GM558

Wernlas ring cairn and cairnfield  

30/06/2004  

Designated  

Rhondda Cynon Taff  

Hirwaun  

296845  

209887  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Ring Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a ring cairn probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated within enclosed pasture to the south-east of Wernlas Farm. The cairn is situated on the lower south-west-facing slopes of Cefn Sychbant, to the south-east of the stream of Cwm Cadlan. Surrounding the cairn are the remains of at least sixteen field clearance cairns, a possible hut circle, a well-defined plot of ridge and furrow, several stony field banks and a house platform set within a large subrectangular enclosure. The monument has been inventoried as Item A (the ring cairn), Item B (the clearance cairns and possible hut circle) and Item C (the later settlement and cultivation remains). The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual. The ring cairn is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability for the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence, including a buried prehistoric land surface. Its spatial association with the surrounding cairnfield, possible hut circle and later settlement and cultivation remains further enhances the importance of this site. The area scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.