Wern Frank Wood

Nearest town:
Hay-on-Wye (9km NNE)
OS reference:
SO19453313
OS sheet:
161
Latitude:
51° 59' 25.03 N
Longitude:
3° 10' 23.56 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

The removal of the gorse bush has a revealed an excellent monument in an exquisite setting.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.3.2022)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 12, 2023
Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Not sure if the broken stones in the foreground have come from the cairn, but it seems probable.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.3.2022)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 12, 2023
Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Looking southwest, the terrific views towards Bwlch Bach a’r Grib, Mynydd Troed, Pen y Fan and Y Mynydd Ddu.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.3.2022)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 12, 2023
Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Looking over the cairn towards Rhiw Cwnstab, a good route to access the high ridges of the Black Mountains.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.3.2022)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 12, 2023
Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Since my previous visit a dozen years earlier, the gorse bush that smothered the cairn has been removed.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.3.2022)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 12, 2023
Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

The cairn in its landscape, covered in gorse in the centre of the picture. Looking west from the lower slopes of Rhiw Cwnstab.

Image credit: A. Brookes (15.4.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Apr 29, 2010
Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Visible megaliths protruding on the south side of the cairn – possibly part of the cist?

Image credit: A. Brookes (15.4.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Apr 29, 2010
Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Looking SSW. The shoulder of Y Das fills the left of the picture. Castell Dinas hillfort can be seen just to the right of the gorse bushes covering the cairn. The small square stones immediately in front of the bushes may have come from the cairn.

Image credit: A. Brookes (15.4.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Apr 29, 2010
Image of Wern Frank Wood (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

The cairn, looking SW. The recognisable silhouette of Mynydd Troed is on the left.

Image credit: A. Brookes (15.4.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Apr 29, 2010

Articles

Wern Frank Wood

thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Apr 29, 2010

The first site visited on a lengthy Black Mountains excursion (15.4.2010). A convoluted trip to get here (train to Newport, train to Hereford, bus from Hereford to Talgarth) bore witness to the Black Mountains at their most forbidding (i.e. completely invisible through very low, dense cloud cover). Luckily, as I got to Talgarth mid-morning the cloud started to lift, revealing the northern edge of the escarpment and saving me from a “should I/shouldn’t I” decision about the sense or otherwise of this trip.

Walking east from Talgarth along quiet lanes, the gradient steepens and height was gained quickly as the sun emerged properly. By the open common of Rhos Fach I was over the 300m mark, but the hills ahead still looked pretty intimidating. A byway runs ESE from Rhos Fach, joining a huge area of access land at the southern tip of Wern Frank Wood. From here, the barrow is a short climb, just off the path to the left. It is covered in gorse bushes and quite difficult to see properly, but there are some visible stones protruding through the turf (Coflein mentions a cist). Unusually for Bronze Age barrows in this area, it is situated at the foot of the escarpment (albeit its low ridge 420m above sea level is still pretty high up), where it has a view over the Ennig valley to the west. The view to the east is completely filled by the squared off bulk of Y Das, and Mynydd Troed and Twmpa are visible landmarks to the SSW and NE respectively.

From here a steep climb beckons up to the highest Black Mountains ridge, with Waun Fach and Pen y Gadair Fawr (and Maen Llwyd) the day’s main objectives. Another spectacular landscape to wander around in.

Sites within 20km of Wern Frank Wood

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