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Barclodiad-y-Gawres Round Cairn is a Neolithic communal burial monument located in Wales and protected as a scheduled ancient monument by Cadw. The cairn was constructed over bedrock composed of Caradoc Rocks, Undifferentiated—a formation of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone laid down during the Caradocian period. This geological foundation would have provided the quarrymen who built the monument with readily available stone suitable for cairn construction.
Round cairns of this type typically date to the Neolithic period and served as monumental tombs for multiple burials, often oriented to capture solar alignments at significant times of the year. Barclodiad-y-Gawres represents this tradition of funerary architecture, constructed from stone gathered and piled to create a durable marker of communal identity and ancestry across generations.
The monument's survival to the present day, protected under Cadw's stewardship, preserves evidence of Neolithic burial practice and settlement patterns in Wales. The local stone geology shaped both the monument's construction and its endurance, whilst its positioning within the Welsh landscape reflects the Neolithic community's understanding of their territory and sacred topography.
Barclodiad-y-Gawres Round Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN131. View the official record →
Barclodiad-y-Gawres Round Cairn is a Neolithic communal burial monument located in Wales and protected as a scheduled ancient monument by Cadw.
Barclodiad-y-Gawres Round Cairn dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a round cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Barclodiad-y-Gawres Round 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 CN131.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Clogwyn yr Eryr Deserted Rural Settlement (5 km), Cae Du platform cairn (6.4 km), Settlement, N of Cwm Eigiau (7.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Barclodiad-y-Gawres Round 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.
Barclodiad-y-Gawres Round Cairn stands on Caradoc Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.