GM571

Cefn Car settlement  

28/11/2003  

Designated  

Merthyr Tydfil  

Vaynor  

301811  

213140  

Agriculture and Subsistence  

Building (Unclassified)  

Medieval  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a small farmstead or settlement, probable dating to the late-medieval or post-medieval periods. It is situated within open moorland on the sheltered south-facing slope above the Nant Car stream. The settlement comprises a small stout building, surrounded by a complex of enclosures; a prominent building platform situated immediately to the south-east; a further small building with surrounding enclosures situated about 60m to the north-north-west of the first; and the remains of a stony bank forming a large enclosure that extends to the north-east of the whole. The settlement presumably represents the remains of a shepherd's or herdsman's bothy with several auxiliary structures, stock enclosures and possible garden plots and crop enclosures for winter feed. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of medieval and post-medieval land use, settlement and economy. It is a relatively rare and little-understood example of an upland farmstead and retains great archaeological potential to enhance our knowledge of medieval and post-medieval stock-rearing practices in the upland zone, whether as permanent settlement, regular transhumance, or intermittent opportunistic expansion. The area scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.