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Buarth y Caerau Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under the reference BR286. The monument sits upon bedrock composed of Upper Devonian rocks, a foundation of sandstone and conglomerate laid down during the Late Devonian period. This geological base of interbedded sedimentary stone would have been exposed or readily accessible to the communities who constructed the cairn, potentially providing suitable material for the monument's construction.
Round cairns of this type are burial structures characteristic of prehistoric Wales, typically erected during the Bronze Age as ritual and funerary monuments marking significant individuals or communal burial sites. The monument's surviving form preserves evidence of the ceremonial and social practices of its builders. The integration of local geology into the monument's construction reflects both the practical adaptation to landscape and the symbolic importance of using stone from the immediate locality.
Cadw's protection of Buarth y Caerau Cairn recognises its significance as a record of prehistoric Wales and its contribution to understanding the region's archaeological heritage. The site remains a tangible link to the Bronze Age communities who inhabited these Welsh uplands and their complex relationship with the landscape they occupied.
Buarth y Caerau Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR286. View the official record →
Buarth y Caerau Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under the reference BR286.
Buarth y Caerau 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.
Buarth y Caerau 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 BR286.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Merthyr Tramroad Tunnel (Trevithick's Tunnel) (8.6 km), Black Pins early ironstone workings (9 km), Cyfarthfa balance pond and leat (9.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Buarth y Caerau 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.
Buarth y Caerau Cairn stands on Upper Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.