Looking towards the site of the Rhos-y-Gelynnen stone row
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
Having incorrectly assumed the cairn would crown the ‘summit’ of Gurnos... I then incorrectly assumed it would be located upon one of the radiating rocky ridges... but no.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Now The Elenydd, that wild ‘Green Desert of Wales’, has perhaps more than its fair share of wondrously obscure prehistoric sites... however, this is arguably as obscure as they come: not only is it not indicated upon OS mapping... not even Coflein have been able to locate it, to date:
“Place name ‘Gurnos’ mutated from Gyrnos. Translates as ‘place of cairns’. At time of field visit no cairns found in immediate area, however area of rocky outcrop on E slope & top of Gurnos has numerable possible iron age features.(RSJ 2000)”
To be fair, it IS rather difficult to locate, being exactly where one would not expect it to be, about a half mile SW of the Rhos-y-Gelynnen stone row. The effort – extreme effort if, like me, one foolishly decides the direct approach from below to the south ‘won’t be that bad’ – is worth it, however: the cairn is pretty substantial, well preserved... and appears to feature the remains of an internal cist. Furthermore, the vibe is sensational.
Clearly the remains of cist/chamber of some description.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Quite a lot of internal structure is still evident for such an obscure site...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Not indicated upon OS mapping, I, therefore, neglected to visit this pleasing monument when checking out the large Lluest Aber Caethon ‘mound’ and cairns upon Esgair Beddau a few years back now. Still, better late than never...
OK, the conditions were not ideal, but the ethereal ambience overlooking the abandoned farm below was nevertheless just what the doctor ordered. Quite a lot of internal structure is still evident for such an obscure site...
Coflein reckons:
“7m outer diam, Disturbed. Central area robbed, Mudstone & quartz stones thrown aside. Central cist intact but exposed. Uprights in position. Alignment N-S. Central hollow approx 3-4m diam(RSJ 2000)”
Boy did they try... but they couldn’t destroy the ‘sense of place’ of this one....
Pretty ironic that perhaps the largest monument in the area is the one no one can see… or almost no one.
Looking approach SW towards a quartet of other Bronze Age cairns.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Looking across the monument into the fastness of ‘The Green Desert of Wales‘
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
From this angle, the prehistoric ancestry is pretty obvious.... Llan Ddu Fawr rises beyond. This is a fabulously obscure, wild area.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The ‘marker cairn’ sitting upon the (probable) prehistoric footprint. Bryn Dafydd lies beyond.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The summit ridge looks rather benign from the Cambrian Way. Don’t be fooled like a muppet.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The highest point of the narrow summit ridge of Domen Milwyn (1,821ft) is annotated upon current OS mapping with ‘Cairn’, albeit sans antiquarian typeface, this no doubt a reference to the substantial marker cairn seen from afar. Nevertheless, a closer look by those willing and able to make the rather taxing trek from Cwmystwyth will reveal a small, embedded footprint underlying the modern construct... to these (now rather experienced) eyes, pretty conclusive evidence of prehistoric ancestry.
Indeed, The Dyfed Archaeological Trust note: “Possible Bronze Age round barrow. Status unconfirmed.” Bear in mind that, since the neighbouring peaks also possess their own Bronze Age monuments, the context is also right on the money. Clearly, what we have here crowning these unfashionably obscure hills is a pretty extensive Bronze Age cemetery. Who would have thought it?
In the Citizen Cairn’s view, this unassuming remnant of our ancient heritage makes as fine a focal point as one could wish for when out and about in the hills of Mid Wales. Seekers of space and solitude will find it here. Yeah, despite being (quite literally) crossed by ‘The Cambrian Way’ long-distance path, I saw no one all day... notwithstanding it being a very hot June.
I did, however, receive a veritable lashing from a rather ‘extended’ summer shower during the ascent... not to mention one or two whilst enjoying a likewise extended sojourn on-site, lost within the melodrama of the all-pervading silence. The views to be had are first-rate, although those to the south penetrating the vastness of ‘Wild Elenydd’ may be too uncompromising for some tastes? If you do choose to come – and I believe the rewards are immense – please don’t take this landscape lightly.
The swirling hill fog which paid a visit at one point eventually moved on to leave a fine afternoon. Nevertheless, I kept my compass bearing at the ready, just in case. These are NOT hills to be caught out in mist.
The seriously overgrown summit – just the thing for that hayfever
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The ‘post’ is presumably the remnants of a long since demised tree.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
A good way to start the day, fresh – or not so fresh – from the long drive from Essex.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
First stop of what turns out to be a seriously FULL day exploring the many sites in the immediate locale.... and quite a good, upstanding hors d’oeuvres, if the truth be told. So much so that in any other situation I no doubt would have stayed for several hours. Quality vibe and substantial, if overgrown, cairn. Yeah, I do discern evidence of stonework within the thick, grassy mantle... so let’s go with that.
Coflein reckons:
“Reported both as a round barrow and a cairn. Excavated in 1924, uncovering a stone kerb and yielding 16 fragments of urn”. [J.Wiles 12.02.02]
Access is easy since the (very) minor road passes close by.
Main monument from the northern...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The northern-most cairn.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Looking approx south from the summit of the main cairn. Crugyn Amlwg and Crug-y-Bedw reside upon the wind farm-clad hill upon the skyline. There are many other monuments in the locale.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Main monument, with the denuded norther to its left.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The pretty upstanding main monument... with an additional, lesser pair to the south (right)
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Almost – but not quite – visited when I last ventured this-a-way in April 2019, one of those peculiar event associations with a particular tune (in this case Ladytron’s ‘Figurine’) ensures the quartet of cairns said to reside here niggle away at the back of the mind.... until, well, here I finally am.
First things first, it has to be conceded that the location is not (now, at any rate) classic, the cairns standing beside a transmitter station featuring, as these places tend to do, a couple of large antennae. Furthermore, the terrain surrounding/separating the monuments is churned to buggery, with sundry farm detritus adding to the sense of ‘couldn’t give a shit land’. Shame on all those responsible, should they have the brains to appreciate anything at all.
It, therefore, comes as a welcome surprise to find the cairns themselves are in relatively good nick, the pick of the bunch that bearing an OS trig pillar at SN5348039490. This, Coflein notes, represents:
“One of a group of four cairns, aligned NNE-SSE, at c.35m intervals across formerly open, high moorland, 22m in diameter & 1.9m high, having a flat top set with an OS trig. pillar: formerly marked the meeting point of three parishes (Llanybyther, Llanllwni & Llanfihangel Rhos-y-Corn).” [J.Wiles 03.09.04]
OK, the most northerly monument is pretty ravaged, having been extensively’ hollowed-out at some point in the past, but the accompanying pair to the south of the main monument are still pretty upstanding. Factor in the sweeping views to the north-west across the Teifi and, dodgy surroundings notwithstanding, this remains a good place to be
Whether ring cairn, very denuded round cairn... or ‘enclosure’, certainly worth stopping off.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Note the arc of the ‘bank’ right, foreground
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
A little under a mile to the approx northeast of the wondrous Crugyn Amlwg, this equally impressive (and overgrown) round cairn is much easier to visit, being but a short distance from the road and serviced by a ‘parking area’. Hey, it’s even signposted from said facility – although that’s not to say we’re talking ‘honey pot’ site here... far, far from it.
High summer, naturally, is not the optimum time to come if one wishes to avoid industrial-strength bramble and other troublesome vegetation. However, given the sheer volume of obscure sites waiting to be seen within Mid Wales, such advice is no doubt superfluous. Take your opportunities when you can, I say...
Coflein reckons: “A centrally disturbed, circular mound, 12m in diameter & 1.5m high”. [RCAHMW AP965050/65 J.Wiles 01.10.03]
So, c5ft high? Seemed more to me, to be fair
Possibly the (quite literally) hidden jewel in the area’s crown, this large round cairn slumbers – out of sight, out of mind – within forestry now the location of a wind farm. Coflein, to be fair, doesn’t give much to go on:
“A circular mound, c.32m in diameter, showing traces of disturbance” RCAHMW AP965050/64 – [J.Wiles 01.10.03]
Indeed, for me, it is the height of this substantial monument that is the salient factor here. One is left imagining what the scene would’ve been like, sans the trees? No doubt sweeping views etc. As it is, however, the ‘forestry clearing’ vibe is pretty intense, the surrounding foliage obscuring the nearby wind turbines towering overhead.
I approached heading south from the minor road allowing access to Blaen Gwyddgny... good idea to bring along a 1:25k map since the forestry ride is pretty overgrown and obscure. But then it would be, wouldn’t it?
