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Blaen y Cylchau Deserted Rural Settlement is a post-medieval and modern rectangular hut settlement located in Wales. The site comprises the remains of simple rectilinear dwellings typical of rural upland communities that developed from the 17th century onwards. These modest stone-built structures reflect the economy and domestic arrangements of farming families who settled marginal land to eke out subsistence livelihoods through pastoral agriculture and smallholding practices.
The settlement sits upon Dinantian bedrock, primarily limestone interspersed with subordinate sandstone and argillaceous rocks. This underlying geology, formed during the Mississippian period, would have shaped both the landscape's agricultural potential and the availability of building stone. The limestone-based terrain characteristic of the region influenced settlement patterns and the types of pastoral farming practised on the surrounding uplands.
The site is protected by Cadw, the Welsh historic monuments authority, under the reference CM307, recognising its significance as evidence of rural settlement patterns and the adaptive occupation of difficult terrain in post-medieval Wales. Such deserted settlements provide important archaeological testimony to changing population distribution, economic strategies and abandonment processes across the Welsh uplands during the past four centuries.
Blaen y Cylchau Deserted Rural Settlement is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CM307. View the official record →
Blaen y Cylchau Deserted Rural Settlement is a post-medieval and modern rectangular hut settlement located in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference CM307.
Blaen y Cylchau 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.
Blaen y Cylchau 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 CM307.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Carn Fadog round cairn (1.7 km), Cwm Twrch settlement and limekiln (2.1 km), Cwm Twrch settlement (3.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Blaen y Cylchau 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.
Blaen y Cylchau Deserted Rural Settlement stands on Dinantian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is limestone with subordinate sandstone and argillaceous rocks.