RD039

Fowler's Arm Chair Stone Circle & Round Cairns, Banc Du  

 

Designated  

Powys  

Abbey Cwmhir  

304157  

279168  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Stone Circle  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a stone circle and a nearby cairn, which probably date to the Bronze Age (c.2300 - 800 BC). They are located at the southern end of an upland ridge, close to a trackway. ‘Fowler’s Arm Chair’ is an upright stone c.1.2m high by c.0.9m by c.0.6m. It appears to stand off-centre within a stone circle, only three stones of which, all to the east of the Arm Chair, now survive to any height, though up to nine have been described in previous sources. From air photos the circle (largely assumed from differences in vegetation) appears to measure c.15m east-west and rather more north-south. About 15m to the south-west of Fowler’s Arm Chair is a cairn c.13m in diameter and c.0.4m high, with traces of three kerb stones on the north-east and one on the south; the surface stones of the cairn were much disturbed and rearranged in the 1990s but the lower levels survive intact. 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. 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.