Fan Foel

Also known as:
Fan Foel, Y Mynydd Du
Nearest town:
Llandovery (14km NW)
OS reference:
SN820222
OS sheet:
160
Latitude:
51° 53' 7.29 N
Longitude:
3° 42' 52.92 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Looking east across the ring towards the distant Black Mountains (centre skyline) and Brecon Beacons (right of centre).

Image credit: A. Brookes (15.2.2016)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 15, 2016
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Fan Foel seen on the approach from Twr y Fan Foel. The ring cairn can be seen on top of the spur to the left.

Image credit: A. Brookes (15.2.2016)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Feb 18, 2016
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Almost 5 years since my last visit, this time in wonderful winter conditions.

Image credit: A. Brookes (15.2.2016)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Feb 18, 2016
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

The cairn that proved our Bronze Age forebears liked to ‘say it with flowers’. Are we really so different?

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 1, 2015
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Extensive monument, this, with cist still in situ.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 1, 2015
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Y Mynydd Du – The Black Mountain – looking anything but from Bwlch-y-Duwynt. Fan Foel, with its excellent cairn and cist, sits at the far right hand of the escapment with the exquisitely positioned Twr-y-Fan Foel nice and pointy to its left overlooking the unseen Llyn y Fan Fawr

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Feb 1, 2015
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Looking from Picws Du. Great landscape setting.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Sep 8, 2012
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Looking across Llyn y Fan Fawr whilst returning to the summit of Fan Brycheiniog, near Twr-y-Fan Foel (also bearing a cairn). Approx positions of some of the many other upland monuments in the area are given.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 30, 2011
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

The cist. Note the trademark Old Red Sandstone of much of the South Walian uplands

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 30, 2011
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

An impressive monument for a popular peak.........

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 30, 2011
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Showing the cist, centre left, now sporting a brand new cairn of the walkers’ variety. I was going to demolish it... but then reasoned this is one of those annoying summit cairns which might actually serve a purpose by protecting the cist from passing muppets’ boots. Needless to say I had to remove a plastic bottle and sundry rubbish.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 30, 2011
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Looking north. This cairn is ignored by many walkers, who cut straight across between the “tops” of Fan Brycheiniog/Twr y Fan Foel and Picws Du without coming here. So there’s no stupid walkers’ cairn here at the moment.

Image credit: A. Brookes (26.2.2011)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Feb 27, 2011
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Looking east, the views are terrific on a clear day. Nearest at hand (on the right) is the cairn-topped Twr y Fan Foel. Directly behind the cairn is Fan Gyhirych, while over to the left are the twin summits of Pen y Fan and Corn Du. Fforest Fawr’s other summits lie between, while (out of shot, further to the left) is the Black Mountains range. A landscape teeming with bronze age monuments.

Image credit: A. Brookes (26.2.2011)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Feb 27, 2011
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

The cairn (left of centre skyline) as seen on the way back to Twr y Fan Foel.

Image credit: A. Brookes (5.6.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 9, 2010
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Close up of the larger stones in the kerb – they look like they’re lying on the surface but they are actually buried.

Image credit: A. Brookes (5.6.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 9, 2010
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

Close-up of the centre of the cairn and what I took to be the cist referred to on Coflein.

Image credit: A. Brookes (5.6.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 9, 2010
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by thesweetcheat

The excavated cairn, with Twr y Fan Foel behind to the right. The summit of Fan Gyhirych can just be seen to the right of centre and even hazier to the left is Pen y Fan/Corn Du.

Image credit: A. Brookes (5.6.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 9, 2010
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by cerrig

Looking North, the remaining upright slabs here oriented roughly 35 degrees.

Image credit: cerrig
C
cerrig May 11, 2010
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by cerrig

Looking West, with Picws Du beyond and Camarthenshire beyond.

Image credit: cerrig
C
cerrig May 11, 2010
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by cerrig

Looking East, with Twr y Fan Foel and it’s own cairn beyond.

Image credit: cerrig
C
cerrig May 11, 2010
Image of Fan Foel (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Not the best of images – complete with wonky horizon – but nevertheless highlights the position of the cairn. The viewpoint is Twr-y-Fan Foel, prior to excavation of the Fan Foel monument.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 22, 2010

Articles

Fan Foel

Traces of flowers from Bronze Age cairn

Rhiannon
Rhiannon Feb 10, 2006

Archaeologists examining a Bronze Age burial mound on the Black Mountain in Carmarthenshire found meadowsweet pollen grains.
“Adam Gwilt, curator of the Bronze and Iron Age Collection at the National Museum of Wales, said the discovery shed new light on ancient burials. He said: “It gives tenderness to otherwise remote and impersonal burial rites”. Mr Gwilt said the same burial ritual had been found as far away as the Orkney Islands in Scotland. “(does this mean using meadowsweet specifically?)

More at
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/4697748.stm
and
britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba88/news.shtml#item1

(If you want to grumble about geocaching at the site also page down and read at
britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba78/news.shtml

Fan Foel

thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Aug 27, 2013

The route from Picws Du to the next cairn, on Fan Foel, is easy enough but includes a fairly steep up-and-down, via Bwlch Blaen-Twrch (“pass of the boar’s summit”). Once negotiated, there is a fine high-level retrospective view of Picws Du summit before we head over to the magnificent cairn placed right at the apex of the escarpment, the point where Carmarthenshire meets Powys/Brecknockshire.

Was this always a territorial marker? If it was, it’s a high place for the people of power to agree upon their frontier. And perhaps such a person was laid to rest here, interred within a sizeable kerb of red sandstone blocks. If he or she were the monarch of all they surveyed, they certainly ruled over a far-reaching territory, for the views are extensive indeed, stretching eastwards to the twin summits of Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du then further away to the Black Mountains, with many other cairned summits in between. And yet the archaeological record reveals perhaps something rather more intriguing and human than a story of powerful warriors. A child was buried here, possibly garlanded with meadowsweet flowers. If only these stones and mountains would share the memory of that little sliver of history, what a tale they might tell.

This cairn is ignored by many walkers, hurrying between the “tops” of Piws Du and Twr y Fan Foel/Fan Brycheiniog. But sadly enough come here to cause damage to the structure, which is what prompted the excavation and exposure of the magnificent kerb and half-buried cist. Probably the best of cairns on the main escarpment of Y Mynydd Du, this place will richly reward any TMAer making the trip.

Fan Foel

thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 9, 2010

Leaving the ramblers behind at Twr y Fan Foel (5.6.2010), I headed the short distance north to this cairn. Fan Foel is not a recognised “summit” and as such is often bypassed by walkers on their way on to Picws Du. Which is great, because it makes for a quiet and peaceful spot, with amazing views wherever you care to look, especially if you drop down a little off the top to the north-west, where you will be rewarded with a nice view of the folklore-heavy Llyn y Fan Fach.

The cairn itself has been excavated in recent times, meaning there’s no modern walkers’ cairn (thankfully) and you get a great cross-section view. The cairn has a full kerb, and there are the remains of a cist in the centre. Although the mound itself has gone, this is actually a very evocative place, as the kerb makes for a sort-of-stone-circle feel. Definitely a recommended visit, one of the more interesting summit cairns in this part of Wales in my opinion.

But time and buses wait for no man, so after a quick return to Twr y Fan Foel, it’s down the steep “stair” to Llyn y Fan Fawr and then eastwards to Waun Leuci. Top stuff.

Fan Foel

GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 24, 2010

I first came to this magnificent mountain escarpment way back in 1993, looking, believe it or not, for The Llyn Fawr (the lake above The Rhondda, that is). Incredibly naive, perhaps, but I got away with it.... and my sense of awe has not diminished with time. Nor has my respect for the inclement Welsh weather!

The latest ascent is made in the company of The Mam Cymru, my sister. Not too canny with map or compass, it has to be said, but a dab hand with anything to do with the soil. And besides, everyone knows women can’t read maps and men can’t walk and look around at the same time. It’s Nature, see.

Fan Foel is, to be honest, a northern spur of Ban (or Fan – sorry I never could figure these language mutations) Brycheiniog, at 2,631ft, the summit peak of Y Mynydd Du, The Black Mountain. From a megalithically-minded and – arguably – general perspective, the best approach is from the Trecastle road to the east. This necessitates crossing the infant Afon Tawe before even beginning the ascent, not the easiest task, even in summer, but then proceeds to follow a lively, cascading stream, the Nant-y-Llyn, right back to it’s source. This is no ordinary ‘source’ either, but the legendary Llyn-y-Fan-Fawr, companion lake to the even more legendary Llyn-y-Fan-Fach.... The path follows the twisting, turning, right-hand bank, past several pretty impressive waterfalls, not to mention a genuine Bronze Age cairn...

themodernantiquarian.com/site/12742/nantyllyn_mynydd_du.html

...the Maen Mawr and Y Cerrig Duon also visible on the right-hand skyline.... a good place to chill out on the descent. For now, simply follow that stream (!), the landscape becoming more and more brutal until, after several ‘false crests’, lakeside is attained at 2,000ft, the elegant escarpment of the mountain towering above to your left. Perhaps my favourite upland lake, it’s tempting to call it a day here at this exquisite spot. But.... the call is unspoken, never unheard. There’s round barrows in them thar hills.

A ‘rocky staircase’ at the southern end of the lake provides a steep, but safe passage to Bwlch y Giedd and the crest of the ridge above. Turn right here and the OS trig point and ‘circular shelter’ of Ban Brycheiniog is soon reached. Unfortunately there is no prehistoric cairn upon this summit, ‘courtesy’, no doubt, of the aforementioned shelter and the muppets who built it. I mean, who would want to cower in a shelter when the view down to Llyn-y-Fan-Fawr is simply magnificent? Ha! Moving on along the escarpment edge, any feeling of indignation is soon alleviated upon reaching the vertigo-inducing buttress of Twr-y-Fan Foel, for this is crowned by an apparently undisturbed Bronze Age round barrow [see misc post]. The siting is amazing, it really is.

The second cairn lies upon the summit of 2,575ft Fan Foel itself. Subject to an excavation in 2004, the finds were somewhat interesting, to say the least. Please see the miscellaneous post and Rhiannon’s link for details, but suffice to say it appears Bronze Age people certainly knew how to ‘say it with flowers’. To stand here is deeply moving and makes a mockery of the ‘R*mans brought us civilisation’ dogma I was taught in school. Honestly, does anyone actually still believe that rubbish? My informed guess would be ‘yes’. Looking west, Picws Du, adorned by it’s own Bronze Age cairn, towers above the waters of the magnificent Llyn-y-Fan-Fach. Strong walkers can visit the peak from here, but I’m afraid those days are past for Gladman..... [Incidentally several ‘circles are to be found to the north of Fan Foel, not forgetting the wonderful pair beyond the Usk Reservoir].

Perhaps the most significant aspect of a visit to this wonderful spot, however, is the ‘big picture’ it conveys of South Walian Bronze Age burial practice. To clarify, glance to the east, across Llyn-y-Fan-Fawr to Waun Leuci, Fan Gyhirych, Fan Nedd, Fan Frynych, The Brecon Beacons, The Black Mountains – a linear procession of burial cairns literally as far as the eye can see; then to the west, the two great cairns upon Garreg Las beyond the aforementioned Picws Du, with examples upon Garreg Lwyd, Carn Pen-y-Clogau...etc.. fading to the horizon. Clearly there was something very serious and widespread going on here... Hell yeah!

Miscellaneous

Fan Foel
Cairn(s)
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 22, 2010

Coflein has the following information listed for the Fan Foel summit round barrow at SN8214722341]:

‘A burial barrow is set on the summit of Fan Foel, a dramatic spur on the northern escarpment of Mynydd Du. Prior to excavation and consolidation in 2004, this monument was a roughly circular turf covered mound, 16.2m in diameter and up to 1.2m high on the east, with a rough modern cairn or shelter on the north-east side. Excavation demonstrated that this was an earthen mound up to 0.3m high ringed by an oval kerb of possibly laid stones, measuring 13m north-west to south-east by 11m. A cist or stone slab chest was found beneath the modern cairn; it measured 2.0m by 1.1m and was 0.65m deep. It contained a cremation deposit accompanied by a flint knife and a pottery vessel of the ‘Food Vessel’ type. A secondary cremation deposit with a Collared Urn pottery vessel was found on the north-west side of the mound. Finds of flint flakes and a string of clay beads may relate to this site.‘

Sites within 20km of Fan Foel

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