Latest Fieldnotes

21/05/2013 – Starting from the car park opposite the churchyard at Trumpan, a visit to the two brochs near the northern point of Waternish makes for a lovely walk. A good track passes just west of each broch to Waternish Point. The first broch we reached was Dun Borrafiach and is probably the pick of the two condition wise. It’s outer wall contains many impressive stones. A mile or so on and we got to Dun Gearymore. I liked this one more. Nice white stones in the sun and the view over to the Outer Hebrides is quite fantastic. We sat for a while just gazing out to sea. What a great place to live.

Don’t forget to pop into the churchyard at the start to look for the Heaven Stone (we forgot).

24/05/2013 – We got the morning ferry from Sconser over to Raasay to have a walk to Dun Caan. I’d forgotten this broch was here until we walked past the old free church and there it was on top of a hill in front of us. A track leads past the church straight uphill to the broch. It’s a nice one and I like Canmore’s description – ‘a semi-broch or oval dun exhibiting broch characteristics’, seems to fit it better. The trees have been cleared round it so the view over to the big hills on Skye is quite special. Worth a visit with many good walks to be had in the area.

22/05/2013 – Easy access from the little road to the north. Just a short walk uphill past the house to Carn Ban. Marked as a cairn on the map but after reading Gladman’s post below it makes more sense to me now as a dun or possible broch. Fantastic setting.

More hats off to Rhiannon for finding this and adding the site. In some ways this turned out to be the very unsung star of the day.
Whilst we were at the fantabulous Arthur’s stone we noticed on the information board that a standing stone was nearby to the north east, it wasn’t on the map and none of us had a clue about it. A quick fiddle on the I phone and technology, the TMA and Rhiannon had furnished us with everything we needed.
We went a searching for Ralph.

A short drive later and were outside Ralph’s house, it’s a nice house. Alken takes the honour of knocking on the door, Ralph’s wife answers, she is an old woman and I wonder what she made of us. Ralph soon appears at the door and confides that she thought we were Witnesses, couldn’t have been further from the truth, we are godless heathens mostly interested in sciencey things.

Ralph dons his wellies and takes us to his stone, it is but a short slippy walk down to the stream at the bottom of his garden. I wish I had a stream at the bottom of my garden, never mind a lost megalith that i’d returned to the world after who knows how long.
It has to be said, the pictures on the
Bredwardine and Brobury – Through the Ages website are a little better than mine, because of the undergrowth being cleared away and the edges being better defined. But if you go now this is what it looks like.
The stone is somewhat squarish, more pointy at one end, Ralph suggests that this was the end in the ground. The stone is maybe eight feet long, stood upright maybe six feet tall. it is a thick and sturdy stone.
I liked this one a lot, Ralph obviously likes it too.

This was perhaps the last of today’s long cairns, barring Arthur’s stone, and it may just perhaps have been the least as well. But it is still well worth the minimal effort involved in getting here. Getting here involves a few minor roads, but having a sweetcheat to do the navigating helps a lot. Dubious parking for one by the gate/stile and its just a few yards to the long cairn. Simples.

The cairn itself is fairly ruinous but the chamber is a good one and pays for itself. Other stones protrude from the ruined cairn, one in particular looks to have been part of a cist or small chamber. One of the longer side stones in the chamber has a squarish hole at the bottom which I feel could have served some function.

A very nice place to sit and ponder and while away some loose time.

Across the road from Little Lodge long cairn, over a gate, and five minutes of an uphill saunter brings us to this pretty good round barrow. Only a fence or two separate us now, after deftly jumping them we can see that the barrow is really quite a long one, not very round at all.
Slumped next to the barrow is a load of loose stony rubble, and more further down on the side of the barrow.
Excepting from north to east there are very good long views. Little lodge can be seen in the valley below. Two farmery type people eyeballed us before we went up but nothing came from it. Sunny silence abounded.

The hill Merryton Low forms the highest point of Morridge to the North-East of the Staffordshire Moorlands village of Thorncliffe. There are two barrows on Merryton Low, one on the summit and this second one to the South-West of the summit some 350m away.

Merryton Low II is obviously not as easy to locate as Merryton Low I simply because it has not got a concrete pillar on top of it! However, it is located just a short distance off to the West of the path that leads from the summit down the southern slopes of the hill. The top of the barrow is just about visible from the road that leads from The Mermaid Inn up to The Mermaid’s Pool.

The barrow has a somewhat flattened top with maximum dimensions of 12m by 11m in diameter and up to 0.8m high. This barrow has an unusually narrow aspect to it and is sub-oval in shape (almost cigar shaped in fact). The western tip of the barrow looks as if it is aligned with Bosley Cloud over on the Staffordshire-Cheshire border.

Merryton Low II is not known to have been excavated and is not thought to be one of the three barrows on Morridge mentioned by Plot (Plot, R. “A Natural History of the County of Stafford-shire” 1686. Ch.X. Para.19, Ch.X. Para.21.)

Merryton Low II does not appear on the OS Landranger or Explorer maps covering the area.

Site visited:- 17th April 2013

Scheduled Ancient Monument No.=1008974. Scheduled as bowl barrow 350m SW of Merryton Low. NMR=SK06 SW13, R.S.M. No.=22415, S.M.R. No.=04186.

The hill Merryton Low forms the highest point of Morridge to the North-East of the Staffordshire Moorlands village of Thorncliffe. The summit of the hill is the meeting point of three parish boundaries: Onecote to the South, Fawfieldhead to the North-East and Heathylee to the North-West.

The name Merryton Low used to be ‘Meriloneslowe’ (13th-century spelling) denoting a barrow or hill (from the Old English Hlaw) by a boundary lane (from the Old English Gemaere lone). Source: VCH Staffs Vol.VII Leek and the Moorlands (1995) p.211.

Merryton Low I is a very easy site to locate as it sits at the southern end of the summit of the hill and has an OS Trig pillar at the South-West of the barrow’s somewhat flattened summit. The western face of the OS Trig pillar has a memorial plaque upon it dedicated to four former members of the 5th Staffs Leek Battalion Home Guard ‘C’ Company who went on to serve in the regular army during WWII and died in combat. The parish boundary between Onecote C.P. and Fawfieldhead C.P. crosses directly over the barrow.

The barrow is oval in shape measuring 13m North to South, 12m East to West and up to 0.7m high. Merryton Low I is not thought to have been excavated – though there is evidence that the South side of the mound has been dug into.

Merryton Low I is visible from the road that leads from the Mermaid Inn up to Blake Mere (The Mermaid’s Pool) and there is a track leading up to the site from the road. There is a similar track leading to the Mermaid’s Pool just a short distance further along the road and this may be an easier place to park.

Merryton Low I is not thought to be one of the three barrows on Morridge mentioned in Plot.
(Plot, R. “A Natural History of the County of Stafford-shire’, 1686. Ch.X Para.19, Ch.X Para.21).

Merryton Low I is clearly marked on OS Landranger 119 and OS Explorer OL24 by a Tumulus label and Earthwork symbol around the Trig Pillar symbol.

Site visited:- 17th April 2013

Scheduled Ancient Monument No.=1008973. Scheduled as Merryton Low bowl barrow. NMR=SK06 SW10, R.S.M. No.=22414, S.M.R. No.=04180.

Roylow or Rye Low is a large mound which is recorded as a barrow of uncertain date located right next to the public footpath that leads from the Staffordshire Moorlands village of Sheen to the hamlet of Brund. This barrow is in very good condition and very accessible.

Thomas Bateman examined Roylow on 21st August 1849. He described the barrow as being 35 yards in diameter and “rather more than 9ft” in height. The earth of the mound was intermixed with charcoal and layers of moss near the natural surface level.

On 2nd October 1894 Mr. J.P. Sheldon of Sheen reopened Roylow “Situated between Sheen and the Brund, three quarters of a mile to the West”. He descibed the barrow as circular, about 100ft in diameter and 8ft high in the centre. A trench from West to East through the barrow revealed the upper part was of loamy clay with a few pieces of fist-sized sandstone within it. Below this and about a foot from the natural surface there was at the commencement of the trench “a thin stratum of ferruginous earth more or less hardened by the action of fire”, apparently continuous throughout the barrow.

Beneath this were at least two layers of sods laid in irregular courses. In the centre of the mound were layers and vein like ramifications of some kind of sedimentary matter, bright blue in colour. Below this in the central region was a pasty sort of clay about 1ft in thickness containing many white nodules which Sheldon concluded were fragments of bone in a soft decomposed state but he could not say if the remains were human.

Roylow survives as a large bowl-shaped mound 33.5m in diameter and 1.9m high with no visible ditch. A single, now quite large tree sits on top of the mound and appears to sit in a slight depression on the summit of the mound.

Roylow is marked on OS Landranger 119 and OS Explorer OL24 by a Tumulus label and Earthwork symbol.

Site visited:- 6th May 2013.

Scheduled Ancient Monument No.=1008962. Scheduled as Rye Low bowl barrow. NMR No.=SK16 SW3, R.S.M. No.=22404

Visited 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017.

Following the damage to Hunebed D45 Emmerdennen, the pieces of the shattered stone were removed to Tienhoven, in the province of Zuid-Holland and joined together again. First, the two halves were glued together using epoxy resin. Once this had set, four holes, each three metres in length, were drilled through the stone and stainless steel rods 3 centimetres in diameter inserted and glued in place. Finally, the drill holes were camouflaged so that they are now scarcely noticeable. The cost of restoration was €20,000. The restored capstone was replaced on its sidestones in early December 2011.

The work has been carried out to a very high standard. The join is almost invisible: indeed, unless you actually look for it, it is unlikely that you would notice it at all.

A report on this (in Dutch) can be found here, which includes a number of photographs, one of them showing the holes drilled into the stone.
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An original news report on the incident (dated July 11, 2011) can be found here, and a photograph of the damage can be seen here.
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The text of the article translates as follows ...
“In a woodland area near Emmen, a hunebed has been badly damaged. According to the State Forest Management, vandals had lit a fire under one of the capstones. As a consequence, the stone, measuring 3 by 4 metres split in half and fell into the grave.

“A walker discovered the destruction to the prehistoric monument this morning. Forester Geerling Kruidhof said that the vandals had been irresponsible. A serious accident could have occurred as children regularly play among the stones.

“State Forest Management have closed off the dolmen, a National Monument, for security. Damage is valued at 15,000 euro. It is not yet known if the hunebed will be restored.”

The Netherlands has 54 hunebeds, of which 52 lie in Drenthe.

Video
There is a YouTube video showing the repaired stone being replaced here .

A lovely place is this.
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the horses ignored us, and with not one stone hunting buddy but two, this was getting to be a good day out. We parked at Little Lodge farm and strolled over to the long cairn unhindered by livestock or their human captors.
More Hawthorn trees, with Mistletoe, never seen mistletoe before, except at parties, and that could have been plastic.
It was a bit of an anti climax, as we’d just been to the sleeping giant of Penyrwrlod, and the two corkers at Ffostyll, today was a day of Black Mountain long cairns, six in all, this one was number four. Even though Little Lodge is not as big or as cool as the last two it does have some charm, and enough interesting features to keep one occupied for at least a couple of hours.
The chamber at the south end is still complete, minus it’s capstone. There is a large long stone under the Hawthorn tree, it could be a blocking stone. Just twenty yards further south and the ground falls steeply down to a wee brook that is fed by at least two nearby springs.
Across the road and up the hill is a fairly good round barrow called Coed-y-Polyn (nice one Alken) it has good views of the surrounding fields and of the high hills of the Black Mountains and with Little Lodge Long cairn in it’s place among it all

Visited May 19, 2013

Hunebed D42 Emmeres lies west of the city of Emmen, about 2½ kilometres walk from the Central Bus and Railway station. If travelling on foot, head west from the station until you reach the main road, Noordeind/Odoorneweg. Follow Odoorneweg northwards for just under a kilometre (takes 12 minutes walking), then follow the first road left, Sluisvierweg. Follow this for a kilometre to Schietbaanweg, and turn left (south) down this road. By now you should encounter ‘hunebed’ signs as you walk the 400 metres to the end of the woodland.

Here a path heads left, through the last of the trees, and takes you to the hunebed which lies in the clear, on the corner of the wooded area.

This is not one of the most magnificent hunebeds, having clearly been greatly robbed over the centuries. It is believed that this passage grave originally boasted nine capstones: only four remain today, and two of these are fallen. It was restored in 1960 and, if you look closely, you will see the concrete imprints that were set into the ground to mark the positions of the missing sidestones.

The most notable feature of D42 Emmeres is the mighty oak tree that rises from the middle of the hunebed.

Reference: Dolmens in the Netherlands by Hans Meijer.

Visited May 19, 2013

D44 Emmen Westenesch can hardly be called a hunebed, though it is still a classified National Monument. Long since, most of the stones comprising this megalithic burial chamber were robbed, leaving behind this remnant consisting of just two sidestones and a single capstone: the poorest hunebed of all.

It is interesting to learn that this is the only hunebed that stands on private property: all the other hunebeds are under state care. D44 can be found at the side of the Schiebaanweg track leading to the Westenesch farm.

To see the Westenesch hunebed, you will have to walk from Emmen (the nearest buses can drop you off at the Frieslandweg Bus Halt on the edge of town, on the N381 highway). Walk along the footpath/cycleway just north of the road for almost exactly a kilometre until you reach Schietbaanweg (just after you pass a single, prominent tree). Carefully cross the highway and head south to the nearest farm buildings. The first time I visited this hunebed, I couldn’t find it – until I turned back the way I’d come. The hunebed nestles neatly in the angle between the first two farm buildings on the right of the road. You won’t see it until you are level with it.

An interesting ‘accessory’ is a standing stone immediately behind the remains of the hunebed, which features a horizontal row of five drilled holes: perhaps an abortive attempt to break it up.

Reference: Dolmens in the Netherlands by Hans Meijer.

Visited May 19, 2013

Hunebed D26 Drouwenerveld is one of the more interesting of the Dutch Hunebeds, but a photograph taken from above is needed to show it at its very best. This passage grave is well preserved, with twin rows of 6 sidestones and 5 of its capstones still in place: its entrance passage is marked by two pairs of sidestones but alas without capstones. The hunebed was originally surrounded by an oval of 27 kerbstones, and though only half remain today, the positions of the ‘lost’ (probably robbed) stones are indicated by concrete slabs.

Starting point for a visit is the village of Drouwen. You can get there by car or bike, or by taking the No 59 bus from Emmen or Borger. The hunebed lies across the main N34 highway to the west of the village. Reaching the hunebed (by walking or cycling, though you can drive a car much of the way too) is not straightforward, as this region abounds with large fields growing high quality turf. The fields are surrounded by high fences and ‘keep out’ notices and cannot be crossed. There is no chance of a short-cut, so you have to weave a long circuitous route between and around them.

Starting from the Markeweg bus stop in Drouwen, walk a few metres south to Steenhopenweg and turn right (west) into it. After about 350 metres, you will meet signs indicating hunebeds to the left and straight ahead. Almost immediately, a clearing on the left of the road reveals the twin hunebeds D19 Drouwen and D20 Drouwen (see map below). But to reach Drouwenerveld, continue straight ahead and through the underpass beneath the N34 for another 500 metres—then turn left (south) along Veldweg. Follow this dead straight road for just over a kilometre southwards, where it turns sharply right on to the tree-lined Lunsveenweg. Another 250 metres brings you to an area of woodland. Turn right here and follow the path north along the edge of the trees for 400 metres where you will find D26 Drouwenerveld sitting in a small clearing at the northeast corner of the woodland.

The Drouwenerveld hunebed was thoroughly excavated in the late 1960s, and revealed a wealth of artifacts (mainly pottery, axe-heads and beads) dating from the Funnel Beaker Era, 5000 years ago. These are on display in the Hunebed Centre at the nearby town of Borger.

Note: to return from visiting the Hunebed, it is advisable to retrace your inward route. There are a number of farm tracks leading off Veldweg that appear to offer short-cuts: they don’t. All terminate short of the N34 and do not lead to either a bridge or an underpass to traverse this extremely busy arterial highway.

Reference: Dolmens in the Netherlands by Hans Meijer.

Reference: More on D26 including a short video The link below from Nucleus fails because of a missing hyphen in its URL.
This is the corrected link.

I wasn’t expecting much from this ruined mound and I wasn’t disappointed, at least not by the mound itself. What is it, what was its purpose, is it even prehistoric? I don’t know the answer to any of these, but it is in a prime location, high above what would have been the River Dodder and is now one of the Glenasmole reservoirs. Ballinascorney Gap directly west has a barrow and a cairn, Piperstown Hill to the south-east is a habitation site and has a cairn cemetery, and there are many other prehistoric places that would be visible from here had the views not been blocked by modern hedgerows. An intriguing spot, but what a slog to get to!

Piperstown is a place slow to give up its secrets. I pass it by every once in a while and wonder. Burl mentions it in his Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany in connection with site K, where a circle of 5 or 6 standing stones were revealed upon excavation.

Altogether there are said to be 8 cairns and 7 structures/hut sites on the hill. There’s also a pre-bog wall on top of the hill with 3 more cairns associated with it. Piperstown Hill is like a central locus in the area, with views all around. There is much more going on here than is immediately apparent, but I’ve just now discovered a map/plan of the site and intend to return soon before the heather and gorse really take hold.

How does something this size escape attention for so long, hidden in plain view, yet not “discovered ” until 1972.
We unknowingly followed Elderfords directions, and parked right outside the Penywyrlod farmhouse, hoping to grab a bit of easy parking courtesy of the obliging farm owner, we were blessed indeed, the farm was empty, unoccupied, gone away, as we say at work.
With no one about we made our unhurried and unhindered way over to the long cairn.
It was our first site of the day, a list of Black mountain chambered long cairns fortuitously never far from a road, which was a world of comfort to Simon, our new field wandering friend, who had knee issues. It was so much bigger than we anticipated, much much bigger, and the terrible road building scar where they’d dragged off tonnes of cairn material and almost all the chamber stones, broken up like so much peanut brittle, sandstone isn’t a very durable stone at the best of times.
Three large stones are to be seen at the rear ? one is poking out of the cairn, the other two are having a lie down, another large flat stone resides by the front north side. Elderford seems to know what all the stones are, but it’s a bit of a confusion and so much is gone that I find it a struggle to believe anything can be said for certain.
But there are some certainties, it is a giant of a cairn, with a giant fatal wound, but in a beautiful place with cracking views, it is a nice place to lay down and die, for a cairn.

Visied 19th April 2013

We parked up at the small parking area at the lovely little beach at the Sands of Wright. Looking back to Hoxa Hill the observation hut atop the hill is clearly visible, signposting the way to the cairn.

Taking the advice of Wideford’s fieldnotes we walked back up the road to the fine large country house of Roeberry, where just past the entrance drive, a gate allows access to a lane which runs up the side of Roeberry’s garden wall as it heads up the hill.

At the top of the lane you are greeted by gates to each side of you. Directly in front a gate opens onto scrubland atop the hill, where the trig point and observation hut draw the eye toward the small mound of the cairn.

Two curious horses approach us as we stand at the gate, hopefull that we may be carrying apples, they have to be satisfied with a pat on the nose. Ellen, being a little wary of horses, waits at the gate whilst I set off for the cairn with an equine escort.

The Wart is an unfortunate name for the fine remains of an Orkney-Cromarty type cairn, and in fact would be a more fitting epithet for the strange observation hut building which encroaches close to the cairn. From here the views are fantastic over Hoxa Head and out across Scapa Flow, particularly today with clear blue skies complimenting the deep azure sea.

Once this cairn would have been huge, as evidenced by the remains of the circumference, although many of the stones have now gone. It looks as if some stones may have been built up to act as a wind break, as they seemed somehow out of place, but inside the chamber one of the stones that formed the stall is still standing, and as I hunker down away from the wind to write my fieldnotes it’s really quite cosy.

On a day like today it’s a fine place to spend some time, I could happily stay all day, it feels like a place outside of time, and far away from the hassles of the mundane world, but aware of Ellen still waiting at the gate, I settle for five minutes to soak in the atmosphere, and the promise to return on a day with equally fine weather.

Went up to Chamber today...very difficult to gain access to the area round Cuff Hill, nearly impossible apart from the fact that my companion and I are fairly fit, and were able to climb the 10 ft deer fence surrounding Cuff Hill. The area has been planted with saplings.....no idea who you would approach about entry but talk in the Gateside Pub was that an Irishman owns the land....Good luck ye all...apart from that the area is sublime, water, birds, spring...absolutely beautiful....

We took the little lane from the A171 to the A174 going through to East Barnsby. Beautiful May morning, three fords to cross, Yorkshire at its best down in to deep old dark woods, with bluebells, wind anemones and ransom on the verge, tumbles of old trees and water, what more can you ask after all that cold weather.
We met the kindly farmer’s wife and got permission to cross the field by the education centre and into their field of sheep. The stone sits just below the highest point, square and upright, glittering in the sun. The lambs dance around in the field, some posing by the stone, but it stands strong.
Taking one’s bearing as you look towards the sea and the Goldsborough Lane that you must take to find the other stone, it has probably been there as a track for hundreds of years.
We drove along the lane and saw the North stone in the distance, it is on the other side of the narrow wood or Carr, strange that they are so similar but had something else to do so another visit one day.
One reason we went out was because this stone is the flagship for the restoring of Ancient Scheduled Monuments under the North York Moors Monument Management Scheme, £200,000 is on the table for various schemes, including a 3,500 year old cairnfield with burial mounds.
Also the footpaths have been repaired at the Bronze Age burial mounds at Lilla Howe, Simon Howe and the Two Howes on Goathland under this scheme, presumably because people are WALKING OVER THE MOUNDS, Wales is obviously not the only place to have this problem.

Visited 13.5.13

Directions:
See details for Y Bwlwarcau.
Keep walking up the hill, past Caer Blaen Y Cwm and Moel Ton-Mawr.
Continue through the fields keeping the trees to your right.
Just before the trees end there is a metal field gate giving access to a track through the trees. Walk along the track a short distance and you will come to a clearing on the right. This is the home of the Danish Camp.
It is about another 10 minutes walk on from Moel Ton-Mawr.

Passed several sheep skulls on the way which was a bit strange.

Very little to see. Faint outline of a bank.
If you weren’t specifically looking for it you wouldn’t have known it was here.
Judging by the ferns if you came in the summer you definitely wouldn’t be able to see anything (except for ferns of course!)

Don’t bother – not worth the effort.

COFLEIN doesn’t have a lot to say either:
‘An oval enclosure, c.45m NE-SW by 36m, defined by a bank and, possibly, a ditch’.
(source Os495card; SS88NW30)

Visited 13.5.13

Directions:
See details for Y Bwlwarcau.
Keep walking up the hill, past Caer Blaen Y Cwm, and stay on the forestry track heading south east – keeping the forestry plantation on your right.
When the plantation turns to the right, hop over barbed wire fence.
Moel Ton-Mawr is directly in front of you.
It is about a 40 minute walk from the car.

Although my O/S map showed forest, a large swathe of the plantation had been cut down and gave the area a feeling of destruction.

The Hillfort covers a couple of fields which was home to lots of sheep and lambs.
This has the advantage of keeping the grass short so the double ditches surrounding the site are easy to spot. The ditches are approximately 1m deep.

A fairly remote spot which requires a bit of leg work to get to.
Although the ditches are well defined I doubt many would consider it worth the effort? This was the best of the four sites I visited on my walk today.

COFLEIN states:
‘On the gently sloping western side of the Moel Ton-Mawr summit plateau are the earthworks of diamond-shaped concentric hillfort, associated with wider-spreading field systems no doubt of Iron Age date.

The complex consists of a subrectangular enclosure 75-80m east-west by 60-65m. It occupies the central southern part of a larger, more irregular enclosure that is roughly 230m east-west by 195m. This may also have been intended to appear rectilinear despite the concave north-eastern facade which rests on a stream channel. Both enclosures are defined by double banks with medial ditches. This suggests that they are broadly contemporary. Both have south-facing entrances, the outer offset by some 20m to the east. These are connected by further banks and ditches, producing a forecourt or approach way’.

Visited 13.5.13

Directions:
See details for Y Bwlwarcau.
Continue uphill until you reach a forestry track. (10 minute walk)
The enclosure is directly to the right (north) of the track.

As with Y Bwlwarcau this is another area of ‘rough, lumpy bumpy’ ground.
The earthworks however are more substantial and easier to spot.

Despite being the middle of May it was fairly bleak up here and the cold wind biting.
The sun was doing its best to break through the grey clouds but it was obvious rain wasn’t far off. Not much in the way of views although the birdsong was nice to hear.

Being a South Wales site it was no surprise to find an empty larger can………..

COFLEIN states:
‘A quadrangular enclosure, c.44m E-W by 40m, defined by double banks with a medial ditch; a c.164m stretch of N-facing bank and ditch, runs ENE-WSW, c.68m to the N: the site is obscured by a N-S trackway.
The bank and ditch to the N, together with less defined E-W linear features, c.52m to the S, have has been considered as the remnants of a large outer enclosure, c.200m square, similar to those at Moel Ton-Mawr’.

Visited 13.5.13

Directions:
From the M4 (Jct 36) take the A4063 towards Maesteg.
A couple of miles outside Maesteg you will see a brown sign to the left directing you to Llangynwyd (Historic Village). Turn here and enter the small but pretty village.
At the crossroads go straight across and keep going down hill, under the pylons, until the narrow road takes a sharp turn to the left. It is opposite a farm drive.
There is plenty of room to park here on the verge; next to a metal field gate.

Although the O/S map shows a public footpath heading up the hill there is nothing to show on the ground. There is however a rough ‘tractor track’ which seemed an obvious route to take. The ‘tractor track’ is made up of the usual lumps of broken masonry, bricks and concrete. What was different was that there were also the remnants of several grave headstones – some of which appeared to be relatively new. How and why these came to be used in such a manner is anyone’s guess although it did seem inappropriate and a waste?

Anyway, 10 minutes later and I am at the site.
Very little to see in all honesty. A ‘rough, lumpy bumpy’ area of ground covered in spiky grass and gorse. You could just about make out a curving bank approximately 0.5m in height. There are decent views over Llangynwyd and Cwmfelin in the distance.

Not one to recommend.

COFLEIN states:
‘Y Bwlwarcau is a enclosure complex, Iron Age or rather later, set on east-facing slopes on a broad spur of Mynydd Margam. It is a complex multiperiod site, but one coherent layout can be identified, as well as obviously later trackways and medieval type house platforms.
The most obvious layout had a strongly defined inner enclosure set within a much larger outer enclosure and linked by an approach way. The 0.3ha inner enclosure is roughly pentagonal measuring some 64m across. It is defined by two to three lines of ramparts and ditches. The entrance faces east where its outer ramparts turn to form a funnelling approach way at the end of which they swing back to enclose the roughly concentric curvilinear 4.3ha outer enclosure. This rests on the steep slopes above Cwm Cerdin to the north and elsewhere it appears to have been defined by two widely spaced ramparts.

A small, generally rectangular enclosure lies between the inner and outer circuits to the south of the approach way and is attached to the ouer rampart. It is about 50m north-south by 38m and is defined by a rampart and a relatively broad ditch. This could be a contemporary feature rather than a later addition‘

I’ve been in this field before looking at the lumps and bumps and have said to myself there’s something going on here. It’s just up the road from me, less than a 10 minute drive. I’ve surveyed the archaeology.ie website for sites in my vicinity and this comes up as a “Cairn, unclassified” and has no notes.
It’s about 1.4 metres high, oval, maybe 6 metres on its longer axis, by 4 metres on the shorter. There’s a much-flattened ring barrow about 350 metres to the north-west and there are some signs of habitation sites/earthworks in the immediate area.
I’m not entirely convinced by this, though it’s hard to disagree that it is artificial – the stones that I saw on the western side of the cairn looked suspiciously like bedrock to me. Maybe this was incorporated into the cairn/barrow and there is a burial at its core.