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Afon Cynfal Deserted Rural Settlement is a post-medieval and modern rectangular hut settlement located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference ME190. The site sits upon bedrock of Upper Cambrian age, including Tremadoc formation, composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone dating from the Tremadocian period. These fine-grained sedimentary rocks would have provided limited building stone, influencing the construction methods and materials available to the settlement's inhabitants.
The rectangular hut structures represent a form of rural dwelling typical of post-medieval Wales, when dispersed farmsteads became increasingly common across upland and marginal landscapes. Such settlements often developed in response to population growth and agricultural expansion during the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. The regularity of the rectangular form reflects the practical building conventions of the period, distinguishing these structures from earlier, more irregular settlement patterns.
The settlement's abandonment and subsequent visibility in the modern landscape preserves an important record of rural life and land use during a transformative period in Welsh history. The site contributes to understanding how communities adapted to their local environment, utilising the available geological resources and developing settlement patterns suited to the terrain and economic circumstances of post-medieval rural Wales.
Afon Cynfal Deserted Rural Settlement is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference ME190. View the official record →
Afon Cynfal Deserted Rural Settlement is a post-medieval and modern rectangular hut settlement located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference ME190.
Afon Cynfal Deserted Rural Settlement dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a rectangular hut settlement. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Afon Cynfal Deserted Rural Settlement is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is ME190.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Hut Circle at Afon Graig Wen (3.2 km), Dol-ddinas Roman Earthworks (3.8 km), Enclosed Hut Circle Settlement at Dolbelydr (4.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Afon Cynfal Deserted Rural Settlement's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Afon Cynfal Deserted Rural Settlement stands on Upper Cambrian, Including Tremadoc, bedrock that formed in the Tremadocian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.