Another of Herefordshire's "lost" round barrows, not shown on the OS 1/25000. This one is notable because of the largely intact cist (minus capstone) contained inside the mound. English Heritage have this to say:
The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a bowl barrow, situated on a slight mound on the top of the Cefn Hill ridge, overlooking the Monnow Valley and just west of the Cefn Track. The remains include an earthen mound, c.10m in diameter and c.0.5m high. The mound has an uneven surface and flattish top, in the centre of which is a stone-lined burial chamber, or cist. The cist was revealed when the owner attempted to level the mound in the early 1980s, and consists of four slate slabs set on their sides to enclose a sub-rectangular area, aligned roughly north-south. The two short sides, both 0.76m long and 0.15m wide, are set inside the longer stones, the eastern of which is 1.7m long and 0.25m wide, and the western 1.4m long by 0.16m wide. The chamber is 0.5m deep, and is now empty. Its fill of loose soil was removed by the owner and examined by members of the Herefordshire Archaeology Unit; two flints and some very small bones were recovered. No cap stone was found, and it is possible that this was removed during an early investigation of the site, probably along with further finds from within the chamber. The cist is similar to those found in the Olchon Valley earlier this century, and c.4km to the north west, again just below the Cefn Track, is another example with the same south west aspect (the subject of a separate scheduling); both command impressive views and it is likely that more await discovery along the ridge. The track, which may itself be prehistoric in origin, is also the parish boundary, and these monuments may have served as territorial markers, defining land divisions which have been retained to the present day.
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Posted by thesweetcheat
3rd December 2011ce
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