Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Round Cairn W of Arthur's Stone
Llanrhidian Lower, Swansea, Wales
A scheduled monument in Llanrhidian Lower, Swansea, recorded as Round Cairn (Prehistoric).
The record
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Site type
- Round Cairn
- Period
- Prehistoric
- Date of designation
- 22 March 1950
- Community
- Llanrhidian Lower
- Unitary authority
- Swansea
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
- 51.59357, -4.18092
- SAM number
- GM196
- Cadw record number
- 3637
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid 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)
- 1865 · England and Wales. England No. 6. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1891 · Sheet 10. Ordnance Survey of England and Wales. . (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1907 · 246 Worms Head (Hills) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1920 · Sheet 100. Llanelly. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
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 a burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). It is situated near to Arthur's Stone at 140m OD on the Cefn Bryn Ridge. This large circular flat-topped mound of stones measures approximately 20m in diameter and up to 0.7m high. Excavations in the 19th century are responsible for the holes in the middle and on the east side. The cairn was excavated again in the 1980s and found to contain: a pit underneath the stones containing the remains of burnt bone on a decayed timber plank. Sealed by the pre-cairn surface were a 3.2m long bedding trench, a pit, a posthole and a hearth. These were associated with sherds of Peterborough Ware and worked flint within a 35 sq.m area.
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, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Cairns may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.
The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.
Nearby in the register
- Arthur's Stone, Cefn BrynChambered Tombunder 1 mi
- Burnt Mound 300m SW of Arthur's StoneBurnt Moundunder 1 mi
- Burnt Mound North of Arthur's StoneBurnt Moundunder 1 mi
- Reynoldston CampEnclosureunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.