Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Pen-y-Rhiw Round Cairn
Maesycwmmer, Caerphilly, Wales
A scheduled monument in Maesycwmmer, Caerphilly, recorded as Round Cairn (Prehistoric).
The record
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Site type
- Round Cairn
- Period
- Prehistoric
- Date of designation
- 2 April 1956
- Community
- Maesycwmmer
- Unitary authority
- Caerphilly
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
- 51.62038, -3.20329
- SAM number
- MM149
- Cadw record number
- 2388
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)
- 1895 · Sheet 11. Ordnance Survey of England and Wales. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1906 · 249 Newport (Hills) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1913 · Sheet 102. Newport. (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). The cairn is round in plan and measure 13m in diameter and 1m high and is turf covered. In the centre is a square hollow measuring 1.5m by 1.5m and 0.7m deep, within which are two upright slabs, the side slabs of a cist. The hollow contains a number of stones that probably originate from the body of the cairn. On the N side is a large hollow, measuring 2m in diameter and 0.5m deep and to the W of the cairn is an area of quarrying.
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
- Cairn Cemetery on Mynydd Bach, BedwasRound Cairnunder 1 mi
- Twyn Cae-Hugh Round BarrowRound Barrowunder 1 mi
- Brynysgawen and attached farm rangeDomesticunder 1 mi
- Stable block at BrynysgawenAgriculture and Subsistenceunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.