Maen Hir

Visited 9th March 2003: I trudged out into the drizzle to try and find this obscure stone, having seen it listed in the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) records. I didn’t find a standing stone, but I found what looked like a fallen standing stone, with some exposed packing stones. I took some photos and a grid reference (SN8558575847), and decided to find out more from CPAT.

After quite a few emails back and forth I confirmed that the stone I’d found was the same stone that CPAT had on their records. The stone was listed after a report from one of the Elan Valley wardens in 2001. I wanted to be 100% sure I had the right stone, so I contacted the warden to check. Based on my photos, he confirmed that this is the same stone he reported to CPAT.

What we still don’t know is whether this is a fallen Bronze Age standing stone, or just a random lump of rock. The area that it’s sited on is known as Maen Hir (meaning Long Stone, so the likelihood that a stone had once stood there is high. I’m hoping that CPAT will now do some further investigation and find out more.