CD278

Hengwm Ring Cairns  

12/03/2009  

Designated  

Ceredigion  

Blaenrheidol  

282343  

291026  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Ring Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a cairn located in open moorland pasture, which probably dates to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). The ring cairn (Item 'A') is located on a terrace on a moderate NW-facing slope overlooking the Afon Hengwm. The unbroken bank of earth and stone is circular in shape on plan. The bank measures 1.5m in width and 0.4m in height, with an overall diameter of 6m. A small stone-built round cairn (Item 'B') overlies the NW section of the ring cairn. It is circular in shape on plan and measures 2m in diameter and 0.75m in height. A probable cist is visible under the SW part of the round cairn. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The feature is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of both intact ritual and burial deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. The importance of the monument is further enhanced by the cairns' group value with other scheduled prehistoric funerary and ritual monuments in the near vicinity. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and an area around within which related evidence may be expected to survive. The scheduled area is circular in shape on plan and measures 20m in diameter.