MG227

Chambered Cairn above Afon y Dolau Gwynion, NE of Lake Vyrnwy  

21/08/1995  

Designated  

Powys  

Llanwddyn  

301949  

323008  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Chambered round cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument consists of the remains of a chambered round cairn, a Neolithic or Bronze Age (c 4,200BC - 800BC) burial monument comprising a stone-built chamber within a circular or sub-circular stone built mound. The cairn is erected on a natural shelf below the crest of a ridge, looking southwards along the valley toward the Vyrnwy. The circular mound is 1.5m in height and 11m in diameter, in the dished centre of which are the remains of a stone tomb. The chamber is 2.5m in length along its north-south axis and 0.5m wide; it is formed of large slabs set on edge with a deliberate construction at the east end and a narrow portal. An almost circular, stony bank surrounds the chamber with a diameter of c. 10.6m, east-west and 8.6m north-south. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features are an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retain significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of both intact ritual and burial deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Chambered round barrows may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.