BR069

Mynydd Bach-Trecastell Stone Circles  

 

Designated  

Powys  

Llywel  

283320  

231080  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Stone Circle  

Bronze Age  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of two stone circles, which probably date to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). The stone circles are located 45m apart on an area of open upland moorland on Mynydd Bach Trecastell. The larger, northern, circle comprises 25 earthfast stones enclosing an area around 24m in diameter with a slight mound towards the centre. The stones are small, up to 0.6m high, and are evenly spaced around 2m apart. Larger gaps in the circle probably represent the location of missing stones. The central mound is around 7m in diameter and could be the remains of a burial monument, although it could equally be a natural feature. The smaller circle is located 45m to the SW and comprises four earthfast stones enclosing and area around 7m in diameter. Depressions around the circumference of the circle indicate the original location of a further five stones. The stones of the smaller circle are larger than in the adjacent circle, between 0.7m and 1m in height, and all lean outwards. Around 15m to the SW of the smaller circle is an alignment of two stones and two stone sockets. The stones form a row around 20m long which points towards the southern half of the small stone circle. These monuments is of national importance for their 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. Stone circles are often 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.