thesweetcheat

Information from the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust RHER:

It [Criccieth Castle] stands within an enclosure formed by the cliffs to the south and an earthen bank to the north which has the appearance of an Iron Age hillfort.

An urn discovered behind the cottage of the Castle custodian might suggest an Iron Age site. The find occurred at a depth of 2.6m behind the cottage of the Criccieth Castle custodian, and it is suggested that the bank under which it lay is a remnant of an Iron Age earthwork.

The rocky outcrop to the northwest of the castle is called Dinas, although there’s no record of any site or finds there.

Summarised from Gwynedd Archaeological Trust SMR records:

Two stone circles. One is an earthen circle to the north of the other stone circle. Crawford’s opinion that there were never any stones on the circumference of the smaller circle does not agree with Pennant’s description of it, and the probability is that both circles originally had short standing stones set in a bank of small loose stones, with an external surrounding ditch. They must have been robbed for building stone c.1840 when the mountainside was enclosed, and the only remains visible now are traces of banks and ditches round parts of each circle and a few rough standing stones 2-3ft high. Beaker sherds from the two circles are now in the NMW.

Pennant’s description of these two stone circles in 1783 shows they must be embanked stone circles as he mentions that both had large upright stones and a stone bank. The smaller circle surrounded a shallow depression which can be regarded as a grave. Nearby was a scatter of beaker sherds in a fire pit. The “druids circle” Penmaenmawr, Caernarvonshire may be regarded as the type site for this kind of monument.

Not impressive as a field monument any more. Partially excavated by Crawford who found stone holes that represent those standing in Pennant’s time. Recommended for Scheduling to protect any remaining archaeological deposits. Area of ridge and furrow to the east also noted.

The entire area has been ploughed at some point, perhaps immediately before the fields were enclosed and improved. However this C19th cultivation largely avoided the interior of the circles, indicating that these may have quite good preservation.

Southern circle

The larger circle appears to consist of primarily an outer ditch enclosing a slight bank that formerly incorporated a large number of stones. Results from the S side of the circle suggests that other elements are present, perhaps an inner stony bank and a second, wider, outer ditch. Both circles have suggestions of at least two phases of construction.

58m in diameter overall with a bank, where discernable, 4 -7.5 m wide which contains a few standing stones situated on a gentle west facing slope.

A very large monument which must be put in the henge class. Not in a prominent or distinctive position but on the hillslope is visible from the S and W, particularly from Carneddau Hengwm and Pen Dinas. A group of clearance stones close by at SW must be remains of the circle, these consist of about 16 large stones c. 1.2m x 1m and 6 smaller stones c. 1m x 0.8m The largest stone is about 2m x 1.2m.

Northern circle

The smaller circle consists of a simple ditch with possible low banks on both the inside and outside. A circle of anomalies indicates the presence of internal features, perhaps a circle of pits or stone holes.

39m in diameter with a bank 2.5m wide the remains of a ditch 1.5m wide.

Remains only as a very low grassy earthwork with only tops of 5 recumbent stones showing.

There is a possibility referred to in the GGAT SMR that Roman masonry was exposed around the well during a flood in 1799.

This suggests that the well may have been in use during prehistoric times and reused by the Romans.

It is the only known thermal spring in Wales.

One hill, two forts.

Tal y Garreg fort crowns the summit of the hill at SH57400358, while Llechlwyd cuts off the lower western promontory. Both look down on the mouth of the Dysynni river.

GAT details:

Tal y Garreg

This is a fortification in an exhilarating position, fronting the sea and exposed to all the winds that blow! Its date is very uncertain, and it may have been occupied at more than one period.

The defences are built on the very top of the narrow ridge. They consist of two relatively low earth and stone banks enclosing a rectangular space about 45m long and 22m wide. At the seaward end there is a much stronger point the base of a tower or small circular enclosure (10m in diameter) fronted by a rock-cut ditch now virtually filed with stone. If this stone comes from the collapse of the tower, it must have been quite high. Beyond the ditch is a curving bank with another deep rock-cut ditch beyond. This ditch is now right at the edge of the quarry take care! The ring of concrete pegs on the tower once anchored a shipping signal. (Extract from G. Smith: A Visitor Guide to the Main Iron Age Hillforts of Meirionnydd (2009)).

Llechlwyd promontory fort

A promontory fort enclosing 1.5 acres, situated on a spur of land projecting SW from Tal y Garreg Mountain. The artificial defences comprise an inner and outer bank, 3.6m and 3.2m high respectively with an outer ditch now only 0.8m deep, constructed across the neck of a steep sided promontory. The outer bank and ditch have been destroyed at their west end by a modern quarry road, which exposes a section showing that the ditch was originally 1.9m lower than the present day ground level. The large inner rampart is mainly of stone. And has an in-turned entrance at the junction of its W end with the natural defensive slope of the hill. There are no traces of any huts within the fort. Surveyed at 1: 2500.

Extensive cemetery of Bronze Age barrows on Park Head, near to an Iron Age cliff fort. In addition Mesolithic flints have been found on the headland.

Details from Cornwall & Scilly HER, north to south:

SW 8481 7157
This is the northernmost of the group of barrows on Park Head; it stands on a cliff edge looking north. It is a bowl barrow 0.9m high and 18m across with sunken top. The barrow is Scheduled and covered by grass.

SW 8478 7150
This is the second northernmost of the group of barrows on Park Head; it stands on a slope looking north. It is a bowl barrow 0.6m high. The barrow is Scheduled and is under pasture.

SW 8479 7148
This is the third northernmost of the group of barrows on Park Head; it stands on a slope facing north, very close to the barrow 21780.2. It has been almost entirely removed, leaving just a small rim about 12m across (h1). It is covered by grass.

SW 8441 7130
This is the westernmost of the group of barrows on Park Head; it stands on a clifftop looking west. It is 1.7m high and 27m across, but has been mutilated by a number of excavations in the sides. The barrow is Scheduled and is under pasture.

SW 8461 7126
This is the one of the group of barrows on Park Head; it stands 200m from the cliff tops. This barrow is in arable land but is under pasture; the plough has bitten into the sides somewhat. The remains are 0.6m high and are Scheduled.

SW 8444 7120
This is the one of the group of barrows on Park Head; it stands on a clifftop looking south-west. It is 0.7m high and 27m across, but has been mutilated by a number of eroded areas of rabbit holes. Parts of the west side have been lost to the cliff edge; otherwise the barrow is covered by grass and is Scheduled.

SW 8447 7101
This is one of the group of barrows on Park Head; it stands 50m from the cliff top. This barrow is in good order, 1.5m high and 18m across. It has been mutilated by a number of small excavations, and was recorded in 1760 as having “just been opened”, although it was apparently intact in 1865. The barrow is Scheduled and now under pasture. The barrow may have been used as a beacon.

SW 8454 7084
This is the southernmost of the group of barrows on Park Head; it stands 50m from the cliff top. This barrow was rediscovered by Sheppard in 1978, from the coastal path; it is covered by gorse elsewhere. It was indicated on Thomas’s survey sheet and may have been used as a beacon in the early C19.

Theories differ as to whether this was originally one large cliff fort comprising a wide promontory, two separate forts now split into three, or whether there were always three separate promontories each with its own ramparts.

Either way, there are three now, separated by Wine Cove and Pepper Cove.

From Cornwall & Scilly HER:

Winecove Point is a complex site of uncertain development consisting of three promontories each with ramparts of various construction. It is assumed to have originated as one cliff castle, subsequently in part eroded away, but it may have developed as one organisation based on the three promontories. Each part of the site is described below; there has been very little work done on this site and the only finds known are a hearth exposed in a cliff face, and at least one spindle whorl has been found here. Such finds indicate that the site was occupied, but the extent of internal activity remains quite unknown. More work is needed on this site. The site is included in the Schedule.

The northernmost promontory of the cliff castle at Winecove Point possibly is a separate cliff castle in its own right. It is defended from the mainland by a single rock-cut ditch 0.3m deep with an inner bank 0.4m high. The rampart is much eroded and silted, as is the rest of the promontory, which is exposed to the worst of the weather. The rampart is continuous but rather lower in the middle, as if for an entrance. There seem to have been no finds in the area, and no evidence for occupation of the site.

The middle of the three promontories that form the Winecove Point cliff castle is better preserved than the others, and is defended by a double ditch with narrow central entrance. A further ditch is said locally to have originated as a track for a steam engine raising marble from a wreck in the cove below. A hearth is visible in the cliff section at SW 8537 7370, on the north-west side of the eroded cliff. A spindle whorl was found in a small cave at SW 8544 7371, on the sheltered south face of the cliff. The whorl is 4.0cm across, and ornamented by incised lines (now in possession of Mrs Taylor at Whitworth). The extent of occupation is not certain. The site is much denuded.

The southern of the three promontories that form the Winecove Point cliff castle is defended by three well spaced ramparts, two of which are rock cut. Only the middle one has an accompanying bank and has a central causeway. The other two have staggered entrances towards the southern ends of the ditches. It is suggested that the inner ditch is not contemporary with the other two on account of its straightness. There are a couple of depressions within what the OS call the sole rampart that may be hut circles. There is no evidence of occupation from finds etc.

They climbed on, to the line where the green grassy slope met a grey sky. On the downward sweep of the path on the other side, Barney and Jane were crouched beside a small out-cropping of rock, identical with every other rocky scar on the hill but singled out by a neat slate marker like a label. Will came slowly down the path, his senses open and alert as the ears of a hunting dog, but he felt nothing. Glancing across, he saw the same blankness on Bran’s face.

“There’s a sort of carved-out circle here that’s supposed to be where the hoof of Arthur’s horse trod – look, it’s marked.” Barney measured the hollow in the rock with his hand. “And another over there”. He sniffed, unimpressed. “Pretty small horse.”

“They are hoof-shaped, though” Jane said. Her head was down, her voice slightly husky. “I wonder what really made them?”

“Erosion,” Simon said. “Water swirling around”.

“With dirt rubbing,” Bran said.

Jane said hesitantly, “And frost, cracking the rock.”

“Or the hoof of a magic horse, coming down hard, ” Barney said. He looked up at Will. “Only it wasn’t, was it?”

Susan Cooper – Silver on the Tree (1977)

The OS 1:25000 shows two cairns on Mynydd y Llyn in “antiquity” script, one to the west of Llyn Barfog (the NGR for this site) and one on a rocky eminence to the northeast of the lake.

Coflein and GAT only record the western cairn, but the GAT record states “Not visited but will be. This map square seems to have been missed off the database enquiry for the desk top study and this site only found during hand checking of all the map index sheets.”

On visiting, the western cairn looks like a definite Bronze Age example, but the northeastern cairn appears to be a modern marker. It would be interesting to know the background to the OS choice of script for this one.

Possibly the most westerly prehistoric site in Powys/Montgomeryshire, this very reduced cairn is alongside the beautiful Afon Llyfnant, which forms the boundary between Powys and Ceredigion. The location is very pleasant and there’s a lovely waterfall close by.

CPAT:

A cairn 25m in dia. 0.7m high (max). Built of small packed stone. On the flood plain of Afon Llyfnant. Traditionally said to be quaker preaching mound.

Set in pasture field in valley bottom. Site entirely grass-covered, but with a few small stones visible on surface. In its present state this is not obviously a burial cairn although it appears to be associated with field name Dol y garnedd.

The site is within open access woodland managed by The Woodland Trust.

woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/wood/4495/coed-cefn/

Access details and location from the management plan:

General Location: approximately 1 mile east of Crickhowell.

Approaching Crickhowell from the Abergavenny road (A40) you will see the health centre sign pointing right. Take the next turning right, Greenhill Way, where a blue car park sign is shown. The car park itself is on the first left, and this is the location of the nearest toilets.

Continuing up Greenhill Way, you pass allotments on your left and then quickly come to a mini-roundabout. Turn right and keep on this road; a little further along you will see it named as Bellfountain Road with a sign saying Llanbedr 2, Llangenny 2 ¼. This narrow lane climbs the hillside. After 0.9 miles from the car park, a wood appears on your left. You pass the entrance to Bellfountain Park (unnamed as such) on your right and as the road turns to the left, the entrance to the Woodland Trust car park is off to your left.

General Overview of Entrance and Paths

The entrance is a squeeze stile to the right of a padlocked five-bar gate.

The main paths consist of broad earth tracks with not too much ascent and should be manageable by most: paying attention to the tree roots in places. Horses are forbidden. There is an unstable veteran beech tree towards the back of the wood, around which the path has been diverted. There are two significant old stone quarries within the wood which could be dangerous should visitors stray off the established paths.

Parking

The Woodland Trust car park has room for about 4 vehicles.

Public Transport

Crickhowell is on X43 service running between Abergavenny and Cardiff.

woodlandtrust.org.uk/woodfile/167/management-plan.pdf?cb=4e3bd541403e4638984917e5501bce4a

CPAT lists a number of hut circles and enclosures in Cwm Crew, plus a burnt mound on the slopes of Cefn Crew above.

It’s also a lovely, peaceful way to get up into the mountains without seeing a load of people.

Not shown on the OS 1/25000, this site wasn’t recognised as a probable Clava cairn until the 1990s. It’s on higher ground than the main Clava sites down in the Nairn valley below. Canmore has the following:

The remains of a previously unknown Clava cairn were first identified during a University of Reading fieldwalking project in 1994. While the cairn’s presence had remained unknown to archaeologists, subsequent enquiries revealed a local awareness of the site.
The monument is on the S side of Strathnairn at a height of c 200m above sea level. The site was surveyed and a contour plan produced. The cairn exists as a low, almost circular mound which occupies the crest of a natural pear-shaped rise at the edge of a field.
A major diagnostic feature of the site is the ring of well-defined kerbstones which are graded in height towards the SW – a distinguishing feature of Clava cairns. A wide gap on the W side between two large and well-embedded kerbstones was possibly an entrance, and a depression in the top of the mound may represent collapsed internal features. This would concur with local beliefs that the mound once possessed a ‘doorway’, and it seems reasonable to suggest that Culdoich South is a passage grave. A large, partially buried stone nearby to the E may be a fallen monolith from a surrounding stone circle, although no other candidates were located in this survey.
Culdoich South is intervisible with the Leanach and Culchunaig Clava cairns across the valley, and there are wide views across Drummossie Muir to the Black Isle and the mountains beyond. It is located within 2km of the greatest concentration of Clava cairns which focus upon the Guardianship site of Balnuaran of Clava. It seems remarkable that the cairn should remain unrecognised given such close proximity to this notable concentration of monuments.
A Watson and N Clarkson 1998.

Scheduled as ‘Culdoich, chambered cairn and standing stone 620m S of...‘

If you like your chambered cairns obscure, this one’s for you. From Canmore:

This Orkney-Cromarty, Polygonal, round chambered cairn, truncated by a field wall, has had almost all the cairn material removed – though an indefinite edge can be traced for about 30 ft. from the chamber on the S. and W.
Nine stones remain of the chamber, whose entrance was in the E, and of these 5 represent what was formerly 3 pairs of transverse slabs spaced 3-5 feet apart and probably indicating a very short passage and ante chamber.
The main chamber, once oval and about 11 ft x 7 1/2 ft, is represented by only 4 slabs 1ft 9ins. to 3 ft. high – rather taller than the transverse slabs.

In “Prehistoric Preseli – a field guide” (2001 Atelier Productions) NP Figgis mentions the missing capstone from the eastern chamber is “known to have been used for a bridge”.

At the western end of the Cerrig y Gof field is a stream, and the road crosses it over a small bridge with an interesting name: Pont Heb Wybod (“bridge without knowledge”). Dyfed HER pages mention that it was recorded earlier as Pont y Wibod (“bridge of knowledge”)!

Anyway, there are lots of stones next to the bank of the stream, including one large slab. Potentially of more interest though is a further slab built into the embankment next to the bridge structure. Could this have been the missing capstone?

The accident that saw the stone knocked over and broken in 2011 did at least have the effect of confirming the prehistoric origin of the stone.

From Dyfed HER:

A standing stone 2.2m high x 0.9m x 0.45m wide at its base situated on the roadside verge next to a pasture field. The stone bears an inscription and an Ordnance Survey bench mark on its east face. The inscription indicates the boundary between the parishes of Llanychlwyddog and Newport and the stone is utilised thus as a boundary marker.

In October 2011, the scheduled Bedd Morris standing stone broke and toppled over, probably having been hit by a vehicle. The upper part of the stone was subsequently removed from the site for safe keeping. A small-scale excavation in February 2012 recovered the snapped-off base of the stone, and established that the stone had probably been originally erected in the prehistoric period. Several hammer stones and stone flakes from dressing the stone were discovered in the stone socket. Two Bronze Age radiocarbon determinations from charcoal from the stone socket are strong supporting evidence for the stone having been erected in the prehistoric period and not moved until hit by the vehicle. In November 2012 the stone was repaired and reset into its original socket.

K Murphy October 2013

Immediately east of the fort is a collapsed sea cave called Pwll y Wrach (known in English as “The Witch’s Cauldron”).

It’s a great place to see seals, although I’ve not been able to find any folklore associated with the name.

Coflein has some aerial shots of both the fort and the Cauldron.

There are two possible prehistoric sites on the headlands either side of Aber-west beach.

Dinas Fawr (SM812230) is a very prominent headland on the south of the cove, thought at one time to be an Iron Age cliff fort, but current opinion is that this may not be the case. Both Coflein and Dyfed HER are not convinced. The setting is ideal and very typical for a cliff fort, with a narrow neck cutting off a wider headland. However, the spine of the headland is very rocky and sharp and there is little in the way of a flat surface area anywhere, reducing the scope for occupation.

Porth-y-Bwch (SM81212336) is the smaller headland on the north side of the cove, narrow and crumbling. Coflein records:

Three curvilinear building platforms, the largest 5.0m in diameter, set upon an isolated summit area, some 20-25m across, of a cliff-girt promontory, where a shell-midden is also recorded, connected to the main by a narrow isthmus, across which a fragment of bank & ditch has been observed.

Information from the Clwyd Powys Archaelogical Trust HER:

The earlier settlement complex occupies the E.-facing outer slope of the cwm between 402 and 442 m above O.D., and measures 160 m (E.-W.) by 140 m (N.-S.) It comprises a group of hillslope-set scooped enclosures including hut circles and associated embankments.

The most norwesterly is a pair of roughly circular hut platforms set upon a natural, boulder-strewn semi-circular rush-grown terrace to the N. of the stream which now drains the cwm. The hut embankments recognised here by the O.S. in 1976 were difficult to distinguish with confidence in 1981 and 1991. This hut group lies immediately outside, which is a subrectangular enclosure embanked by rubble walls up to 3 m wide and 0.4 m high, the longer axis aligned N.N.W.- S.S.E. (of c. 35 m by 23 m). This is bisected unequally by the stream, leaving a smaller, more incomplete enclosed area on the N. bank, whilst an internal E.-W. dividing bank makes a full enclosure of the steeply-sloping southern part, which is entered through a gap about 2 m wide about halfway down the E. side. Protruding from the S. terminal is a linear outwork curving away a few metres to the N.

The setting is part of a beautiful nature reserve, below some of the most striking cliffs in the Brecon Beacons.

ccgc.gov.uk/landscape--wildlife/protecting-our-landscape/special-landscapes--sites/protected-landscapes/national-nature-reserves/craig-cerrig-gleisiad-a-fan-fr.aspx

From the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust HER:

Large impressive cairn measures c.16m E-W x 13m N-S. The actual height of the cairn is difficult to determine as it is sited on a natural rise or terrace on an east-facing slope above Afon Tarrell. On the north and east sides the height appears to be 2m, but on the upslope side only 1.2m. The cairn is turf-covered and in good condition, but there is a north-south scar on its summit, c. 1.7m wide x 3.5m long x 0.25m deep, which is probably the result of an old excavation trench. (CPAT 2005)

There is another substantial cairn higher up the same field, which CPAT record as a post-medieval clearance cairn (Afon Tarell W Cairn II).

The map of Penwithian round barrows in Cheryl Straffon’s revised “The Earth Mysteries Guide to Ancient Sites in West Penwith” (2010) shows a coastal barrow at Roskestal.

There’s nothing listed on Pastscape or the Cornwall and Scilly HER, although there have been various finds of stone tools on the cliffs here, as well as a prehistoric field system.

Three or possibly four barrows on the rocky headland of Pordenack Point. The most easterly appears to have the remains of a retaining kerb or circle. Descriptions from Pastscape:

SW 34622417 (Russell No 8)

A mutilated or gutted turf-covered mound approximately 6.5m in diameter and about 0.7m high. Its centre is hollow and a few squarish boulders and stones are evident (almost at ground level) forming a crude structure which is approximately 2.0m by 1.2m internally and about 0.3m high. Spoil from the centre has been piled up on the sides thus heightening parts of the mound. The structure is almost certainly not the remins of a lookout hut as suggested by Geary because, again, all vistas, except to the north-west, are blocked by outcropping rock. It has the appearance of a crudely excavated mound with perhaps, as suggested by Russell, the remains of a cist in the centre. If this is the case it is odd that Henderson did not note the fact and also the existence of the adjacent mound in 1917 (c.f. SW 32 SW 5).

SW 34632417 (Russell No 9)

An amorphous earth and stone mound built on natural outcropping rock with three large contiguous retaining slabs on the east side. It is approximately 6.7m by 6.3m and up to 1.0m high. The largest of the three slabs is 1.1m high and has two drill holes in its outer face. It is probably a barrow but it may also be associated with the adjacent buried OS triangulation point.

SW 34632418 (Russell No 7)

An extensively mutilated turf-covered mound approximately 6.0m in diameter and up to 0.6m high; two large boulders protrude through the turf. There is no evident trace of a kerb and if it is a barrow it is in a very poor
condition.

SW 3468 2417

The mutilated barrow occupies a prominent cliff-top position on a heather-covered headland.

The remains of the incomplete kerb circle which measures approximately 11.0m in overall diameter comprises a total of nine exposed slabs and boulders. The largest standing slab is 0.9m high and 1.8m wide; the surviving part of the disturbed turf-covered mound averages 0.9m high.

The grave and possible small cist are as described although only the tips of the slabs protrude through the turf.

The south-west side of the mound has been completely eroded away by the coastal footpath which has cut through the kerb. The end stone of grave is now almost completely exposed and further damage will occur if the mound is not consolidated and the parth re-routed.

Published 1:2500 survey amended.

It is suggested that this barrow be scheduled.

Sadly the suggestion that the path be re-routed and barrow scheduled has not been taken up.

Salakee Down Stone Circle (SV9250 1032)

Vivien and Robert Seaney, writing in Meyn Mamvro 84 (Summer 2014), refer to a book they found in the Archives at St Mary’s library: “Antiquities Historical and Monumental of the County of Cornwall” (1754) by William Borlase and its reference to a lost stone circle on Salakee Down, together with a plan of the site.

Part of the circle is formed by a “Great Stone” with “13 basons” on its top. Borlase depicts the stone in an engraving and describes it as over 7 feet tall, with a girth of 40 feet. The Seaneys located this stone and next to it found a flat area of exposed rock, which they believe is the location of the lost stone circle. They commented that the smaller stones shown in Borlase’s plan have disappeared, leaving only larger earthfast stones.

Full details of their findings are set out in Meyn Mamvro 84. Meyn Mamvro

In addition to the main V-shaped fort mentioned in pure joy’s miscellaneous post, there is a further defended headland on the Kelseys, overlooking Porth Joke at SW 76855 60709. It isn’t shown on Ordnance Survey 1:25000 mapping, but is scheduled along with the larger site.

list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1020026&searchtype=mapsearch

Descriptions of the cairns at Pentire Point East from the National Heritage List for England:

The monument, which falls into three areas of protection, includes three round cairns situated on the coastal headland dividing Fistral Bay from Crantock Beach. The cairns are arranged in a west to east linear alignment and survive as circular stony mounds, two with retaining kerbs. The westernmost is on the tip of the headland and has an outer retaining stone kerb measuring up to11.4m in diameter; an inner cairn of up to 0.8m high; and a possible stone-lined cist to the north east defined by three large slabs of slate. A concrete platform, bench and the base of a signpost have been erected on the mound and are excluded from the monument although the ground beneath these features is included. The central cairn mound has an outer retaining kerb and measures up to 12m in diameter and 1m high. On the centre of the mound a bench has been erected, and there is the base of a signpost on the east side by the kerb. These features are also excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath them is included. The eastern cairn mound measures up to 23m in diameter and 1.5m high.

Cairnfield of small cairns, presumably clearance cairns in the main.

Coflein/RCAHMW suggests it may be post Medieval, but Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust have assigned a Bronze Age date. The site is certainly very similar to other Bronze Age cairn-fields in South Wales.

There is one possible funerary cairn at ST0276794150, described by GGAT as:

“Cairn in Carn y Wiwer cairnfield. Roughly circular with flat top, much better marked than other cairns in the group. Edges grass-covered, but the top has been denuded of vegetation (probably through placing of black plastic on top) revealing a mass of small pieces of sandstone (0.1m) set in dark earth. Dimensions: 5.7m diameter, c0.3m high.”

Coflein description:

Well-preserved ring cairn c. 12.7m diam, composed of a bank of boulders c. 1.5m wide x 0.3m high. Sited on gently S-facing slope with principal view SW down Usk valley, c. 100m NE of prehistoric hut settlement. Largely turf and billberry covered

A cairn of uncertain age, but Coflein suggests it may be prehistoric:

Situated on the summit of the ridge above the Nant yr Ychen and the Grwyne Fechan. Stone built and roughly circular on plan, measuring about 8m in diameter and up to 0.5m in height. Probably a routemarker, but some stones eroding out of the vegetation suggest that it could be older than post medieval. The cairn has a deep hollow, presumably the result of antiquarian investigation or robbing. The resulting spoil now forms the walker’s cairn that overlies the south-east side.

It didn’t grab my attention as I passed it.

Group of round barrows on the eastern slopes of Morgan’s Hill, running roughly parallel with the much later Wansdyke earthwork.

Only three of the multiple barrows listed on Pastscape and the six shown on the OS 1/25000 map are visible at ground level.

The OS 1/25000 shows two further barrows to the north, centred on SU034672, but these appear to have been ploughed out.

As well as the large cairn visited by Carl, there is a hard-to-find ring cairn to the NNW at ST13619105. Coflein has the following description:

Almost circular cairn rim on ground which slopes NW, thereby ruling out the possibility of it being a hut circle. There are a few large stones in the interior. condition=Near Destroyed

Ring cairn or robbed round cairn consisting of a ring bank 1.5m-2.8m wide and 0.4m high, 13.4m ext. diameter, with a break in the NW quadrant (1967). By 1979 the cairn was already enveloped in dense conifer plantation and by 1991 neither the ring cairn nor its neighbouring small mound could be reached.

There are two cairns here. The northern one (ST10489223) is as described in Carl’s fieldnote.

The southern one (ST10509215) is smaller. Coflein:

On open moorland, is a grass and bracken covered stony mound, diameter 7.0m, height 0.6m. A probable cairn. Discovered during field investigation (OS).

There is also a recumbent stone (natural?) lying a little to the north of the northern cairn, as the ground starts to slope away.

Linear-ish group of cairns on the Senghenydd Ridge. Coflein descriptions for each (west-east):
Cairn A (ST10479193)

measures 9m diameter, 0.7m high on the SE, 0.1m on the NW. The centre has been dug out to ground level. Uncertainly a round barrow; if it is the location looks unusual.

Cairn B (ST105920)

measures 15.2m in diameter and 0.6m high. The ring-like perimeter measures 1.5m-1.8m wide, possibly an integral part of construction but possibly a feature of erosion.

Cairn C (ST10529204)

measures 17.1m in diameter and 0.9m high. The pronounced ring-like rim measures 2.1m-2.8m wide and 0.3m high.

Coflein description of what may be a fortuitous natural stone setting, or something more exciting:

Two large earthfast slabs on north facing slopes of Twyn-y-gwynt, standing some 6ft tall. It is uncertain whether these represent natural outcropping rocks, or remnants of a deliberate prehistoric structure – perhaps a collapsed Neolithic burial chamber. Some 26m north-east are two large recumbent slabs, one partly grass covered, the other lying partly on top of it. These slabs give the appearance of a toppled prehistoric structure but again, the antiquity or origin of these slabs cannot be ascertained without further investigation. The sites were first noted and reported to the NMRW by Mr Graham J Oxlade, Pontypridd.

Coflein has the following:

A centrally disturbed round cairn, 8.5m in diameter and 0.5m high.

Several tumuli on ‘Eglwysilan Common’ were opened in 1753, when a number of urns containing burnt bones were found in stone cists, condition=Damaged.

Coflein is somewhat non-commital on this site. The site type is “ring barrow?“, the description refers to hut circles.

They have a picture, though:

coflein.gov.uk/images/l/EGL2012_136/

Not just a cist, but a cist in the centre of a cairn circle (or very denuded kerbed cairn). And exciting finds were found there.

Coflein:

Eight stones, up to 0.5m high, define a kerb circle, within which is a cist, 1.6m by 0.6m.
Excavation, in 1830, which recovered burnt bone and ‘bronze buttons’ is thought to have removed the body of the cairn.

This cairn is not marked on O/S 1:25000 mapping which seems odd as it’s on a path close to the Beacons Way path. It is however in an area rich with Bronze Age monuments, several of which (Upper Neuadd cairns, Cribyn) are intervisible with the cairn.

Coflein description:

A stone cairn on the steep west-facing slope of Tor Glas. It is roughly 6m in diameter and 0.50m high situated on a slight terrace. On the northwest side the cairn had a possible edge or kerb to it but grass covering the edges obscured the detail.

Two closely-spaced earthworks alongside The Ridgeway, Norchard Beacon.

Coflein descriptions:

Castle Park (west) (SN07030030)

The N and E sides of a possible subrectangular hillslope enclosure, c.40m in extent. A terraced track has been associated with the site.

Castle Park (east) (SN0762000204)

1. Earthworks of two relict field boundaries, occurring in single current field, c.160m across: the S earthwork, a curvilinear SW-ESE bank/scarp set above ground falling to the N, corresponds to a boundary depicted on OS County series (1890); the more N feature appears to be an E-W scarp, or lynchet, not incompatible with irregularities n current field boundary.

2. Aerial photography on 11th Jan 2006 confirms that earthworks are remnants of a denuded hillfort or defended enclosure, with an inner, oval defended enclosure crossed by an east-west boundary and partly fossilised on its south-west side by a field boundary, and a wider-spreading arc of bank to the north, formerly describing an outer defended enclosure or annex. The remains are consistent with the place-name.

Group of four round barrows, near a couple of nearby defended enclosures, on the top of an west-east ridge alongside a road/track known as The Ridgeway. Somewhat crude excavation techniques were used...

Coflein descriptions of the barrow group (west-east):

Bier Hill IV (SN06980009)

One of four barrows upon Bier hill excavated 1851-1859 (see Nprn305116, 305117, 305119), 35m in diameter and 1.4m high, in which were found human bone, ashes and sherds of a cinerary urn.

Bier Hill III (SN07020010)

measures 26m in diameter and 1.6m high. In 1851 gunpowder was used to open a cist within the barrow, smashing a skeleton lying beneath the capstone.

Bier Hill II (SN07100009)

The smallest of four barrows upon Bier hill (see Nprn305115), 18m in diameter and 0.4m high, a ‘food vessel’ was recovered from the mound in 1851.

Bier Hill I (SN07280007)

27m in diameter and 1.6m high, BA pottery and flint chips were recovered in the 1850’s. There are no indications that the mound has been used as a beacon.

Coflein information about the drowned forest and assorted footprints:

An extensive peat deposit which was uncovered by exceptionally high tides during the winter of 2009-10. In the surface of the deposit a number of footprints were visible, both of human and animal form. Many of the footprints were quite confused, suggesting that people were milling around on the edge of what would have been a wetland area bordering a lake or lagoon in the Bronze Age. Some distinct sets of tracks of human and animal origin were also determined. In particular, foot prints appearing to be of red deer were clearly recorded.

On 24th June 2010 the RCAHMW laser scanned the surface of the deposit in conjunction with Deri Jones and Associates, allowing a complete and objective recording of the extent of the deposit and footprints to be made.

Radiocarbon 14 dates suggest 6150+/-120BP, 5300+/-100BP (OXA-1378, OXA-1412), calibrated to 5400-4750 BC, 4350-3940BC. Artefacts recovered from the northen end of the beach include 36 flint tools from a level of ‘1ft deep in red clay drift’ and the Lydstep pig. Contemporary sketches of the find from Tenby Museum show that a stone arrow head was found in the pig’s shoulder. The surface of one part of the peat exposure was laser scanned by RCAHMW staff in 2011 working with staff and volunteers from Dyfed Archaeological Trust.

Pastscape info for this oval fort situated above the England/Wales border.

pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=65991

NB: The fort is inside a rifle range.

Formerly an extensive settlement of at least 8 roundhouses, only three now remain. Finds indicate a continuation of occupation into the Roman period.

The name appears to translate as something like “Bridge of the blue causeway”(?)

Further details of the site at Coflein.

A possible cairn lies in a very steep-sided valley. Canmore:

A cairn or a possible building (NOSAS site survey number 995) appears as a stone spread bounded by a straight edge along one side. A dyke previously recorded at this approximate location was not found.

Another nearby feature previously thought to be a burial cairn is now thought to be natural:

(NH 25689 53568) A natural feature previously thought to be a burial cairn forms a prominent landmark on the otherwise flat valley floor. There are two small buildings cut into its S side which are likely to be associated with the adjacent township

A third possible cairn lies to the WNW at NH 222 553.

Cairn, cairnfield, hut circle and a nearby cist at Bruachaig.

Canmore details:

Culaneilan cairn (NH 0375 6258)

This cairn, which is situated on a terrace at the foot of a slope, measures 7.7m in diameter by 0.6m in height. Its perimeter is defined by a kerb of boulders.
On the sloping terrace to the N, there is a partly robbed hut-circle, measuring 8.5m in diameter within a stone-faced bank about 1.3m in thickness and 0.4m in height. It is robbed of stone on the E and a gap has been cut through on the W.

Culaneilan settlement (NH 0371 6255)

This hut-circle, which lies to the N of a burn on moss-covered terrace, measures 9m in diameter within a wall of boulders 1.5m in thickness. There is an entrance on the SE marked by a dip in the bank and two external boulders set about 2m apart. The hut-circle is surrounded by sinuous stony dykes and small cairns.

Bruachaig cist (NH 0400 6219)

A short cist, containing a beaker was found in July 1898 at Bruchaig, Kinlochewe. The two flags covering the cist were at ground level.

Mrs. MacKenzie of Gairloch has lent the beaker to the National Museum – L.1963, 29. Other short cist burials seem to have been found in the district as Dixon records that “...an ancient burial-place was discovered some years ago at Bruchaig... where the bodies had been buried in a doubled-up position.”

Mrs. MacKenzie confirmed the position of the cist at Bruchaig, which is now in ruins. Nothing is now visible at the spot nor have further burials been found.

A stone ball was found in or around this site, and appears to have been kept by Mr MacKenzie’s nephew, Roderick, at his house. The ball was handed to Gairloch Heritage Museum after Roderick’s death circa 1986.

A cist lying in the valley next to the River Bran. The cist was destroyed during road straightening, but added to TMA as it provides a tantalising hint that the apparent dearth of prehistoric occupation in these highland valleys is probably illusory.

Canmore has the following:

A short cist containing a beaker burial was found, late in July 1959, during road straightening through a natural morainic hillock.(W G Bannerman, County Road Surveyor) Only a piece of charcoal was found with the beaker which is in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS)

Possibly a long barrow, possibly nothing more than a natural mound disturbed by chalk digging. Pastscape has the following:

The remains of an elongated E-W mound, much cut about at both ends by stone-diggers, situated about 1/4 mile west of the monument. Perhaps the remnant of a long barrow. Calne Without 1 – a doubtful long barrow almost destroyed by flint diggers. Orientation E-W?.

Old diggings have resulted in large pits surrounding and encroaching upon what appears to be an E-W mound 0.6m. high. This assumes that the slight ledge or berm between the mound and the quarry faces represents the original land surface. If it is a long barrow both ends have been destroyed. The original authority for identification is obscure, but Grinsell may be incorrect in virtually dismissing it. 1:2500 survey revised.

The Ordnance Survey 1/25000 (Explorer) shows four barrows on the western knoll of the Cherhill Down ridge, poised above steep slopes. Three are apparent on the ground.

Pastscape has the following:

Calne Without 2, 2a, 2b and 2d.
2 – SU 03836939 – a bowl barrow 27 x 1ft (’A’)
2a- SU 03846933 – a bowl barrow 24 x 1ft. (’B’)
2d- SU 03936924 – a bowl barrow 27 x 1ft (’C’)
2b- SU 03856937 – a saucer barrow 53ft x 1ft overall (’D’). (2)

Calne Without 2a and 2d are small ditchless bowl barrows 0.6m high.
2b is a saucer barrow. The mound is 0.4m high and the bank 0.3m high.
‘E’ At SU 03936936 is a circular depression 1.7m deep surrounded by a bank 11.0m high. It has the appearance of a pond barrow but is not mentioned by Grinsell in V.C.H.

Calne Without 2 cannot be traced but from its position on a steep chalk scarp it would seem unlikely to have been a barrow.

The Bronze Age round barrows described as Grinsell’s Calne Without 2a (`B’), 2b (`D’), and the pond barrow (`E’) are visible on aerial photographs. `B’ is visible as a mound and surrounding ditch with a diameter of 10m. `D’ is visible as a mound possibly surrounded by a ditch, surrounded by a ring bank which appears to have an external ditch and has an overall diameter of 10m.

Round cairn on the summit of Easter Head, the northern headland of Dunnet Head, making this presumably the most northerly prehistoric site in mainland Britain. Sadly the cairn has been covered by a modern viewpoint seating area.

Canmore’s successive listings tell the story:

This is a small cairn of low elevation with a diameter of approximately 16ft. A surveyor’s cairn has been erected on the top.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910.

The much mutilated, grass-covered remains of this cairn survive to a maximum height of 1.5m and measure some 12.0m in diameter. The cairn has been flattened on top where a modern concrete building has been built. Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (R B), 23 May 1965.

This roughly circular cairn, 12m in diameter and about 1m high, has been badly damaged within the last two years by the superimposition of a ‘scenic viewpoint’.
C E Batey 1982

There are two contrasting man-made monuments to see here, a cairn and improbably sited hut circle, as well as Nature’s own efforts in the form of some serious shakeholes.

The name is a bit obscure, as “Wydden” appears to have several different meanings. The most likely for a place-name element seems to be “tree”, although generally it means that in the context of particular species, e.g. onn-wydden = ash tree; ffynidd-wydden = fir tree, whereas a non-species specific tree would usually be “coed”.
However, a more interesting translation is “wood spirit”, as in Bodelwydden (“Home of the Wood Spirit”).

Hopefully someone who speaks Welsh can confirm or otherwise!

If it is “tree”, the name would be something like “Small pit of the tree” (there’s a non-“fach” version a little to the north, with a waterfall).

Pwll-yr-Wydden Fach cairn (SN82921508)

A cairn is located between two shakeholes.
It measures 10m in diameter and 0.5m high and is composed of loose small grade stones with some larger stones. The edge of the mound is grassed over. On the north-west lies a large slab and at the centre is a hollow 1.5m across and 0.3m deep.

Pwll-yr-Wydden Fach hut circle (SN82891510)

The hut circle is located at the bottom of a shake hole. Internally it measures 3.2m north to south by 2.8m and is bounded by a low stone wall of roughly coursed slabs and blocks. The wall measures 0.6m thick and survives to a height of 0.6m above the rubble strewn interior. On the west is a well marked entrance flanked on each side by boulders; they measure 1.1m and 1.3m long respectively and are separated by a distance of 0.45m.

Two cairns at the southern end of the Cefn Mawr ridge, to the east of the Gwys Fach and (in the case of the northern cairn) intervisible with Llorfa menhir. Coflein descriptions:

Cwm Fforch-wen (SN78861400)

Situated on the crest of a ridge lies a disturbed cairn. It consists of a stony mound measuring 7m (NE-SW) by 6m and 0.3m high. Towards its SW edge lies a slab, embedded in the cairn, which measures 1.6m long, 0.2m thick and with a height of 0.3m above the mound. Aligned NW-SE, the slab is perhaps the remains of a cist.

Llorfa round cairn (SN78731379)

A small cairn lies on roughly level ground on the broad crest of a ridge, a short distance from field walls and sheep folds. The turf covered mound, topped with loose stones, measures 4m in diameter and about 0.4m high. On the immediate N there is a broad band of stones which appears to demarcate the relatively clear ground to the S from the more stony ground to the N.

Description of the site, on Roborough Down next to the Plymouth – Yelverton road (A386):

Early Iron Age Camp.

The camp is formed of circular earthworks; there is no evidence of any stone being used. The outer bank is 100 yards in diameter, the smaller one, or Keep, 100 feet across. To the south the inner bank is still further protected by a sickle-shaped breastwork or agger. The camp is approached by two embanked ways, one from the main road, the other going north east from the camp, crossing both the Buckland road and the main Plymouth-Tavistock road, and can be traced to the south-eastern end of the golf links. The inner bank has been heavily planted with hawthorns and may well have been used as a pound for stray animals. There is also a small secondary earthwork, 50 feet in diameter, across the road opposite the banked trench, and a long embankment. The camp was almost certainly used as a beacon; on Spry’s 16th century map of Plymouth Leat it is marked as Rowben Beacon.

The air photograph shows Saunders’ map to be conventionalised. The inner enclosure, “The Keep”, is not concentric with the outer rampart but lies to the east of its centre : within it appears to be two small circular enclosures with a rectangular enclosure against their north west sides. The “breastwork” appears to be earlier than the outer rampart and to have extended, formerly, to the west where there is a trace of a low bank. The “embanked trench” does not appear to extend beyond the road at SX 50676421.