ME195

Maes Coch Hut Circles  

13/05/2003  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Dolgellau  

274401  

315339  

Domestic  

Hut Circle Settlement  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument consists of well-preserved and largely intact circular platforms which once held prehistoric round houses. Hut I is the most northerly of the pair and comprises a circular platform, some 10m in diameter, cut into the hill slope. Hut II is sited 2m to the south-east and is formed of a bank of large boulders, 8m in diameter, with a wall of large, upright stones on the eastern side. The site sits on the north face of Cadair Idris and may date to the Early Bronze Age (2000-1500 BC) or to the Iron Age (c. 700 BC-AD 43). The site forms an important element in a wider prehistoric upland landscape. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric domestic life and social organisation. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of structural evidence and associated archaeological features and deposits, including preserved prehistoric ground surfaces below the monuments and environmental remains. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.