CN353

Cefn Llechen cairns  

17/12/2008  

Designated  

Conwy  

Henryd  

274301  

375126  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of two small burial cairns, both probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated within open moorland on the NW-facing slopes of Cefn Lechen. The grass and heather covered stone built cairns are both circular on plan and measure about 5m in diameter and up to 0.6m in height. The cairns have been inventoried as Cefn Lechen cairn A, situated to the SSE; and Cefn Lechen cairn B, situated to the NNW. The cairns have been disturbed in the past, with an exposed stone cist visible in the centre of each. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual. The monument is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence, including a buried prehistoric land surface. The scheduled areas comprise the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. Area A, centred on Item A (Cefn Lechen cairn A, SH 742 749), is circular and measures 10m in diameter. Area B, centred on Item B (Cefn Lechen cairn B, SH 743 752), is circular and measures 15m in diameter.