Scheduled MonumentsWalesBwlch-Du Round Barrow
Prehistoric · Round Barrow

Bwlch-Du Round Barrow

Denbighshire, Wales
Cadw SAM DE085
Period
Prehistoric
Site type
Round Barrow
Broad class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Nation
Wales
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Bwlch-Du Round Barrow is a prehistoric round barrow situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference DE085. The monument stands on bedrock composed of Wenlock Rocks, a Silurian-age formation of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. This substantial geological foundation would have provided a stable platform for the barrow's construction and has likely contributed to the site's preservation over millennia.

Round barrows of this type typically date to the Bronze Age and served as burial monuments for individuals of considerable social standing. The Wenlock bedrock underlying this site represents ancient seafloor deposits laid down in the Paleozoic seas that once covered Wales. The monument's location on these sedimentary rocks reflects the way prehistoric communities built their sacred structures across the varied landscape they inhabited, regardless of local geology.

As a protected monument, Bwlch-Du Round Barrow remains an important archaeological resource. Its survival on the Welsh landscape contributes to understanding prehistoric burial practices and settlement patterns across the region. The barrow's endurance on Wenlock bedrock demonstrates how even modest geological features provided suitable ground for constructing monuments of lasting significance to Bronze Age communities.

Bwlch-Du Round Barrow is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference DE085. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Bwlch-Du Round Barrow?

Bwlch-Du Round Barrow is a prehistoric round barrow situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference DE085.

What period does Bwlch-Du Round Barrow date from?

Bwlch-Du Round Barrow dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a round barrow. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Bwlch-Du Round Barrow?

Bwlch-Du Round Barrow 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 DE085.

What other scheduled monuments are near Bwlch-Du Round Barrow?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Hen Ddinbych Circular Platforms (1.7 km), Hafotty Wen Ring Cairn (4.5 km), Capel Hiraethog Round Barrow (5.6 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Bwlch-Du Round Barrow

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Bwlch-Du Round Barrow's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Bwlch-Du Round Barrow

Bwlch-Du Round Barrow stands on Wenlock Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.