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Bryn y Gadair is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MG331. The monument sits upon bedrock of Llandovery age, comprising interbedded sandstone and conglomerate deposits laid down in the Lower Palaeozoic period. This geological foundation would have influenced both the construction and long-term stability of the cairn, with stone from the local bedrock likely quarried for the mound itself.
Round cairns of this type typically date to the Bronze Age and served as burial monuments for prominent individuals or family groups. The mound form represents a distinctive architectural tradition across prehistoric Britain and Wales, where stone or earth was heaped over a central burial chamber or cremation deposit. Such monuments frequently held ritual significance beyond their primary funerary function.
Bryn y Gadair remains an important survival of Wales's Bronze Age heritage. Its preservation under Cadw's stewardship ensures this landscape feature continues to inform understanding of prehistoric settlement patterns, burial practices and territorial organisation in the region. The cairn's position on the local sandstone and conglomerate geology anchors it specifically to its Welsh landscape context.
Bryn y Gadair round cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MG331. View the official record →
Bryn y Gadair is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MG331.
Bryn y Gadair 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.
Bryn y Gadair 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 MG331.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Esgair Draenllwyn Round Cairn I (3.6 km), Dolgwden Enclosure (4.9 km), Caersws Roman road (5.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Bryn y Gadair 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.
Bryn y Gadair round cairn stands on Llandovery Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Llandovery. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.