BR308

Pen Tir, cairn on S end of  

03/02/2006  

Designated  

Powys  

Llanfihangel Cwmdu with Bwlch and Cathedine  

317601  

224387  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated in open moorland on the E-facing slopes of the Pen Tir ridge. The stone-built cairn is roughly circular on plan and measures about 11.5m in diameter and up to 0.8m in height. There is a large central hollow, presumably the result of antiquarian investigation or robbing. Indeed, the cairn is believed to be that from which it is recorded that a fine bronze sword (of Late Bronze Age 'Ewart' type, dating to the ninth and eighth centuries BC) was recovered by a local farmer in 1912. The sword was intact, measuring 650mm in length. It is currently held within the collections of the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The well-preserved 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. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is circular and measures 22m in diameter.