Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Mynydd Myddfai, ring cairns on W end of
Myddfai, Carmarthenshire, Wales
A scheduled monument in Myddfai, Carmarthenshire, recorded as Ring Cairn (Prehistoric).
The record
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Site type
- Ring Cairn
- Period
- Prehistoric
- Date of designation
- 21 September 2004
- Community
- Myddfai
- Unitary authority
- Carmarthenshire
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
- 51.94552, -3.75495
- SAM number
- CM349
- Cadw record number
- 4158
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesNational Library of ScotlandDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1636 map "Cornubia : Devonia, Somersetus, Dorcestria, Wiltonia, Glocestria ..." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1636 · Cornubia : Devonia, Somersetus, Dorcestria, Wiltonia, Glocestria ... (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1830 · V.3:11-15:XV. Britisches Reich. A. Kon: England. b. Frstenthum Wales: Shire: 37-40 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1891 · Sheet 10. Ordnance Survey of England and Wales. . (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1901 · Sheet 14. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1963 · Map No. 18 - Local Government Commission for Wales : [Definitive maps showing proposed… (National Library of Scotland)
Cadw's description
Summary description and reason for designation
The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.
The monument comprises the remains of two ring cairns, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated close together within open moorland on the Mynydd Myddfai ridge. The stone built cairns are circular on plan and are situated about 25m apart, the northernmost being situated downslope of the southernmost. That to the NNW (Mynydd Myddfai West ring cairn A) measures about 5m in diameter within a stony ring bank about 2m in thickness and up to 0.2m in height. Well-defined edges to the ring bank are visible - and it has an uneven, stone filled interior. That to the SSE (Mynydd Myddfai West ring cairn B) measures about 5m in diameter within a stony ring bank about 1.5m in thickness and up to 0.2m in height. The cairns form a pair very similar to those excavated on Cefn Bryn on the Gower Peninsular (Ward, 1988), the ring cairns forming each pair being similar in size, structure and setting (including topographical relation to each other).
The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The monument is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential. Its importance is further enhanced by the group value formed by its spatial association with similar Bronze Age monuments on the Mynydd Myddfai ridge, including the larger Mynydd Myddfai ring cairn (CM346) and the Mynydd Bach-Trecastell Stone Circles (BR069), both situated further to the NE along the ridge.
The area scheduled comprise the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is rectangular and measures 60m from NNW to SSE by 30m transversely.
Nearby in the register
- Pen Caenewydd ring cairnRing Cairnunder 1 mi
- Mynydd Myddfai round cairnRound Cairnunder 1 mi
- Mynydd Myddfai Standing StonesStanding Stoneunder 1 mi
- Mynydd Myddfai round barrowRound Barrowunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.