© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw
Bwlch y Rhiwgyr is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales, situated some 350 metres to the south-west of the place name Bwlch y Rhiwgyr. The monument stands upon bedrock of Middle Cambrian age, composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone formations laid down over 500 million years ago. This geological foundation is typical of much of the Welsh upland landscape and would have been exposed or thinly covered during the prehistoric periods when such cairns were constructed.
Round cairns of this type generally date to the Bronze Age, erected as burial monuments or ritual markers on prominent locations within the landscape. The stone construction allowed these monuments to endure across millennia, visible reminders of communities that managed the upland terrain. The specific topography of this site, positioned on Middle Cambrian geology, would have influenced both the availability of stone for construction and the monument's visibility across the surrounding terrain.
Bwlch y Rhiwgyr is protected under Cadw's conservation framework with reference number ME238, recognising its significance as part of Wales's prehistoric heritage. The cairn remains an important archaeological record of Bronze Age burial practices and landscape use, providing evidence of human activity and social structures across the Welsh uplands during the second millennium before the present era.
Bwlch y Rhiwgyr, cairn 350m to SW of is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference ME238. View the official record →
Bwlch y Rhiwgyr is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales, situated some 350 metres to the south-west of the place name Bwlch y Rhiwgyr. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference ME238.
Bwlch y Rhiwgyr, cairn 350m to SW of 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.
Bwlch y Rhiwgyr, cairn 350m to SW of 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 ME238.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bron-Llety-Ifan cairns and cup-marked rock (6.9 km), Fairbourne Anti-invasion Defences (7.3 km), Enclosure & Settlement 400m East of Cyfannedd Fawr (7.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Bwlch y Rhiwgyr, cairn 350m to SW of'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.
Bwlch y Rhiwgyr, cairn 350m to SW of stands on Middle Cambrian, bedrock that formed in the Middle Cambrian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.