Images

Image of Carn Fawr (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking across Hengwm to Carn Fawr from Carn Gwilym. The left hand shadow is cast by one of the latter hill’s superb cairns. The right is from some muppet who happened, by chance, to be upon Pumlumon that day.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Carn Fawr (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Carn Gwilym/Hyddgen and Banc Lluestnewydd are visible to the left of the cairn, both hills featuring monuments of their own... further pieces of the wondrous Pumlumon jigsaw

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Carn Fawr (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking approx north-west across Hengwm, with the twin beehive cairns of Carn Gwilym visible top left of image.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Carn Fawr (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking more-or-less north towards the Bugeilyn..

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Carn Fawr (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

My rucksack proves this monument lives up to its prosaic name... substantial.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Carn Fawr (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Having dodgy knees, I’m always loathe to lose height when out on the hills in the middle of a walk .... but for a monument of this class – and, more to the point, positioning – the choice really was a ‘no-brainer’. The prominent ridge beyond is Tarren Bwlch-gwyn, well worth a visit if you have time to spare in the area. Cadair Idris and friends (top right) welcome the gaze to Snowdonia. Incidentally, Tarrenhendre, surmounted by a cairn or two of its own, is far left skyline.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Carn Fawr (Round Cairn) by GLADMAN

Bit of a long shot (groan)... but reckon this highlights the somewhat, er, isolated positioning of Carn Fawr. Seen from Pen Pumlumon-Arwystli.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Carn Fawr (Round Cairn) by caealun

Looking North, very easy to find, a short walk from the source of the River Severn.

Image credit: Derfel

Articles

Carn Fawr

Carn Fawr represents the last site visit of my day... and, furthermore, could well be the most isolated cairn upon the whole of the Pumlumon massif. You can take it as a given, then, that the vibe and ‘sense of place’ here makes the receptive traveller feel ‘on top of the world’. In a manner of speaking, of course, since this cairn is actually located just below the 2,000ft contour. But truly that is of little relevance here.

According to Coflein [see misc post] there are actually the remains of two further Bronze Age cairns upon this craggy hilltop overlooking Cwm Hengwm, the upper reaches of which are, incidentally, cited by experienced climbing author Dave Ing as the ‘wildest cwm in all Wales’. I have to admit, however, that the potent combination of Carn Fawr’s impressive dimensions and the manner in which it relates to the landscape renders the memory defective in this instance. Yeah, there can be only one. Carn Fawr not only lives up to its prosaic name... ‘Big Cairn’... but additionally has no trouble at all picking the lock of the door to the human psyche labelled ‘folk memory, cairns, pertaining to fascination of’. In short, it just looks ‘right’, you know?

It is therefore sad to relate that Carn Fawr – the large one, that is (the baton is passed to other TMA members to add detail of the others) – has, despite initial appearances, not survived the passage of time as well as its two great neighbours upon Cwmbiga, having a somewhat hollow core. Nonetheless there is a lot of stone within this great stone pile, although, having said that, it is the location which really makes this a ‘must visit’ for the Citizen Cairn’d on walkabout upon Pumlumon. Situated just a little to the north of the source of the Hafren (Severn) and with Carn Hyddgen, rising across Cwm Hengwm, just one of numerous similarly blessed hills nearby, this is a spot to truly lose yourself for a while. Just make sure it’s only in a metaphorical sense, please! Map, compass and the usual kit are, needless to say, essential. But I’ve said it anyway.

If approaching from Carnfachbugeilyn... Carn Fawr is actually visible from the former looking to the approx west. Follow the fence line to the approx south-west before striking off downhill to your right. If you lose sight of the cairn, carry on until the fence line swings sharply to your left (south)... the monument is now below to your right (approx north).

Finally, thanks to Derfel for posting the images which prove local knowledge cannot really be surpassed.

Miscellaneous

Carn Fawr
Round Cairn

Three Bronze Age cairns stand near the north-western extremity of the main Pumlumon ridge, west of Carnfachbugeilyn and a little north of the source of The River Severn (Afon Hafren). Coflein has quite a bit to say, thanks to J.J. Hall:

Carn Fawr 1) – SN8181090530 – ‘A Bronze Age stone cairn, 11m in diameter and 2m high, on a northwest facing false crest. The interior had been hollowed out to create a shelter. A linear arrangement stones, about 4m long east-west, led off from the western side of the cairn. Only one block of quartz could be seen in the cairn, which was thought to be of note as there was a lot of surface quartz in the area. When the feature was recorded in August 2006, there was no vegetation on the cairn. J.J. Hall, Trysor, 14 November 2006.‘

Carn Fawr 2) – SN8186590580 – ‘A small stone cairn, 3m in diameter and 0.5m high, utilising an outcrop. Some signs of structure were apparent. When the feature was recorded in August 2006, it was partially covered in grass and bilberries. J.J. Hall, Trysor, 9 September 2006‘

Carn Fawr 3) SN8182090545 – ‘A low, stone cairn, 2m in diameter and 0.1m high, 10m northeast. When the feature was recorded in August 2006, the cairn had grass and bilberries growing on it. J.J. Hall, Trysor, 9 September 2006‘

Sites within 20km of Carn Fawr