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Cairn 200m SE of Foel Ystrodur Fawr is a prehistoric round cairn situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference ME256. The monument sits on bedrock composed of Ordovician felsic tuff, an extrusive volcanic rock formed during the Ordovician period over 450 million years ago. This ancient geological foundation provides the solid base upon which the cairn builders constructed their monument in the Bronze Age.
The cairn itself represents a burial or ceremonial structure typical of prehistoric Wales, where stone heaps marked significant sites within the landscape. Built from stone gathered from the surrounding terrain, such cairns served as communal or individual burial monuments and were often positioned on elevated or prominent locations. The choice of this particular hilltop location, part of the Foel Ystrodur Fawr massif, would have made the cairn visible across considerable distances, signalling its importance to Bronze Age communities in the region.
Today, the monument survives as a visible reminder of prehistoric funerary and ceremonial practices in Wales. Its protection under Cadw recognition reflects its archaeological significance and the value placed on preserving these Bronze Age structures. The cairn continues to occupy its ancient position on the Ordovician bedrock, maintaining its role as a landscape marker across the centuries.
Cairn 200m SE of Foel Ystrodur Fawr is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference ME256. View the official record →
Cairn 200m SE of Foel Ystrodur Fawr is a prehistoric round cairn situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference ME256.
Cairn 200m SE of Foel Ystrodur Fawr 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.
Cairn 200m SE of Foel Ystrodur Fawr 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 ME256.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Llechwedd Erwent Hut Circle Settlement (0.8 km), Cairn 300m SE of Bryn Cau (1 km), Bancian Duon Hut Circle Settlement and Deserted Rural Settlement (1.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cairn 200m SE of Foel Ystrodur Fawr'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.
Cairn 200m SE of Foel Ystrodur Fawr stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Ordovician, bedrock that formed in the Ordovician. The rock here is felsic tuff.