elderford

Also known as Llywn y Fedwen after the nearby farmhouse.

Permission must be gained from the farmer before visiting.

His contact details may be provided by Glanusk Estate on which he is a tenant farmer (Glanusk Estate are the landowners of the nearby Fish Stone).

Those who are unprepared for a formal visit can spy the stone (About 14ft high) from the minor road which crosses the river Usk at the narrow medieval Llyndgynidr Bridge.

Before the bridge is a small cottage (with a public right of way marker) on the lefthand side of the road from here about two fields over the stone is clearly visible along the hedgeline.

If travelling in the opposite direction on the minor road on the southern side of Myarth Hill, the stone can be seen from this road after Gliffaes Hotel, but before reaching Llwyn y Fedwen farm (on the lefthand side).

It is reasonably easy to spot, apart from being approx 14ft high it is covered in white lichen.

The usual type of small Breconshire stone circle comprising of low stones.

Experts believe it to be late Bronze Age or in use for a very short time because of the looseness of some of the stones.

It is the only fully excavated stone circle in the old county. This work was carried out in the early 1940s shortly after the MoD took over the land. Since that time many of the stones have gone missing.

Until the discovery in 1994 of a stone circle further north, it was previously the most northerly of the concentration of stone circles in the western part of the old county.

The bleakness of the upland heathland makes the feel and views from Ynys Hir similar to those in the nearby Mynydd Bach and Nant Tarw examples, ie. wind, no trees, sheep, marshland.

To visit, as Kammer has posted below, will entail contacting SENTA (Sennybridge Training Area) for written permission. They do have a website, and parts of the firing range are being opened up to public access.

However, Ynys Hir will never be fully open as it is located in the central impact area (all ranges for safety purposes aim into the centre of the range).

The best time to visit is usually August when the range is least in use.

I had an excellent visit which involves:
Electronic security gates
Briefing (don’t pick anything up or try to talk to soldiers as you may become involved in an exercise)
Car pass
Having to use X Range Exchange to telephone back to HQ when I was on and coming off of the range.

The circle is a good 20min + drive away from where you have to sign in and pick up your car pass.

From X Range Exchange to the circle is a 10min + walk up an old unsurfaced track (muddy in wet weather).

Sadly, on my visit quad bike tracks were visible running through the circle.

Actually two long barrows in the same field.

These long barrows are part of the Black Mountains group of tombs.

OS map required

Permission to visited need from Ffostyll farm.

On unclassified road about 3km northeast of Talgarth.
Monuments are in a field to right and behind farmhouse.
Walk up a track a short distance.
Ahead are three gates on left, ahead and to right.
Take the one on the right.
Ffostyll South is visible ahead in the field.

This is the first time I have ever been intimidated by livestock. Rams, tupped or otherwise were in the field, and although content to urinate and growl around me when I was writing up fieldnotes for Ffostyll North, by the time I went back to Ffostyll South, one had decided he had had enough of me and then the other dozen or so took an interest. So be prepared if they are still there when you visit.

I know the idea of being threatened by sheep is amusing, but rams are quite large, and if they butt you onto the ground, they’ll probably keep doing it for a while. They do have impressive testicles mind, like badly inflated footballs.

Apparently if you leave them alone they won’t chase after you, but in my case they came up to me growling and dipping their heads and the only trees to climb there are the thorny hawthornes on the barrows.

Two long barrows 70m apart.

Partially excavated 1920-23.

There was once a round barrow nearby

Ffostyll North

The larger of the two, like Little Lodge, mature hawthorn trees up against the remaining stones causing root damage to the monument.

Measurements for the mound are given as 40m by 22m. It has been ploughed up to and livestock have had a go at it as well as previous excavations. A lot of stone scatter is present. It is orientated not far off west-east.

The is a surviving eastern chamber, consisting of five upright stones (no capstone) all around 1m in height and of similar lengths. The western and eastern sides of the chamber are comprised of two stones each, whilst the fifth stone is set traversely between the two pairs on either side, probably making it a blocking stone. The depth of the chamber is around 1.2m

The opposite end of the mound has many field clearance stones, some quite large which lie under the barbed wire fence which cuts up against the monument. Many of these must surely have once been part of the monument.

The centre of the mound has some very large and impressive flat stones, one which appears to be the broken halves of a large capstone. The measurements for these two stones are given as 2.7m long by 2.3m wide and 0.25m thick and the other 2.3m long by 0.9m wide and 0.12m thick.

To the southeast are four more. This is where my notes went to pot because of the rams, but I did write:
Front (west) about 1.3m apart two parallel ground breaking stumps about 0.4m long.
Mound f**ked, say 1m high.

Ffostyll South

My notes are abysmal for this one, as no sooner had I got onto the mound than I was intimidated off of it.

They read: mound higher nearly 2m. lot of small stone scatter from tiny to heavy.

However, measurements for the mound are given as 36m by 23m. Orientated northeast-southwest.

Towards the northern end are the visible remains of a single chamber comprising of seven stones. Four in a row making up the western side, two in a row making up the eastern side, and a single blocking stone set traversely at what remains of the north-eastern end of the chamber. Measurements for it are given as 3.3m by 1.2m. A large ‘covering slab’ at least 2.4m by 2.1m has been displaced to the south-west.

Failed fieldnotes

‘Prehistoric sites of Breconshire’, Children and Nash, Logaston Pr, states that permission to visit this long barrow is obtained from Trevithel Farm. It isn’t, the site is on land owned by Pipton Farm.

When I got there no one was in, but this is how you get to Pipton farm:

A479 at Three Cocks take the A4079 to Builth Wells.
Less than 1km, on the right is Pipton farm.

Pen-y-Beacon is on common land with open access (an OS map is helpful).

Located at the foot of Hay Bluff, about 5km south of Hay on Wye.
In Hay on Wye head west on the B4350, look out for a turning on the left signposted: Capel y Ffin. Take this turning.
Shortly afterwards when the road forks: take the left fork.
After about 4km when the road forks again: take the right fork.
If all is well you will cross a cattle grid in 100m.
When you reach the next fork in the road: take the right one.
When you reach the plateau on top of the hill, the stone circle is on your right beyond the car park area.

The car park area is bounded by a series of low stone blocks (to protect what remains of the stone circle from encroachment by parked cars). What appears to be a reasonable sized standing stone is clearly visible just beyond this area.

This is one of those sites where guides promote the view more than the quality of the remains of the site.
If you enjoy exercising the powers of imagination, this is the stone circle is for you.

Proved to be a circle in 1970. Guides state that 18 stones are visible in a circle of 30m diameter.

My notes read: one large stone, 1m high, broad yet thin edge on, leaning. Stone circle: go figure?

This is the stone on approach which gives the site the impression of a standing stone. Apparently it is the remaining half of a pair of stones set radially, which may indicate a ceremonial entrance/exit of about 1.5m.
The stump of the other radial set stone is visible. To its right in an arc I could find only three other low stumps.
To the left of the remaining standing stone I could find only two remaining stumps at ground level.

Infront of the radial pair (just inside the circle) are two fallen stones now almost submerged into the ground,neither is large.

Walking across the uneven, quarried and still heavily metal detected area for about 30m, away from the car park. There is a shallow arc of three stone stumps at ground level. I would imagine that it is this, which gave archaeologists the diameter of 30m for the circle.

It really does take a leap of imagination to visualise the circle from the evidence which is left on the ground.

Thwarted field notes:

Just off of the A438 at Clyro. One of the Black Mountains Group of tombs.

Travelling in either direction look out for the Texaco petrol station set back slightly from the road.
One of the exit/entrance sliproads goes past the entrance to Clyro Court Farm (there is a sign on the entrance).

Landowners were out and farmworker would not give me permission to visit.

Guides state that what is visible is a low mound and a few uprights. Indicating remains of single chamber and passage. Orientated in the direction of the valley southwest-northeast.

Nearby there once existed another long barrow: Clyro Long Barrow, but this has since been destroyed.

Chambered Long Barrow

Part of the Black Mountains Group of Tombs

OS map required

Permission to visit required from Little Lodge farm.
Although a public right of way does cross the field.

A438 from Brecon.
At Three Cocks take turning on right just beyond hotel signposted: Velindre.
Less than 1km later at the crossroads continue ahead do not turn right for Velindre.
Around 1km later (the first building you reach) is the Little Lodge farm on the right.
The barrow is in the field before the farmhouse (on the right). Set back against the field boundary on the side of the field furthest from the house.
The barrow sits between two trees and is easy to locate.

This was the first of two long barrows I visited that day where hawthorn trees have been allowed to take root on the barrows causing extensive root damage.

Excavated in 1929.

Orientated north-south. The mound is in a cultivated field and is badly damaged. Many small cairn stones lie around the site. Measurements are given as 55.5m by 22m.

There is a chamber at the southern end (no capstone). Wedge box shaped, that is to say, narrower at one end and broader at the other. About 2m by 1.4m, consisting of five stones, all less than 1m in height. At the southern end, one either side up against the outside the chamber are two stones aligned west-east. I guessed at it being a forecourt of some kind, but according to the plan the one on the right is the remaining upright of another chamber which would have stood next to the remaining one, or in English: two contiguous chambers with one common side.

To the west of the chamber are three stones just breaking the surface. Archaeologists are unsure of their function.

The largest stone there, is a huge traverse slab towards the northern end, supposedly from the main chamber. It is almost 3m long, 1m high and 0.45m wide. To its east is a broken stump of a stone also arranged transversely. Further towards the northern end (covered in nettles) is another low slab, which according to the plan is the eastern side of a chamber. Apparently kerbing is visible at the northern end, but my summer visit co-incided with the height of nettle growth so I didn’t see it.

Well ruined, but enough remains to keep a visitor occupied, I like the guidebook which says ‘possibly a typical Severn-Cotswold type’.

Chamber Long Cairn

Part of the Black Mountains Group of Tombs

OS map required

In Hay on Wye head west on the B4350, look out for a turning on the left signposted: Capel y Ffin.
Take this turning.
Shortly afterwards when the road forks: take the right fork.
Proceed for about 3km until a footpath sign is visible on the righthand side of the road.

(After this the road goes sharply to the left and up hill to the nearby Penyrhenallt farm. If you reach the farm you have gone too far).

Cross over the stile, keep to edge of field and monument is ahead 100m, visible from road.

Almost, if not on, a public right of way.

At first all that seems to remain is the long box like chambered created by the four upright stones, but if you do visit in the summer when the nettles are high, it is worth having a look around the mound as there are other stones still in situ.

Excavated in 1920-21.

Main Chamber of four uprights, is about 2m long by 1m across. All four stones are a little less than 1m in height. There is no capstone. Packing stones visible.

Mound: described as pear shaped of approximately 18.5m in length. When visiting it, the monument is now closely bounded in by field boundaries and nettles abound so it was difficult to pace it out as the mound is also now low in height. Orientated southeast-northwest.

There is the remains of a small chamber towrds the north-eastern end of the mound. Three low stones (less than 0.3m) arranged in right angles to form the plan of three sides of a rectangle. Many smaller stones lay jumbled around them.

Black Mountains group of chambered long cairns.

A 479 Up over the Black Mountains, from Talgarth to Crickhowell.
Not far from the hamlet: Pengenffordd.
Views of Castell Dinas hillfort from the road (access possible but a steep 100m climb).

From Talgarth heading to Crickhowell:
Take the first ‘real’ road on the left after Pengenffordd.
100m or so on right over fence in field you can see the grass covered cairn.
The field drops away and the building you can see is Tyisha farm, where you need to ask permission.
Several dogs running around loose, but farmer nice enough.

I was a bit disappointed with this because I have an illustrated copy of the excavations that were carried here, and I was aware that the back of the cairn has an unusual circular setting. Of course it was all filled in and left for the next 60 or so years. So it was another undulating lumpy mound with a stone here and there.

The impression of the site was also disappointing: two rusting farm trailers loaded with scrap wood next a large area of bare soil. The area of bare soil was where an earth mover had been used to clear a large area of ground either very close to or into the back end of the monument itself. Next to the cleared area was several pieces of Old Red Sandstone lying on the field (hopefully not from the monument).

The mound is 30m long by around 18m and less than 2m high. No visible kerbing. I couldn’t make out any horns, but these were found during excavation in 1938.

Close to a north-south alignment, with the false entrance to the north. Two protruding stones side by side indicate the false portal. Infront of these stones on the eastern side are two stones set one infront of the other at right angles to the portal stones, probably indicating a forecourt.

Proceeding along the top of the mound about 4m is another visible setting of stones, which appear to be a central chamber with no capstone, but referring to a plan of the site there was not one. So it has to be one of the side chambers. There is a further jumble of stones towards the back on the west side, but it is difficult to imagine their location according to the plan.

All in all, it is argued that it was a multi-phase monument, with possibly three phases of construction and use. It would have had horns in the Cotswold-Severn tradition, a false doorway or portal, two side chambers with passages, and most interestingly (though not visible now) a circular setting at the back. The circular setting was an oval cairn with a south-east facing passage and southwest-northeast orientated chamber (so the whole internal settings make a T shape).

OS map required as lots of puttering around on unclassified roads.

Black Mountains group of chambered long cairns. On open heathland.

The site is on the western side of the hill Mynydd Troed. With views down to the largest natural lake in Wales: Llangors Lake. If the weather is good you can see the tree covered man-made crannog (settlement built on an artificial platform of timbers) on the lake (there is no public access to it).
Ty Isaf chambered tomb is on the eastern side of the same hill.

Approaching from Llangors, take the road that goes past Ty Mawr farm and stay on it.
When the road forks take the right one.
If all has gone well you will pass a sign for a farm called Cockit.
100m ahead up a steep hill is a cattlegrid.
Proceed to the top of the hill and with any luck you are in a parking area.
To your right is the main haul up Mynydd Troed.
On your left is a gate, go through it.
Rather than take the main track up the hill, there is a fork to the right.
Look for the taller bracken mound amongst the shorter bracken just to the right of this track, say 100m from gate.

Usual stuff: impressive views, etc.

Cadw gives the measurements for the oval mound as 20m long and 16m wide and 1.5m high, and orientated north-northeast to south-southwest.

The term ‘recent historical disturbance’ is apt for it, as it would appear to have been quarried quite heavily. It was only discovered in 1921.

Visiting the site, there are a three stones poking up out of the ground; two of them set at right angles, which give the appearance of being a chamber with missing capstone. The stone appears to be Old Red Sandstone.

There are a few others stones poking up here and there across the undulating mound as well as a few big hollows, which may indicate where chambers once stood. These stones appear to have been set on edge as opposed to just lying about.

As always, worth a look in, but I wouldn’t visit it as a birthday treat.

Faux fieldnotes

A40 from Brecon travelling east to Abergavenny
At the hamlet of Llansantffraed (church which spire) turn right for Talybont.
Bridge over river Usk.
200m, turning on right for Gilestone Camping and Caravanning.
Proceed to farmhouse to ask for permission.

‘Prehistoric sites of Breconshire’, Children and Nash, Logaston Pr, gives the name of this monument as: Llwyn y Fedwen.

This is as far as I got as the landowner said no, but to come back another day.
A friend recently e-mailed them and they said it was no problem with access. So it’s worth a try.

Gilestone, is one of a several standing stones which follow the route of the river Usk. Most stones are large and on the northern bank, but this one (though large) is on the southern one

Measurements given for the stone are as follows: Height 2.97. Breadth 2.44m. Thickness 1.37m

OS map required as lots of puttering around on unclassified roads.

Black Mountains group of chambered long cairns.
Public rights of way pass the site, but ask permission to visit the farmhouse of the same name.

A479 from Talgarth to Crickhowell.
Take first unclassified road on right.
Ground begins to rise and after a righthand bend Penywyrlod Farm will be on your right.
Footpath goes around bottom end of farm, follow it to a stile with arrowed wooden signpost ‘burial chamber’.
Follow track along edge of field to another stile.
Two gates ahead, take one on left.
Monument visible at top of field.
Fence around it but access by gate towards the left end as you approach.

Tremendous. Usually my field notes are two pages in an A6 notebook, but I easily did three times as much here.

Size isn’t everything, but this is standing to a great height and is generous in length. Surprisingly the damage to it is rewarding because it has exposed so much of the internal settings. My only concern is that it looks in danger of collapse in places and may well be allowed to do so as it is not an over-restored famous named long cairn like Belas Knap.

The apparent plan is supposedly in the Cotswold-Severn tradition. At the end with the false portals a huge bite has been taken out through quarrying down to ground level revealing passages and chambers.

It was discovered only in 1972 and is the largest of the tombs in the Black Mountain group (55m in length by 25m across). Only the quarried area has been surveyed. The quarried area was used as hardcore for roads.

I think I cocked up my compass bearings, so I am unsure of the orientation. So for the sake of description the front is at the west and the back at the east.

South side: no kerbing visible, tree growth: holly and oak.

West end: signs of quarrying

North side: kerbing visible, much like a collapsing dry stone wall made of thin stones.

Quarried out section

Exposed passage and chamber on north side. Half of it has been removed, what is left is where the quarrying came to a halt. So in other words just the eastern half of the passage and chamber. Three large stones remain below a significant height of the cairn (up to 2m). The passage and chamber stones being overall around 4m in length. Set at right angles is the stone from the back of the chamber as well as one other at the opening to the chamber (a blocking stone?). Behind the blocking stone is another set into the walling of the cairn (both of these stones have split). The stones are around 0.6 – 0.7m high. Next to the stone at the back of the chamber is the remains of the stone from the western side of the chamber, giving an indication of the width of the passage, around 1m. Guides mention paving, but so much loose cairn material has fallen from the exposed face I don’t think what is visible on the ground is original paving.

Further towards the front on this empty side of the long cairn is the remains of a large tree stump. Underneath it is the remains of another chamber. Two parallel settings of stones indicating a passage width of say 0.8m. A stone set at right angles is behind the one on the eastern side, perhaps indicating the back of the passage or a blocking stone.

Southside internal

Set up high in the cairn is a length of capstone, around 1.5m, underneath which is a gap and set back around 30cm is a supporting stone set vertically beneath the capstone running almost the length of the capstone. This is much higher than the chambers on the northern side. Cairn is also built up above the capstone.

Towards the front end on southern side. Huge vertically set stone at right angles with cairn on either side, at least 2m high. This supposedly defines the portal, so everything to the right of it is internal and to its left a horn. It has walling above so it probably didn’t hold a capstone. Infront of this stone lying on the ground is another large stone, 2m by 1m which appears to be a fallen forecourt stone which may well have stood next to the stone still set into the structure.

Further towards the front of the long cairn on the horn is what appears to be a dislodged capstone, roughly circular say 1.5m in diameter.

Running across the front is walling, quite low, and this makes me wonder if it had a blunt end rather than horns.

OS map required

This really is in the middle of nowhere on open moorland. Crossing several streams and it’s boggy.

Head out to the Usk Reservoir and use the car park just before the bridge Pont’ar Wsyg.
Follow the track beside river Usk in a southerly direction away from the reservoir.
After 200m or so of this the river forks. Cross the river and follow the right fork.
After 400m or so the river forks again. To your right is the Usk, on your left is the Nant Tarw. Cross the Nant Tarw.
Hopefully you are now between both rivers and ahead of you is rising land. Walk in a southerly direction keeping closer to the stream on your left (Nant Tarw) rather than the Usk on your right.
400m ahead you will hopefully reach a ruined (robbed) circular stone cairn. It is a good landmark and the stone is bare of grass and some 16m by 11m (0.3m in height).
The stone circles are over to the east of the cairn on a plateau.

Behind the hill you are walking along are two mountains (with dramatic scarps: Picws Du and Fan Brycheiniog). If you reach a point where the hill you are on is obscuring these two peaks: you have gone too far and missed the stone circles.

If you reach a point where you are having to cross several streams running down from the hill to the river Nant Tarw: you have gone too far and missed the stone circles.

At the top of the hill is a fence, so it is unlikely you will wander off and die of exposure on the Black Mountain (although there is supposedly a stone circle up there SN 823232 around 600m up Fan Brycheiniog).

It is worth considering when at the circles that if you stand facing north: in the wooded hill north of the Usk Reservoir are two standing stones; another two at the eastern end; another two stone circles (Mynydd Bach) on the hill beyond that just below Y Pigwn. To your right less than 2km away is the standing stone Blaenau Uchaf. Behind you 3km or so away is another stone circle (as previously mentioned, but I cannot find any information on it). Infront of you is a ruined stone cairn (antiquarian accounts indicate 5 or 6 erect stones once defined its circumference).

Nant Tarw consists of a pair of small Bronze Age stone circles 110m apart and intervisible with each other.

The western circle is the higher of the two, slight ellipse of 15 stones with a diameter of 19m. Stones vary in height from nothing to 1m. A guide states that there are entrance gaps at west and east, but because the stones are small and some missing it’s not that obvious. It is comprised of glacial boulders and Old Red Sandstone slabs.

Between the two circles is a large fallen stone 2.6m long by 1.5m wide.

The eastern circle is similar in size (slightly larger at 21m and also an ellipse) and has 18 visible stones. The stones vary in height from nothing to 1.25m, one of the fallen stones would have been higher than that. Again the guide I consulted suggests two entrance gaps, this time in the southeast and southwest sections. Similar stones used to the western circle

Many of the stones are very low. To give you a better idea, many of the guides state that the visiblity of stones is dependent on weather conditions on the ground and plant growth: we are not talking Avebury here by any means. It is a fair slog across open moorland and streams to reach the site.

That said on the day I visited the weather was fair, the scenery majestic and I had the mountains to myself all day. I did run out of water though, so be prepared to be self-sufficient when you’re out there.

OS map required

On Mynydd Illtyd 8km west of Brecon and 1.6km Southwest of Brecon Beacons National Park Mountain Centre.

Situated in the gap between the two halves of Glasfynydd Forest.

Middle of nowhere.

In ‘Prehistoric Breconshire’ by Children and Nash, Logaston Pr. the name of the stone is given as: Troed Rhiw Wen.

At the farm buildings Caerllwyn, head up the single lane tarmac track with a no through-road sign.
About 1km west go through a gate across the road, 200m later go through another gate.
Over the small bridge and through a gate into the yard of Blaenau Uchaf farm.
A bridleway runs up along side the farm house (access through a gate).
Follow the bridleway in an uphill curve to the left.
When near the top look into the field up to your left and the stone will be in the upper field 100m or so away.

The stone reminded me of a smaller version of Maen Mawr (6km or so to the south), a large block of sandstone stood on its longest side. It appears to be raised on a grass covered stone cairn.
(Dimensions given as: height 1.68m, breadth 1.3m and thickness 0.94m)

On open moorland upon a steep hill.

1km north of Cerrig Duon stone circle, or 8km south of Trecastle on mountain road headed toward Craig-y-nos. The stone stands up on a hill and is easier to see up on the left when headed in a southerly direction, rather than up on the right when headed north as it is set back 300m from the road.

On the side of the road is a stile, with Brecon Beacons National Park signage indicating ‘access to standing stone only’.

I am not convinced of the intervisibility between Waen Lleuci and Cerrig Duon, as there is a hill slope in the way.

The stone stands on a small plateau about 15m in diameter close to the field boundary. Broad blade shaped, very nearly 2m high and 1.5m wide, yet it is only 0.26m thick. The stone is aligned in a north-south direction and so can be considered to be pointing in the direction of Cerrig Duon. It is made of Old Red Sandstone.

OS map required

Middle of nowhere on an unclassified road between Trecastle and Craig-y-Nos

The road follows the river Tawe. At the point where both run along side each other, the stone circle is up on a plateau on the other side of the river (30m from the road). It is easier to see from the road if you are travelling from Trecastle (heading south), because the large stone (Maen Mawr) slightly to the north of the circle is reasonably easy to spot. Whereas heading from Craig-y-Nos (heading north) the plateau hides the circle.

You will have to cross the river on stepping stones and the monuments are on open moorland.

Cerrig Duon (the name translates as ‘Black Stones’)is a small Bronze Age stone circle, directly to its north is a large standing stone (Maen Mawr) and beyond that two small outliers, all aligned north to south. To the east is the river Tawe which also runs in this direction.

For those of you who love the super henges, all the stone circles on the Brecon Beacons are small in diameter with small stones and badly damaged, but with exceptional views.

Ynys Hir, is a single stone circle. Mynydd Bach is a double stone circle, as is Nant Tarw and Cerrig Duon is a single stone circle with a large standing stone outlier as well as an avenue.

The most impressive monument is Maen Mawr (translates as ‘Big Stone’) a large block of sandstone nearly 2m high, 1.3m wide and nearly 1m thick. Rectangular in appearance with an almost flat top.

Just to the south of it is Cerrig Duon. Not quite circular (Egged shaped) around 18m in diameter. It comprises of 22 stones. As usual all stones are small, with the tallest only reaching up to 0.6m. The stones are (Pennant) sandstone and slab-like.

To the east of the circle is the avenue, made up of even smaller stones (described in the CADW guide as ‘very small stones, which can be difficult to see…’). Around 5m apart, narrower at the end nearest the stone circle and headed in a Northeast direction. Guide books give the number of stones in each of the two rows as around 16, but I found them difficult trace beyond 6 or so. The CADW guide gives the total lengths of the rows as 42m and 25m (or 35m in another guide).

There is speculation that the avenue points to a nearby standing stone (Waen Lleuci), 1km to the northeast.

Access less than 1km south of Dan-yr-Ogof showcaves on the A4067.
On the road is a property: Nant Gwared Bungalow.
Behind it is Nant Gwared Farm, ask for permission here to visit Saith Maen (there is a bridleway, but signs on the road inform that it does not give access to the hill on which the monument is sited).
Then over the stile and up the hill, which is a short but steep climb over open moorland.
Just head for the top of the hill and Saith Maen will come into view on the summit.
Try not to fall in the very deep kettle hole next to the monument.

The name translates as Seven Stones. Of the seven stones two have fallen (the largest).
They are all of the same stone (carboniferous siliceous grit stone, apparently) except one which is Old Red Sandstone, which means it was either dragged there or was a glacial erratic.

The orientation is north-northeast by south-southwest.

The heights of the stones (including those fallen) range from 0.6m to 2.8m. Edge on (looking along the row) the stones present their thinnest sides. From in front or behind they show their broader faces.

CADW says:
heights
First stone (most northerly): 1.6m
Second stone (fallen to west): 2.3m
Third stone: 1m (sandstone)
Fourth stone: (fallen to east): 2.9m
Fifth stone: 0.8m
Sixth stone: 0.8m
Seventh stone: 0.7m

The length of the row is about 12m, the gaps between the stones appears to be a similar distance (around 1m).

Barber and Williams (1989) suggest that the alignment is pointing to the nearby stone circle Cerrig Duon, which is 6km to the northeast.

CADW also mention a possible outlier 7.9m to the southwest.

Beautiful views up there, but do take care as it is boggy on the track and the limestone outcrops, tough grasses and steepness of the hill can make the decent a bit ankle-bending.

OS Explorer OL 12 gives the name as Ty Elltud

Part of the Black Mountains group of chambered tombs(Severn-Cotswold type).

Heading out from Brecon on the A40 to Abergavenny.
Just after the end of the dual carriageway is the village of Llanhamlach.
Beyond this (before reaching the pub ‘the Old Ford’) is a turning on the left for Pennorth.
Take the turning, go past the first property on the left and continue until you reach a large farm on your right (all buildings plain grey stone, approx 700m from main road turn off).
This is Manest Court, and you should ask here for permission before visiting Ty Illtyd.

Opposite the entrance to the farm on the other side of the single track road is a field gate. Beyond this, pasture rising up the hill to another field gate. Beyond is the brow of the hill with a few trees on it. Head for the trees, because infront of them is the burial mound (it can be seen from the A40 at the Pennorth turning once you know where to look).

Illtyd was a local saint, and ty translates as house.

Great view of the Usk flood plain, with views of nearby Iron Age settlements (Slwch, Pen-y-Crug and Coed Fenni-fach, all to the west).

The mound is orientated north-south, with the chamber at the northern end. It has the shape of a long oval, the west side is badly plowed but does appear to give the impression of the remains of kerbing (thin flat stones) in places. It rises to around 2m and its length is given as 23m by 15.7m across at its widest point.

There is a large stone lying half buried halfway along the east side as well as a smaller one towards the back. I am aware of the large chamber being excavated, but I do not know if all of the mound has been. I am sure that if side chambers were present someone else would have mentioned it in print, whereas all the sources I have read just refer to a single main chamber.

The rectangular chamber consists of three uprights (sides and back) surmounted by a single large capstone (2m long by 1.75m width). In front of the chamber one on either side are low standing stones and in front of them is a large long stone, suggesting the remains of a forecourt of some sort (I couldn’t make out the remains of any horns).

The chamber is cramped, CADW gives the internal dimensions as 1.6m long by 0.9m wide and 0.6m high, so be prepared to crawl in and out through the mud and sheep excrement.

Of additional interest are the carvings (if you can find them, I just about made out 3 crosses and nothing else) inside the chamber: 60+ crosses and lozenges, two sets of dates in roman numerals and a lyre.

John Aubrey perhaps visited the tomb in the 17th century, making it the earliest known reference to a megalithic tomb in Brecknockshire: ‘…The Doctor caused it to be digged; and there rose such a horrid tempest of thunder & lightening, that the workmen would work no longer; and they sayd they sawe strange apparitions; but they found a cake of gold, which was of a considerable value. This was about 1612. From Sr Tho: Williams Baronet, Chymist to K. Charles II.’

From Brecon on A40 heading towards Abergavenny. The Stone stands on the verge of the road where the dual carriageway ends just before the village of Llanhamlach. It is protected by wooden fencing, now in a bad state of repair.

I have read that this stone may not be prehistoric, and I mention it here as it is less than 1km away from the Ty Illtyd burial chamber.

The stone is recorded on OS maps.

Square in plan and approx. 1m high. It looks promising on approach as the faces towards the road are eroded and weathered. However upon closer examination two of the edges appear to be neatly chamfered at 45 degrees. These chamfers also appear to show diagonal tooling marks.

I am assuming it is the remains of a preaching cross or boundary marker. It is well weathered and probably ancient, worth looking at and making up your own mind, if you are intending to visit the nearby burial chamber.

OS map required as it is on an unclassified road off of an unclassified road a little west of Cradoc, which is itself 2km or so northwest of Brecon.

Stands on private land, but the owner of the nearest house told me ‘everyone just goes up to it’. The land owner is somewhere in the village of Battle. If you do fancy trespassing the stone is visble from the road and less than a minute’s walk away from the gate that will let you into the field in which it stands.

The Battle Mound and Standing Stone, is one of a group of standing stones which stand on the north bank following the course of the river Usk.

Leaning slightly to the south, the Old red Stone megalith is covered in the pale green moss familiar to anyone who has seen the standing stones on Anglesey. It stands raised on a stone cairn, which is now mostly covered with grass. Square in plan, tapering slightly through weathering it is impressive to stand before.

A local archaelogical publication gives its dimensions as: Height: 3.96m, Breadth: 1.22m and Thickness 1.01m

OS Map required.

Be prepared to walk across several kilometres of open moorland. If you cycle it is up and up hill on the way there.

Two stone circles.

In the hills around 4km northwest of Trecastell/Trecastle.

From Brecon take the A40 to Llandovery; turn left at the far end of Trecastell. Head up the hill for almost 1km; take the first right and keep on going for 3km until the road stops at a gate (signposted ‘unsuitable for motor vehicles’).

Worthy of note: on the right is a tumulus with an OS triangulation marker on it (trig point 383m OD).

Continue on the track (as far as I am aware this is a Roman road) for around 1.5km.

The reservoir to your left is the Usk Reservoir; there are two standing stones close to the end you are looking at, but not visible from the track.

The track will rise and curve to the right, at this point up ahead to the right is the highest point; a hill called Y Pigwn (with a roman fort on the top). Look carefully along Y Pigwn, most of it is open moorland, but running up along its right hand edge is a fence, beyond which is the green grass of pasture land (there are also trees on it which can be seen against the skyline).

This is what you want to walk towards, at some point leave the track and wander in that direction, you shouldn’t get lost as you are headed toward the field boundaries along the edge of the moorland.

You should be walking across a gently rising saddle of land and the larger of the two circles should come into view first.

Neither circle is visible from the track.

In guide books Mynydd Bach is described as a ritual complex, because nearby are also the standing stones as previously mentioned, cairns and a round barrow.

The smaller of the circles has only four remaining stones, but it is possible to locate the empty sockets of a further four more which reveal it to be a small circular setting rather than a four poster. All the stones are leaning and less than 1m high. It is 8m in diameter.

A short distance to the northeast is the larger circle, it has 21 remaining stones, and pits suggesting 3 more. At the southeast is a jumble of larger fallen stones, which it is suggested may have been a ritual entrance (I suppose something like a small Swinside). There is a very slight rise in the centre of the circle. Like most Welsh circles, the stones are low, between 0.4 to 0.6m.

All stones, like most in this vicinity are given as being Old Red Sandstone.

There are some other stones close by: ‘Prehistoric Sites of Breconshire’ Children & Nash claim that the two circles are linked by 3 low stones, (which I couldn’t locate), whereas ‘Clwyd and Powys’ CADW Guide has an illustration that the stone setting is to west of the smaller of the two circles.

The CADW guide also mentions an isolated stone 3m long lying some 100m southeast of the larger stone circle.

It also mentions that the barrow is not visible from the circles.

A4215 from Brecon heading west to Defynog.

The stone is close by, but hidden from the road by hawthorne trees on the approach to a severe right hand bend indicated by black and white warning chevrons.

Before approaching the chevron markings up ahead, the road to your right will be tree-lined. there is a place to stop infront of field access gates. Walk towards the chevrons. The wedge shaped coppice on your right narrows as you conitnue towards the corner up ahead, just before the coppice ends you may well see a well worn gap between hawthorn trees leading to the stone.

The stone is on the other side of the coppice (only 3 to 4 metres away from your side) and should be visible through the trees. It is now incorporated into the field boundary, close enough for the fence to run directly infront of it.

Around 1.5m in height and quite broad, the stone reminded me of a grave stone in its dimensions, in particular as it has a broken curved top edge. Situated under the permanent shade of the trees the gravestone effect is added to as the stone has taken on a green colour.

OS map required.

On Myndd Illtyd approx 2km Southwest of Mountain Centre 1 standing stone. Situated on Traeth Moor Nature Reserve.

From Brecon: just before the cattle grid marking the end of the reserve is a pond. At the pond leave the single track road by heading left. follow the field boundary (you should end up leisurely curving around to end up walking back towards Brecon) and eventually the stone will come into view (5 minutes walking).

Just under 1m in height. Old Red Sandstone, but unlike the square Mountain Centre 1, this stone is more like a boulder, deeply eroded and pitted, much like the Rollrights.

OS map required

On public Moorland with numerous rights of way.

On Mynydd Illtyd, 8km west of Brecon and 1.6km Southwest of Brecon Beacons National Park Mountain Centre.

From Brecon, opposite the right turn for Blaengwrthyd Farm. Visible from single track road. Situated close to the field boundary.

The stone is square in plan, and stands just under 1m high. Gives the appearance of a broken stump, leaning towards the track. I believe it is made of Old Red Sandstone.

Near A40, 5km west of Brecon, Powys.

OS map required.

Public rights of way lead up to it.

Worth it for the view alone. It is worth bearing in mind when visiting that the tree covered hill across directly to the east also has a hillfort on it but that there is no public access to it.

Oval in shape, single bank and entrance, 112m across (east to west). Evidence of quarrying and perhaps the remains of a medieval stone foundations.

Mountain Centre Standing Stones 1 and 2 are nearby.

Disabled Access: There is a gate to the site for wheelchair users.

Disabled access: The road by which you gain access to the site goes through the circle. The site itself is a field on a gentle slope.

How to get there:
A595. Burl (A Guide to Stone Circles...) states that it’s 5 miles N of Millom. What you’re interested in is not the junction where the A5093 goes to Millom, but the unclassified road further to the east (via Lady Hall). At this junction there is a large church.
A little east of it on the other side of the road is a signposted junction for Broad Gate (which you are interested in taking).
Dyer (Discovering Prehistoric England) states “take the road to Crag Hall”. Just keep on keeping on a mile or two (past a small layby/passing point on your left) and you will pass the track (on your left) signposted “Swinside Farm: No unauthorised vehicles”, directly ahead on both sides of the road are grey farm buildings. This is Crag Hall, not so much a hall but a farm house.
Half a mile or so beyond it there is enough space to park a car or two off of the road at a bridge.
After walking back to the track for Swinside Farm, the sign also informs you that it is a public bridleway and that it leads to Swinside Stone Circle.
Follow the track, over two cattlegrids, when it reaches the top of the hill, look over to Swinside Farm and you will see the stone circle in a field close to the farm house.
If you’re feeling cheeky or disabled, there is a patch of bare gravel land just outside the farm house proper boundary wall which appears to have been used as parking space for visitors to the circle. That said there is still one more cattle grid to negotiate to gain access to the circle.

SO 029 303

If you’re in Brecon, Powys, well worth a visit. Great example of what you’d expect a hillfort to be.

Commanding the top of a hill, several concentric rings of banks and ditches, a single entrance and to the north a steep drop of over 100 metres.

It is easy to imagine defending the site and watching attackers having to deal which a succession of rising banks before reaching the scrap which in some places is still 5 metres.

Bracken abounds, but now (in February) it has died back but the wind is a bit cutting on the summit of the Crug.

To reach it: B 4520 north out of Brecon. This road rises all the way and as you approach the northern end of Brecon, take a left. As you continue to climb, on your left is a housing estate (Bron Y Crug and Maes Y Fynon), to your right trees followed by open countryside.

Just past a mini-roundabout there is some parking, infact all along this road there are no yellow lines.

I mention this approach because the walk begins at Maen-du Well, an ancient well, the site is now rundown and vandalised, but the spring is still there housed in an 18th century building of local stone. This is the nearest source of fresh water to the hillfort.

Behind the building is a stile, and it is simply a matter of walking up through the middle of the fields heading for the each stile in turn (about 6).

The Cadw guide for the region gives the total defended area as 182m by 134m. Nearby Slwch Tump is easy to spot, just look for the TV Antenae.

SO 057284

An iron age hillfort that is close to the centre of Brecon, Powys.

It isn’t a sensible idea to try and drive up to it as it is along a mud trackway. The site is pasture, so there shouldn’t be a problem with bracken, but if wet the track to it will be muddy.

A public footpath circles the site, I met a landowner/worker when I was off the path and he was friendly. From the B4602 it is a 15 minute walk to the site (all uphill).

B 4602, just to the north of the hospital is a public footpath on the right.
Take it, and when prompted by a sign for a Youth Hostel, follow that until you pass a TV Relay Station on your left.

Shortly afterwards you will come to a gate and stile, up and across the field is Slwch Tump.

It has a single scarp which the Cadw guide for the region states is between 3 and 4.6 metres high. there is no ditch or counterscrap. It is possible to walk completely around the site on the bank. More recent field boundaries divide the enclosed area of the hillfort.

Cadw guide gives the defended area as 242m by 187m.

The area inside the bank gently rises, there are signs of quarrying. Field entrances give the impression that it has two entrances, but the Cadw guide believes the original one to be the most northerly one.

“...the hill was formerly known as Penginger or Pen Cefn y Gaer, the hilltop ridge with the hillfort“.

Information taken from “Prehistoric Sites of Breconshire”, Monuments in the Landscape, vol 9. Children/Nash, Logaston Pr, 2001

Precise location: unknown, destroyed.

“...George Clinch remarks in 1854 that about 250 yards north-east of a medieval enclosure within St Margaret’s Park Wood is a flat, horizontal slab of limestone like the upright of a cromlech”

capstone 9m x 3m, in places more than 1.8m thick

1804 “...stone slab stood wholly free from the ground on certain upright stones, there is still at the west end of the slab, but at a slight distance from it, an upright stone, flat at the top, which may have originally been one of those on which it was supported. It seems probable that these may be the remains of a cromlech”.

Grid reference is given for a lime stone slab found on a recent visit, which authors believe may once have been part of the capstone. May represent the south-eastern limit of the Black Mountains Group.

SK 044128

The site is on the southern edge of Cannock Chase, and is reached by unclassified roads, which are well signposted (brown heritage signs).

Ample parking (25 or so spaces), but a popular spot with walkers and can get busy at weekends.

The highest point on Cannock chase (801 ft/244m above sea level) according to the guides 3.4 hectares.

The bank is extant and can be walked around the full circumference. The original (and largest) entrance is to the east. Parts of the bank and ditch are still impressive (up to 4m).

Internally: trees have been cleared, there are stone foundations (NW sector), but these are from a later period and ridges and furrows (SE sector) probably from ploughing, but I expect these are also from a later period. The ground rises upwards from the south to the northwest.

Externally: impressive series of banks and ditches, from the carpark heading in a anti-clockwise direction (E) we counted at least three banks, whereas Dyer (Discovering Prehistoric England) could make out five. As you make your way around to the north only the main bank and ditch remain, continuing back to the carpark (W) two banks and ditches are clearly visible.

We visited late january and the entrance from the carpark was waterlogged, I would imagine in spring/summer the ferns will be a problem. Also prepare yourself for the view of Rugeley Power Station’s cooling towers.

The carpark is just beyond the Park Gate Inn which serves food.

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There is a convenient layby just below the site on the B5056 at 229619.
Cross the road and over the stile and follow the track up the hill.
Keep an eye out on your left, for a slim, leaning standing stone in the hedge line. It’s not marked on the map, and upon closer inspection has a hole cut through it (as though to receive a bolt) and I would imagine it was once a gatepost.
Upon reaching the site, if you’re up for it, a direct assault is possible, but there is a path on the right hand side, which makes for an easier ascent around the back.
A wonderful natural landmark, fluid, eroded masses of stone, rising up to two stacks set either end of a horizontal top. It has a pleasing organic quality to it. Large boulders seemingly weightlessly leaning on one another and out into thin air.
Also lacking in official heritage status as there are no protective railings or warnings on it, and although you can’t fall more than twenty or so feet, please take care.
Great view down to the four stones of Nine Stones Circle.
There is so much ‘territorial pissing’ grafitti of names and initials carved all over the faces of the stones on it from past centuries, I didn’t know where to begin looking for the prehistoric rock-art carving (...a large carved ring...on the south-eastern side of the outcrop on a wide horizontal ledge).

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Not much to add really, from the other posts and what I’ve read elsewhere, about casual vandalism of the site (whether ritualistic or through carelessness), I’ve been put off visiting this site for a long while, and I dare say I brought this attitude with me.
A sweet small stone circle (local millstone grit, none taller than 1m) in a wooded area, which has become incorporated into an easy circlular walk across Stanton Moor, with nearby convenient free parking.
The surrounding area is beautiful, and includes many cairns, but the area directly surrounding the site has several blackened remains of campfires and the tops of nearly every stone which make up the circle show signs of heat damage where fires (tealights, etc?) have been set upon them.
V & P Morgan (Rock Around The Peak) mention that the circle was once surrounded by a bank, and at the centre of the circle was a stone cairn, both of which have now all but disappeared.
As far as I can tell the site has three parties looking out for its interests (English Heritage, Peak National Park Authority and the land owner), but as it is open access and is ‘...one of the most well known sites in Derbyshire’, it’s looking a bit torn and frayed.

Unclassified road between Birchover and Stanton in Peak.
From Birchover head north on an unclassified road to Stanton in Peak, a little ways north of the entrance to the the quarry, there are two laybys; the first on the right, the next on the left. Park up in either.
To your left is the Andle Stone, a large natural alter stone on a mound surrounded by a retaining drystone wall in the middle of a field. It is large and cannot be missed.
Maintained by English Heritage and Peak National Park Authority, Doll Tor may be, but there are no public rights of way marked on the OS Land Ranger, so...
Over the padlocked gate and head toward the Andle Stone, keep it on your right and walk past it.
When you reach the field boundary (drystone wall), head for the gateway (infront and to your right) which leads into the field beyond.
If you stand at the gateway, there should be a coppice directly to your left, a field infront and beyond that (to the left) a metal fivebar gate which gives access to another coppice of fir trees.
Head for this gate (again locked). Beyond it is a trackway, the fir trees are to its left and a drystone wall to its right.
Follow the trackway a 100m or so, keeping look out ahead for the white/reflective English Heritage information board (about the size of a tea tray, set at an angle, a couple of feet off of the ground).
My impressions of Doll Tor is that it is pretty cute, which I am aware is inappropriate. At a guess you could fit a kingsize double bed into the circle, or that the circle might just fit in a single car garage. It is tiny.
To the eastern end was added a rectangular-ish cairn, which it is possible to make out and understand from what is left at the site.
One stone is double the length to its height. All the stones are low in height.
There are many surrounding stones (there are in the whole area, perhaps that’s why it’s wooded?)
Well worth a visit if the nearby Nine Ladies stone circle is busy, secluded and peaceful.
CAUTIONARY NOTE (from ‘Rock around the Peak’, V and P Morgan)...be aware of a hidden deep quarry within twenty metres (to the south-west) of the circle.

SO 240 178
Grwyne valley near Llangenny, approachable in either direction on unclassified roads from Crickhowell and Glangrwyney.

Park in the carpark for the Dragon Head Inn at Llangenny*. On the opposite side of the road there is a public footpath marker which leads to a stile and gate. Enter the field and look ahead on your right. The stone is situated toward the field boundary on a slight rise.

The stone is approx four feet high and stands straight, oblong with a flat top, wider face towards the river.

Cadw guide for the area states that ‘While not all of these stones are definitely ancient, they can plausibly be seen as route or territorial markers of some sort’.

*Ask permission – see ‘Comment’ from landlord! TMA Ed.

OS 161 SO 211192
From Crickhowell, take A40 towards Brecon, take the right for the Manor Hotel (large white building up on the hill). There is a single parking space, site is practically on the road.
‘The Illustrated History and Biography of Brecknockshire’ Poole, E, 1886, mentions the destruction of the ‘finest cromlech in Breckonshire’ by Sir Richard Hoare and others in 1804. Dr Nicholas said of the capstone which was removed ‘...magnificent..., fourteen feet long and eighteen inches thick, with an average breadth of nearly seven feet, standing on four supporters’.
All that remains is a single chamber (minus the capstone mentioned above) and parts of its entrance chamber.
The extent of the site is marked out with miserable concrete markers, which reveal it as a chambered long cairn of the Severn-Cotswald type, with a horned fore-court (imagine Belas Knap). One of the horns is now under the A40.
What remains reveals a polygonal chamber and that the entrance passage to it has a bend, another two chambers discovered in the 1978 excavation (because of road widening) are also indicated by markers.
An unfortunate site, the proximity of the main road sealed its fate, although now fully excavated and in the care of Cadw, the busy road makes it rather forlorn, but easily accessible.
The 1804 destruction of the capstone resulted in neglible finds: ‘charcoal and a few bones’ (Cadw guide).

OS 161 SO 232168
From Crickhowell, take A40 towards Abergavenny. 1.4 miles from town centre. Clearly visible from road.
It would appear that Cwrt y Gollen Army Cadet camp is now closed.
Park at the now closed entrance to the camp: large white metal gates, with a white fence on either side, behind the gate is the guard house, on the opposite side of the camp drive is the Growing Stone.
Since Julian’s visit, the four-sided fencing around the stone has mostly been removed (the plaque hasn’t been re-attached to the stone either).
The area now has a feeling of dereliction (the empty guard house is ‘to let’) giving a sensation that the Growing Stone abides whilst the usage of the land around it is about to change once more.
An impressive stone, over 4m high, imagine a thickened blade with a blunted tip. Cadw guide for the area states that it is made of red sandstone.

Well worth a visit if you have arrived at Avebury during rush hour, and could do with connecting to the past and the environment and would like to have a one-to-one experience.
If you want to touch the dolmen, you will have to trespass.
Although I have the utmost respect for St. Julian, the MA is quite selective at times regarding condition of sites. This dolmen has some spectacularly intrusive restoration, in particular the large concrete slab which shores up one side of the base of the monument, and that it was re-erected according to Dyer ‘Discovering Prehistoric England’ in 1921.
That said, it is a beautiful, and peaceful location. From reading the posts on this site and my own experience of trying to find a footpath nearby where the land owner(s) had left an overgrown unwalkable 12” death-strip between two barbed wire fences as a sorry excuse for a public right of way, access to our heritage is not high on their agenda.
All that is there now are two uprights and the enormous capstone. On the footpath which runs alongside the field containing the dolmen are several very large stones, which are almost certainly those featured in Stukeley’s illustrations from the 1720s showing the dolmen with 3 to 4 other large stones around it. We stood on the one nearest to the barbed wire fence to get a better look at the dolmen (and possible landowners) and discovered that some delightful soul had thoughtfully cut away a section of barbed wire.
The precariousness of the capstone is wonderful, even though upon closer inspection it is concreted to the supports with no attempt at subtlety. No hint of the earthen long barrow remains. Stukeley’s illustrations show the stones set upon a mound, but this is no longer visible. Intriguingly the site hasn’t been excavated, but it has been plowed level for so many years now I’m not surprised.

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Fabulous site. Unlike the famous (restored) Anglesey monuments, this one is pretty much ignored in the CADW guide and promotional ‘places to visit’ brochures. The powers that be haven’t signposted it with a ‘this way to the ancient monument’ sign, even though it’s only a minute’s walk from the nearest A road.
From Brynsiencyn on the A4080 heading for Newborough, drive past the layby parking for Castell Bryn-Gwyn. A short distance beyond this, to your right, it is possible to see the stones from the road through a gap in the hedge. Park at the next right. This lane is a overgrown and ends in a dead-end so don’t worry about blocking it. There is a derelict stone cottage in the field. Follow the footpath over the stile and follow the hedge, you can’t miss it.
We approached the stones with the tall hedge on our left, this way you can see only one stone, and it’s an Avebury like stone, much wider and more square than the usual Anglesey stones. It is only when you are almost upon it do you see the other stone revealed at the end of the hedge you are walking along, and it is impressive a massive broad, flat, grey blade.
These mis-matching pair of stones will set your imagination alight. Firstly they are larger than anything else you will see locally (4m x 3m, 3m x 3m) and then after you can think coherently again there is the possibilty that they were once part of not one but two adjacent large stone circles. Then there is the longing for what has been swept away, but comfort at what remains.
A great site. Two stones used as gate posts (although thankfully the gate has gone now) on private land, ignored by CADW and the tourist board, as far as I can find out, an unexcavated site, but maybe the remains of the largest stone circle in all of Wales. Good for the soul, go visit.
Additional: CADW’s guide to Anglesey and Gwynedd(p.38) has an 18th century illustration of the stones when they were incorporated into a cottage, the taller stone apparently still has notches on it, where purlins for the roof were attached.

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There is combined parking area,picnic benches and children’s play area in the village of Llanfechel.
The standing stone at 114 370917 is worth a look at. The field it stands in has a public right of way through it. I would imagine at one time it would have been possible to stand at Mein Hirion and look down across the hill to it, but the view is now obscured by housing, although it is possible to guess at its location as it stands close to an electricity pylon. The CADW guide to Gwynedd and Anglesey says it is on private land with no access, but footpaths are marked on the OS Landranger map.
Park in the parking area, there is a tourist map showing the location of Mein Hirion, but not the standing stone, or nearby burial chamber. Walk through the village and past the church. As you walk up the hill, take a right for the standing stone, take a footpath that runs along the edge of housing, you should in a minute or two reach a field with a large set of wooden steps and footpath marker, the standing stone is in view in the middle of the field (usual for Anglesey, a grey, broad, flat, blade shape)
For Mein Hirion, go back to the ‘main’ road and continue up the hill through the village and take the next left. A few houses along on your right you will see a house, with adjacent parking, this has a double gate, next to this is a single metal gate, this is the footpath which runs between neighbouring property boundaries.
Follow the footpath into the field and walk down the hill. We visited in August and it was a bog at the bottom of the hill, although stepping stones and planks of wood had been laid, so don’t wear your best shoes.
Walk up the next hill and Mein Hirion will be directly ahead at the top.
Lovely site, very close to a field boundary wall, which hems it in on one side, looks complete with just three stones, all tall and slim.
The council(?) have re-built a handsome boundary wall, with stone steps and cutaway where the public right of way crosses it, but the farmer has (recently) strung several lines of barbed wire across it, so don’t approach the site from the other direction unless you have bought wire cutters. In this field is a burial chamber, we tried approaching it from the road on the other side, but at the footpath marker before we entered the field an aggressive bull came over to let us know what he thought about us, so we couldn’t enter the field.

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Straight forward to find, cast iron Ancient Monument sign on road next to kissing gate. The capstone is visible from the road beyond a gap in the hedge.
We visited this summer and the gate to those spiked railings was open, so thankfully no vaulting was required.

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There are not one, but three stones in Bradley. They all lie in a line along the road which descends through the village heading south (by heading in this direction you’ll reach the most impressive stone last).
Best place to park is in the carpark of the Red Lion PH in the village.
Best place for information is the church, look for the guide 1000 years of Bradley, which mentions the stones.
first stone: At the entrance to the pub carpark (usually hidden between two A-frame pubsigns), a blunt-pointed stone about 2ft high.
second stone: Turn left from the first stone and walk down the hill, it is on your right. The old post office butts right up behind it. On the side which faces the road it is well worn from the backsides of a milennia of weary travellers. It looks like a medium sized boulder, more wide(2-3ft) than high(1-2ft).
the third stone: this is the Webb Stone. From the second stone carry on walking down the hill, just around the corner is a junction on your right leading to an equestrian centre. The Webb Stone should be infront of you, it now has a flower bed behind it. It stands approx 4-5ft high and it a little to big for a person to put their arms around and touch fingers.
Nearby:127 889190 Littywood farm: circular bank and ditch earthwork now with a house in it, on unclassified road with public right of way around it, large stone (field clearance?) at entrance to property.

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Best approach is from the Mucklestone side off of the B5415. The other approach South of Norton in Hales ends with the footpath/track ending at a farm with two shut gates and a STOP sign beyond because it is a rare breeds minimum disease area.
B5415, heading south, just beyond Napley is a red telephone box set back from the road, opposite is a junction. Turn right into it, about 20 metres ahead on your right is ample parking (the owner of the large house opposite told us we could park there).
Walk along the single lane tarmaced road (lined with young oak), follow this road around a left bend until you see two keeper’s cottages either side of the road.
Just beyond the cottages there is a clearly marked bridleway stile and gate on the right. Cross into the field.
Keep to the hedge until you approach a coppice, which is unfortunately fenced off with new barbed wire. On the other side of the fence are fir tree saplings, some dead, with more mature trees behind them.
If you have decided to trepass, walk through the copice, within moments you should reach another barbed wire fence. Walk along the fence and you will reach the stones, again within moments.
The stones lean, the one without the porthole slightly infront of the other. It is worn with deep vertical grooves from weathering and stands to a height of approx 6ft. The porthole stone is more squat, roughly a little more than half the height of the other. The hole appears intentional, rather than weather worn, and is big enough for me to climb through (I’m 6’5”). A word of warning if you do climb through, remember there is a rusted barbed wire fence behind it.
I found it difficult to imagine the pair of stones in their present position as part of a chamber. The way one stone stands slightly infront of the other gives an impression that they have been moved.
In addition: Norton in Hales church stands in a circular churchyard.