ME058

Moel Goedog Round Cairns & Standing Stones  

 

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Harlech  

260999  

332404  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Ring Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of funerary monuments that combine elements of ring cairn and stone circle architecture and two standing stones, all of which probably date to the Bronze Age (c.2300 - 800 BC) and are situated alongside the Fonlief Hir trackway; each of the four sites are described individually. a) A cairn circle, on ground which is sloping to the west and north and consists of ten small uprights which stand between 0.3m and 0.8m in height within a circular stone bank, 2m wide with a maximum height of 0.2m and an internal diameter of 6m. A hollow way appears to run along the west side of the cairn. b) A standing stone which is 0.9m in height, and 0.6m by 0.55m at its base, positioned alongside the ancient trackway, some 160m northeast of (C). c) A standing stone which is 1.35m in height, and 0.9m by 0.7m at its base, positioned alongside the ancient trackway, some 160m southwest of (B). d) A cairn circle situated on a level plateau on the western side of Moel Goedog, some 50m east of (A), but separated from it by an ancient trackway. It consists of a low, grassed-over stone bank 1m wide that encloses a space 5.3m in diameter. Ten or more boulders lie within the bank with the tallest being 0.4m in height. 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. These features are part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance is further enhanced by this group value. The scheduled areas comprise the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.