Cefn Carnedd is an elongated enclosure, approximately 437m by 84m, with entrances on the north-eastern and south-western sides. It occupies the summit of Cefn Carnedd and is defined by scarps with triple banks and ditches to the north-west which form an additional 'barbican' enclosure, with an outer inturned entrance, before the north-eastern entry. A bank and ditch segregate an area, approximately 130m by 68m, at the south-western end. An original enclosure, approximately 235m fron north-east to south-west appears to have been extended north-eastwards, the original north-east ramparts being apparent on aerial photographs. This would suggest that the cross-bank is a later feature. Recent aerial photography has also identified more earthwork detail on the north side of the fort, including complex earthworks and a major north-west gateway which may have superceded the original ridge-top west gateway to the fort.
Occassional erosion scars in the ramparts of the fort yield little more than coarse shale rubble and earth, with little sign of any more massive stone work, or even formal revetment walling, although such remains may be buried deeper where the ramparts are well preserved. Erosion around the main west gate, caused by burrowing animals and livestock action, was most revealing; much of the shale rubble has a reddish hue and would appear to have been burnt. This was evident all around the west gate and could suggest a burning episode at one time.
The central ditch of the triple defences on the north-eastern side of the hillfort, evidently rock-cut although now in-filled, was waterlogged on the visit, with standing water and boggy ground present in many places. This would suggest excellent paleoenvrionmental potential of any buried deposits. In addition, the north-eastern defences as they approach the main east gateway incorporate a prominent spring which is still active
Two body sherds of VCP (Very Coarse Pottery), containers of which were used to transport salt from the midlands plain in prehistory, were discovered during fieldwalking on the fort in the 1970s
A possible sling shot was identified outside the fort to the west. The smooth, oval, river cobble measuring approximately 6.5 cm x 5 cm was found on the surface of the grass at SO 0131 8985, where it had rolled down from an eroded farm track which passes through a gate in the modern wire fence. An inspection of the eroded track showed that all the stone present was of natural broken shale rubble in mud, there being no sign of imported stone cobbles being used for surfacing. The possible sling shot was covered with the same mud. Its position some 140m west of the main west gate of the fort would accord well with a genuine sling shot which had been dispatched from the fort defences, and come to rest on the slopes outside the fort.
Pictures of this whopper hillfort....
http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94016/images/CEFN+CARNEDD+HILLFORT%2C+NEAR+CAERSWS/
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Castell, Tregaron, is a strong and impressive fort, constructed around a flat-topped, rocky promontory with precipitous slopes to the W and S, with two curving ramparts cutting off the landward side to the north east. The two ramparts which comprise the façade still retain steep, almost unclimbable front faces. The outer stands between 3 and 4.5m high and is about 20m broad at its base. It was probably augmented by an outer ditch, now silted up. Mid way along its outer face, and at other points, sections of decayed stone walling and tumbles of substantial stones from erosion features, would suggest that the outer face was once fully walled. The inner rampart is flanked by an outer ditch up to 3m deep, and still stands up to 6m high on the outer face. It has a more pronounced curve than the outer rampart and so the two are not parallel. The top of the inner rampart is also not uniform. It dips markedly in the centre which is perhaps an original feature to make the rampart ends appear taller, but may also be the result of old erosion slippage. The outer face of this rampart still bears several traces of in-situ stone walling.
The outer rampart obscures the true position of the main gateway; it is certainly not obvious to those approaching from the east. At the north terminals of the ramparts the inner slope is too steep to climb and where the interior is open to view, it was probably closed off with a palisade. The main gate was reached by passing under the south terminal of the outer rampart where, adjacent to the inner rampart, a low foundation bank forms an oblique gateway against the main inner rampart. The arrangement was probably augmented by timberwork.
The interior of the fort provides a good, level area immediately behind the inner rampart and below the outcrop which would have been suitable for settlement. On the outcrop itself, several plateau areas are visible, some cut back into the rock to form platforms. The more obvious of these are marked on the new plan. On the south side of the outcrop, a concavity at a lower level on the edge of the rock may also have been the site of a house.
It is unlikely the whole fort was the result of a single phase of work. The differences between the inner and outer rampart suggest two phases of work; it may be that the inner gate was originally `on view', but its direct approach was subsequently blocked with the provision of an uncompromising outer façade rampart. The berm or terrace cut into rear side of the outer rampart at its north end, for whatever purpose, suggests a later modification of the rampart.
The strategic role served by the two tall, steep, stone-walled façade ramparts is questionable as the fort rapidly disappears from view from the main approach, to the northeast, after only 200m. The zigzag terminals of the ramparts on the north side do, however, form an impressive feature on the skyline from the lowland approaches to the north. From the main north-east approach, one descends from higher ground and the rocky interior of the fort is fully on view, thus rendering it tactically weak in the conventional sense.
There is erosion towards the summit of the outer rampart and if left to continue may eventually undermine the well-preserved top of the rampart and cause it to collapse. At the time of the visit in 2004, the farmer had recently cleared most of the gorse bushes on site.
Good for farmer!!!
One aerial pic and a few ground ones
http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/303561/images/CASTELL+TREGARON%3BSUNNYHILL+WOOD+CAMP/?show=all
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A strongly sited, pear-shaped, bivallate hillfort about 90m N/S by 84m E/W internally, occupying a summit at the eastern end of a long ridge, which commands extensive views in all directions except to the west.
The main defence is a single strong rampart; it is tallest at the north where it stands 1.6m above the interior and up to 4m above the ditch bottom externally . This main rock-cut ditch is traceable again on the east side, flanking the main gate where it is still 0.80m deep, and around the south side. On the north side is a second, outer ditch, separated from the inner rampart by a flat, revetted terrace. The east gate is flanked by traces of an outer rampart, beyond the main inner ditch.
All around the innermost face of the rampart are traces of a quarry ditch. A wet area in the south-east part of the interior may have been an original spring or pond serving the fort. On the inner face of the rampart on the west side traces of an inner stone revetment are exposed.
No traces of stone revetment survive on the outer face of the main rampart, however, this is severely eroded in places, particularly on the west side. On this west side, close to the summit of the rampart, erosion has exposed a clay capping to the rampart above a stone rubble and clay rampart core. The most interesting revetment survives on the eroded outer face of the second rampart on the north side, actually a terraced outwork. Here are traces (surviving despite livestock erosion) of a massive stone revetment which includes a high proportion of quartz blocks. It is interesting to note that this impressively-fronted outwork faces west towards the most restricted vista from the fort, where the fort disappears from view after only a few hundred metres. This is the route that the present day east-west road follows past the fort and it is conceivable that the quartz-fronted outwork overlooked the main public approach to the fort, and the Cors Caron landscape, by people from outside the area. The main east gate, whilst impressively constructed and commanding extensive views east across Cors Caron, is not so similarly elaborated as the north-west perimeter of the fort.
For one aerial picture
http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/303559/images/CASTELL+FLEMISH+HILLFORT%2C+TY%27N-YR-EITHIN%2C+NEAR+TREGARON/
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The complex defences at Caer Aber Pwll (Caerau) define a simple promontory fort to the east and a more heavily defended promontory fort on the west, both utilising the defensive potentials of the steep coastal cliffs. The western fort contains at least one building platform and is enclosed by a complex of up to four banks and ditches thought to represent at least two periods of construction, of uncertain relation, extending over a roughly 172m front. The main, inturned, gateway can be made out on the far side of the earthworks.
A second enclosure on the east, about 48m by 34m, may be a fragment of an early enclosure, isolated by redevelopment, an annex, or a separate and later enclosure butting onto the primary work.
For some aerial pics
http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94242/images/CAERAU+PROMONTORY+FORT%3A+CAER+ABER+PWLL/
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Mynydd-y-glog is an undulating heather moorland landscape characterised by several rocky Millstone Grit summits and slighter knolls rising to 385m, interspersed with damp, boggy basins. The summits and the drier slopes support an assemblage of funerary and ritual monuments in what appears to be an area set aside for such use during the Bronze Age. Eighteen relevant structures have so far been identified.
Eight round cairns lie in positions locally elevated to a greater or lesser degree. All have been disturbed in one case revealing evidence of internal structure (NPRN 84520). Around these lie a further eight round cairns, likewise disturbed. One of these is the only example displaying a cist (84508). Another is surrounded by massive kerb stones (84523), though examples elsewhere may be obscured by cairn material.
At points on the edge of the cemetery lie two ring monuments. A 'simple' ring cairn lies on a terrace on the north-west (84519), and on the south, in a sheltered location, is a low circular mound, only faintly visible, with a gently dished interior suggesting perhaps a more elaborate ring is concealed here (84511). Both are undisturbed.
On the north side of the mountain are cairnfields and traces of settlements and field systems which extend across Pant Sychbant and Cwm Cadlan, areas which also contain sepulchral monuments. Cairnfields can also be found on the west side of the mountain. Around the summit cairns are basin areas containing peat to a depth of at least 1.5m, while on the east side of the mountain (below the trig.point) peat in excess of 2m deep has been detected.
The area occupied by these monuments spans some 3.5 sq. km. but could extend to 7.5 sq.km. if Penmoelallt, adjoining on the immediate east, is included. This is a similarly undulating mountain, rising to 420m. Although long afforested, three sepulchral mounds are already known there along with peripheral groups of small cairns.
The Mynydd-y-glog cemetery bears comparison with the excavated cemetery at Brenig (Denbs) (401203) which incorporates large burial monuments, smaller stone cairns (one with kerb structure) and a ring cairn in addition to more 'exotic' types not so far identified here. Whereas the burial and ritual monuments at Brenig cluster around a valley head here they are assembled on and around a mountain summit.
And a couple of pics here http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/414686/images/MYNYDD-Y-GLOG%2C+BRONZE+AGE+CEMETERY/
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A chambered tomb, set in a disturbed area, c.70m E-W by 24m, possibly resulting from quarrying activity.
Two upright stones, 1.1m & 0.8m high, and a broken slab, 2.0m by 1.0m, along with other large stones, are set in a one of a series of hollows.
Coflein has an ariel picture, I think this ruined burial chamber is in or near the D shaped thing on top of light coloured field.
http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/276052/images/LOWER+TREGENNIS+BURIAL+CHAMBER/
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As Coflein says this is much more than "cairns"
The rolling upland plateau of Bryn Rhudd above the Brefi Valley, immediately east of Llanddewi Brefi, land which rises to an altitude of 480m, is the location of an assemblage of round cairns and ring cairns.
The complex, which is arranged into nine scheduled areas, comprises five round cairns and three ring cairns with a group of less specific stony mounds, possibly clearance piles.
The burial cairns range in size from 5m to 13m in diameter and rise to 0.4m high, maximum. Four display exposed cists, one site surviving as little more than a cist, and three are reveted by kerb stones. The ring cairns survive as a pair, each 14m in diameter defined by ring banks up to 0.2m high, while the third is 13m in diameter and 0.5m high
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Coflein says;
Remains of a probable long cairn, dating from the Neolithic period (c. 4,400 BC - 2,900 BC), situated upon a wide terrace in the centre of a sheltered valley. The stone built cairn is wedge shaped and measures 17m from NW to SE by about 10.5m transversely (at the SE end) and about 5 m transversely (at the NW end) The cairn has been disturbed in the past, presumably the result of antiquarian investigation. The cairn measures about 0.8m in height, raising slightly towards the SE end.
Source: Cadw scheduling description of August 2006.
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Some Coflein pictures for now, but will shortly be there myself so will replace pics of my own, hope I have better luck than Idwal.
http://www.coflein.gov.uk/images/l/DI2006_1940/
Post script..... I'm back but even armed with pictures I still couldnt find it.
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More from Coflein..
. RECUMBENT RECTANGULAR SECTIONED QUARTZ BLOCK 0.8M BY 0.7M AND 2.6M LONG. POSS RELATED TO `VANISHED' CAIRN PAR 3437 (RCAHM archive, 1972). (SS 8) On DRUM NANT-Y-GORLAN, 550 m above O.D. is a fallen monolith of white quartz, roughly rectangular in section 0.8 m by 0.8 m and 2.7 m in length. It appears to have fallen to the S.W. and its base on the E. remains partly buried. It tops a ridge on a S.W.-projecting moorland spur. From cartographic study it has been proposed1 that a cairn originally stood nearby. However, the earliest available source shows a quartz block here2 and the first published O.S. map depicts an enigmatic uninscribed circle.3 Lying on the S.E. edge of the same spur, some 24 m to the S.S.W. of the stone, is an oval, turf-covered mound. Its diameter is 13.8 m (N.E.-S.W.) by 9.5 m by up to 1 m high. Stone projecting from beneath it on the S.E., might indicate the existence of a kerb if the site is man-made. 1. O.S.Card SN 85 NW 3;W.E.Griffiths, Arch.in Wales, 12 (1972), p.10. 2. O.S. 2-inch MS drawing 31O W (1820-21). 3. O.S. First Edn. 1-inch (1835). RCAHMW, 1995 - Draft Inventory description. Recumbent quartz stone near the peak of Drum Nant y Gorlan. Extensive views to the Brecon Beacons in the south. Base of stone protrudes from earth. Length 2.6m, Width 0.9m, Thickness 0.83m.
Much more.
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From Coflein,
Four, possibly seven, stones stand at the head of a remote mountain pass near to a spring on the boundary between the cantrefs of Buellt and Deuddwr. The largest stone is 0.9m high and three others are 0.4-0.6m high. The stones may constitute an ancient ritual or ceremonial monument if they are not comparatively recent boudary markers. The name 'Bwlch-y-Ddau-Faen' means 'two stones pass'.
It is sometimes suggested that this is a stone circle roughly 30m across
There are three pictures here
http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/304685/images/BWLCH-Y-DDAU-FAEN%2C+STONE+CIRCLE/
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Coflein says this about the standing stone A tapering stone, 1.4m high by 0.8m by 1.0m, in a field formerly known as Dol maen gwyn
When we tried a visit we took a wrong turn and found ourselves knocking at a door where had anyone been in they would have told us they didn't know anything about it.
Twenty minutes later the kids and I entered a farm yard and asked a young lady if she knew the best way to the stone " oh the stone yes i'll ask me dad the best way, come with me " she said. We did as we were bidden, but then the canny welsh farmer played his role to the hilt "What stone ?" he said (If his daughter knows of it then so must her dad)
I showed him the map and "Ooooh that stone, that stone? he would have been entertaining had we not come so far. Then he went on to say the stone was on a neighbours land who was now in the middle of bailing hay and you dont want to go trampling his hay do you. I could see I wasnt going to get far today ( perhaps a dawn raid in full surveilence mode was needed) we thanked him and turned to leave, then looking at the map I saw that a public footpath went straight through his farm and straight to the stone. I was tired and we had already lost the light. Decidedly unhelpful Welsh farmer 1
Curious warrior postman 0
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Coflein knows....
Remains of a cairn with a large centrally placed stone cist. This measures 2m x 0.7m and is covered by a substantial capstone resting on three stone uprights. The cairn perimeter is marked by a stony bank 12 m in diameter. It is likely that the entire sturcture was originally covered by a cairn of stones, many of which remain in situ, while others have been re-used in the construction of a sheep fold which partially covers the site.
Large cists? capstones? uprights? Yaaaaaay
Sheepfold ? Boooooo
Oh well you can't have it all.
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After visiting literally thousands ancient places and driving between fifteen to twenty thousand miles every year I can only conclude that I'm obsessed with these places, and finding this website ten years ago only compounded that obsession, at least I'm not alone anymore.
My favourite places are:
Ring of Brodgar
Callanish
Balnauran of Clava
Torhouskie
Swinside
Nine stones close
Bryn Celli Ddu
The Druids circle (penmaenmawr)
HafodyGors Wen
Gwal y Filiast
Grey Wethers
Boscawen Un
La Roche au Fees
Drombeg
Uragh
Talati De Dalt
and these are only the ones that immediatly spring to mind, so many stones and not enough lifetimes.
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