yards to the south west is a prostrate stone nearly eight feet long, Coflein says it could have when standing marked the winter solstice from the large stone circle. All in all a fantastic morning out, a long walk but well worth it Thanks for carrying the ladders Dave |
Posted by postman16th February 2008ce Edited 17th February 2008ce |
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OS Map required. Be prepared to walk across several kilometres of open moorland. If you cycle it is up and up hill on the way there. Two stone circles. In the hills around 4km northwest of Trecastell/Trecastle. From Brecon take the A40 to Llandovery; turn left at the far end of Trecastell. Head up the hill for almost 1km; take the first right and keep on going for 3km until the road stops at a gate (signposted 'unsuitable for motor vehicles'). Worthy of note: on the right is a tumulus with an OS triangulation marker on it (trig point 383m OD). Continue on the track (as far as I am aware this is a Roman road) for around 1.5km. The reservoir to your left is the Usk Reservoir; there are two standing stones close to the end you are looking at, but not visible from the track. The track will rise and curve to the right, at this point up ahead to the right is the highest point; a hill called Y Pigwn (with a roman fort on the top). Look carefully along Y Pigwn, most of it is open moorland, but running up along its right hand edge is a fence, beyond which is the green grass of pasture land (there are also trees on it which can be seen against the skyline). This is what you want to walk towards, at some point leave the track and wander in that direction, you shouldn't get lost as you are headed toward the field boundaries along the edge of the moorland. You should be walking across a gently rising saddle of land and the larger of the two circles should come into view first. Neither circle is visible from the track. In guide books Mynydd Bach is described as a ritual complex, because nearby are also the standing stones as previously mentioned, cairns and a round barrow. The smaller of the circles has only four remaining stones, but it is possible to locate the empty sockets of a further four more which reveal it to be a small circular setting rather than a four poster. All the stones are leaning and less than 1m high. It is 8m in diameter. A short distance to the northeast is the larger circle, it has 21 remaining stones, and pits suggesting 3 more. At the southeast is a jumble of larger fallen stones, which it is suggested may have been a ritual entrance (I suppose something like a small Swinside). There is a very slight rise in the centre of the circle. Like most Welsh circles, the stones are low, between 0.4 to 0.6m. All stones, like most in this vicinity are given as being Old Red Sandstone. There are some other stones close by: 'Prehistoric Sites of Breconshire' Children & Nash claim that the two circles are linked by 3 low stones, (which I couldn't locate), whereas 'Clwyd and Powys' CADW Guide has an illustration that the stone setting is to west of the smaller of the two circles. The CADW guide also mentions an isolated stone 3m long lying some 100m southeast of the larger stone circle. It also mentions that the barrow is not visible from the circles. |
Posted by elderford 2nd August 2003ce Edited 17th February 2008ce |
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Coflein has the following regarding the two stone circles and associated monuments: 'Two quite irregular stone circles: at SN83353109, about 75' in diameter, composed originally of c.30 stones, at most 2' high, with those on the S, where an entrance is suggested, being the tallest; at SN83313106, about 25' in diameter, originally made up of c.10 stones, with five or six, up to 3'6" high, surviving. These circles are not considered to represent the remains of funerary mounds, but have been integrated into a general discourse of ritual circles, thus short lengths of stone alignments, adjacent or nearby (at SN83413101) can be interpreted as 'stone rows' rather than as the remains of field boundaries, and a large fallen stone to the SE (SN83393107) is seen as marking the midwinter sunrise from the larger circle.' |
Posted by GLADMAN4th October 2010ce |
| These two circles are up on top of Trecastle Mountain. The larger one is 74 ft across with a natural? bump in the middle. It's just right off the Roman road (and east of their summer marching camp) |
Posted by Rhiannon22nd April 2002ce |
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Megalithic WalesViews of the stones on Peter Hodge's website. |
Posted by Rhiannon 21st January 2005ce |
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Y Pigwn Cairn 2 (Cairn(s)) — Fieldnotes |
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Visited 23.1.11 I stumbled upon this Cairn whilst walking between Y Pigwrn Roman camps and the nearby stone circles. It is about 5 metres across and 1 metre high. Quite easy to spot as covered in low green grass amid the yellowing surrounding grass at this time of year. I didn't know about this Cairn beforehand so it came as a pleasant surprise! I have since found an entry for it on the Megalithic website. |
Posted by CARL 2nd February 2011ce |
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