Waen Bant

Also known as:
Planwydd Helyg
Nearest town:
Barmouth (4km WNW)
OS reference:
SH652133
OS sheet:
124
Latitude:
52° 42' 0.55 N
Longitude:
3° 59' 42.5 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Waen Bant (Standing Stone / Menhir) by thesweetcheat

Towards Llynnau Cregennen and Pared y Cefn Hir hillfort, the rocky ridge to the left of the stone.

Image credit: A. Brookes (12.9.2023)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 7, 2024
Image of Waen Bant (Standing Stone / Menhir) by postman

The small peak in the background is the hillfort Pared y cefn hir

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Jun 27, 2011
Image of Waen Bant (Standing Stone / Menhir) by Kammer

Taken 24th November 2002: Cadair Idris must have been important to the people that erected Waen Bant, and the many others littering the area. The mountain is beautiful and potent, dominating the landscape in a slightly sinister way. By the time we got to the area where Waen Bant stands the winter sun was disappearing, and the mountains were threatening to cast their shadow over us.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Nov 25, 2002
Image of Waen Bant (Standing Stone / Menhir) by Kammer

Taken 24th November 2002: I couldn’t resist trying to line up the top of the stone with Cadair Idris, and as you can see it’s a pretty poor match.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Nov 25, 2002
Image of Waen Bant (Standing Stone / Menhir) by Kammer

Taken 24th November 2002: This is Waen Bant viewed from the south (approximately) with the mountains on the other side of the Mawddach estuary behind it. I think that the peaks you can see in this shot are Diffwys and the Rhinogs, but I’m not certain.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Nov 25, 2002

Articles

Waen Bant

postman
postman Jun 27, 2011

It’s been said before but I think it can bear it one more time...... Gawd this is a pretty place.

Not many mountains in North Wales attract as much megalithic attention as Cadair Idris, this stone is the best sited, the best looking and possibly the biggest in the area. It’s as tall as I am, that is a bit shy of six feet, as we approached from the east it had a pronounced thumb shape to it, the lower half has been sheep rubbed smoothly black.
From here we can see the field across the valley where Cerrig arthur stone circle is sited.

Waen Bant

StarryEyes
StarryEyes Mar 21, 2003

Worth noting that if you face roughly west and look along the two flat faces of the stone, they line up with two dips in the horizon – including the one through which the modern-day road passes towards the coast. This may add credence to the idea that the stone was some kind of way marker on the ancient trackway from Tywyn.

The mound the stone stands on is pretty impressive too – rises out of nowhere as you walk towards it from Cregennen. It’s most likely a natural deposit of moraine, but the shape of it tempted me to wonder if it had been altered by human hands. Certainly gives a great view of Cader, as Kammer’s photos show.

Waen Bant

Kammer
Kammer Nov 26, 2002

Visited 24th November 2002: Waen Bant is easy to find, but if you want to park nearby you’ll have to risk putting at least two wheels on the grass (something I thought twice about because I didn’t fancy getting stuck).

There’s no public footpath to Waen Bant, but it’s not far from the road, and there are no fences between the road and the stone. We approached from the bottom of the field, and got a good view of the stone sitting on it’s little lump of land in front of us as we walked.

The stone isn’t as big as it looks in photos (I’m warning you now so that you don’t expect something enormous). At a guess (based on William’s height) I’d say it’s about 1.75 metres high. There’s a distinctive undercut on it’s eastern side which is about half the stone’s height in length. I’m not sure that this is artificial, but I’m certain it was significant to whoever erected the stone.

The views out towards Cadair Idris are spectacular, as are the views north towards the mountains on the other side of the Mawddach Estuary. The stone seems to be orientated towards Cadair Idris (specifically the peak called Craig-las). Apparently there’s another standing stone to the south east of Waun Bant called the Afon Arthog Stone, but this isn’t marked on the OS map, so in the failing light we decided not to try and find it.

Sites within 20km of Waen Bant

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