Craig Cwmbychan

Nearest town:
Caernarfon (10km WNW)
OS reference:
SH54335542
OS sheet:
115
Latitude:
53° 4' 32.64 N
Longitude:
4° 10' 29.16 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by thesweetcheat

Craig Cwmbychan (left of centre) above Llyn Cwellyn. Seen from the east.

Image credit: A. Brookes (27.4.2017)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 4, 2017
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by thesweetcheat

Three high-level Bronze Age cairns, far above a prehistoric settlement site at Drws y Coed. The viewpoint is Y Garn, with two imposing cairns of its own.

Image credit: A. Brookes (30.4.2016)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat May 22, 2016
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Hopefully this scan gives some indication of the superb positioning of this Bronze Age cairn... looking across Llyn Cwellyn to the Snowdon Massif. Yr Wyddfa, as usual, with her head in the clouds.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Feb 20, 2016
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by thesweetcheat

The cairn is set back from the cliffs, so as to be invisible from the valley floor.

Image credit: A. Brookes (13.9.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 3, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by thesweetcheat

Y Glyderau to the left, Yr Wyddfa to the right. Superb setting for this cairn.

Image credit: A. Brookes (13.9.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 3, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by thesweetcheat

The scooped out centre, with a brooding Moel Eilio beyond.

Image credit: A. Brookes (13.9.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 3, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by thesweetcheat

Postie for scale, Yr Wyddfa for backdrop, what’s not to like?

Image credit: A. Brookes (13.9.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 3, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by postman

Framed by Moel Eilio, with a cairn on it.

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Sep 14, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by postman

Looking north-ish to Caernarfon, the Straits and Angelsey.

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Sep 14, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by postman

looking over the cairn to the cairn on Mynydd Mawr

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Sep 14, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by postman

Looking over the cairn to the big one Snowdon. Tryfan gets a look in on the left.

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Sep 14, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by postman

Looking over the cairn, again, to Y Garn and the Nantlle ridge.

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Sep 14, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking toward Betws Garmon from Craig Cwmbychan. The river is the Afon Gwyrfai, the hill opposite Moel Eilio, also crowned by a Bronze Age cairn and well worth a sojourn. Anglesey fades to haze upon the horizon.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 5, 2014
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Towards the site – and Mynydd Mawr – from Yr Aran, Snowdon Massif. The large lake is Llyn Cwellyn. Lovely....... Anglesey is visible right horizon.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Dec 19, 2010
Image of Craig Cwmbychan (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Not the best of scans, but guess it shows my implied association between Bronze Age burial cairn (highlighted) and water pretty well! The lake is Llyn Cwellyn... Mynydd Mawr – with remains of a much larger cairn – is visible left skyline.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Aug 17, 2010

Articles

Craig Cwmbychan

postman
postman Sep 21, 2014

The walk down from Mynydd Mawr is very easy, just a summers strole down a gentle hill, contrasting highly with the walk up it. The cairn upon Craig Cwmbychan is visble from up on the higher summit, it was probably smaller than it’s near neighbour, seeing as it’s only been built into one shelter instead of three.
Standing back from the cairn in almost any direction you can almost kid yourself into believeing that it is still whole and full. But closer to and it has a small entrance into what would be very welcoming shelter from howling winds and sideways stingy face rain. But today the weather is behaving impeccably and the shelter is just a desacration, I almost want to push the stones in but I’m far too knackered, Alken is lying on his back and i’m sitting on a big flat stone of the cairn admiring the view.
The view is admirable, large and dark is the Snowdon massiff, across the valley is Moel Eilio, itself crowned by a large cairn, a ridge runs from Moel Eilio in the direction of Snowdon. Across the hill tops we can see the distant Carneddau and the peak of Tryfan. The cairns on Y Garn and the Nantlle ridge float ethereally above a low arm of Mynydd Mawr. Craig Cwmbychan cairn sits right on the edge of it’s ridge, below it the ground gives way sharply down.
As good as this cairn is and as good as the view is it is still time to go, instead of making our way back up to Mynydd Mawr and going back the way we came, we struck off in a more direct route, going down at 45 degrees, through thick heather, large rocks, and hidden streams, it was not the right way at all.

Craig Cwmbychan

GLADMAN
GLADMAN Sep 26, 2009

Set upon a subsidiary ridge of Mynydd Mawr at almost 2,000ft (please refer to that site for additional comment – and ranting!), this burial cairn is in a wonderful position overlooking Betws Garmon, possessing magnificent views along Llyn Cwellyn to the Snowdon Massif.

In fact most of Central Snowdonia is visible to some degree or other – even Caernarfon Castle – making this just what the doctor ordered on a lovely September afternoon. A place to sit and ponder ‘Bronze Age’ related thoughts – whatever they might be – whilst chomping on several Yorkie bars and chicken tikka samosas. Naughty, naughty. But nice.

Coflein states:- ‘remains of a burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age, situated within open moorland in a prominent position on the summit of Craig Cwmbychan ridge. Stone built and circular on plan, measuring 11m in diameter and up to 1m in height. The cairn has been disturbed in the past, leaving a large hollow in the centre which has been built up to form a drystone shelter’.

Sites within 20km of Craig Cwmbychan

Like all websites everywhere, we use cookies.