© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw
Bancbryn is a platform cairn of Neolithic or Bronze Age date, located in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference CM334. The monument consists of a stone platform constructed on bedrock of the South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone interspersed with coal and ironstone seams that formed during the Westphalian period of the Carboniferous. The ferricrete cap present in this geological formation provided a naturally hardened surface layer that may have influenced both the monument's construction and its preservation.
Platform cairns of this type served ceremonial or mortuary functions for the prehistoric communities who built them. The stone platform construction would have required substantial labour investment, suggesting the site held significant ritual or commemorative importance for its builders.
The monument's survival to the present day reflects both the durability of its stone construction and the protective designation it now enjoys, allowing this record of prehistoric land use in South Wales to remain visible in the modern landscape.
Bancbryn platform cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CM334. View the official record →
Bancbryn is a platform cairn of Neolithic or Bronze Age date, located in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference CM334.
Bancbryn platform cairn dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a platform cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Bancbryn platform cairn 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 CM334.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Burial Chamber Nr Carn Llechart (3.8 km), Carn Llechart Stone Circle (3.8 km), Ring Cairn on Tor Clawdd (4.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Bancbryn platform cairn'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.
Bancbryn platform cairn stands on South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.