Cefn Esgair-Carnau round cairn and long hut

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

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 gentle SW-facing slopes at the head of the valley containing the Afon Hepste. The stone-built cairn is roughly circular on plan and measures about 13.5m in diameter and up to 0.7m in height. Although the upper surface of the cairn has been robbed (in order to provide stone for the adjacent structures), the base of the cairn is substantially intact. The footings of a post-medieval long hut are visible immediately to the ENE of the cairn; this subrectangular building measures 9.5m from ENE to WSW by 4.5m transversely within walls (the facings of which are occasionally visible) 0.9m in thickness. Overlying the long hut are the later remains of a spread and ruinous sheepfold (containing several small lambing pens) and, to the WSW of the cairn, the remains of a small shepherd's hut.

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. Its importance is further enhanced by the association with evidence of later post medieval land use, settlement and economy.

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 35m in diameter.