Round Cairn to NW of Gro Hill

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 level summit of the N-facing spur to the NW of Gro Hill. The stone-built cairn is circular on plan and measures about 9.5m in diameter and 0.4m in height. Although it has been disturbed in the past - there is evidence of central disturbance alongside modern marker cairns and a small shelter - the majority of the base of the cairn remains largely intact. The cairn displays no evidence of original 'bulk' and a well-defined edge is occasionally visible; it is thus interpreted as a low platform cairn or as an infilled ring cairn. A well defined satellite cairn is situated immediately to the SE, measuring 3.5m in diameter and 0.2m in height.

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 primary deposits and environmental and structural evidence. The likelihood that the cairn is an example of a more unusual structural class of cairn, the platform cairn or ring cairn (with associated satellite cairn), further increases its importance, as does the topographic association with the cairns and cairn cemetery on Gro Hill (BR395 - BR398) and the major stone circle to the E (BR274).

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 25m in diameter.