Scheduled MonumentsWalesCarn Dol-Gau
Prehistoric · Round Cairn

Carn Dol-Gau

Ceredigion, Wales
Cadw SAM CD065
Period
Prehistoric
Site type
Round Cairn
Broad class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Nation
Wales
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Carn Dol-Gau is a prehistoric round cairn situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference CD065. The monument consists of a mound of stones constructed over bedrock composed of Llandovery rocks—undifferentiated mudstone, siltstone and sandstone formed during the Llandovery period. This solid geological foundation would have provided a stable base for cairn builders working in the prehistoric period.

Round cairns of this type typically served as burial monuments, with stones gathered from the surrounding landscape and heaped over a central burial or burials. The construction method was labour-intensive, requiring communities to collect and position substantial quantities of stone, suggesting the monument held considerable ceremonial or commemorative significance for its builders.

The site's protection as a scheduled ancient monument reflects its importance to understanding prehistoric funerary practice and settlement patterns in Wales. The cairn remains a tangible record of prehistoric communities and their engagement with the Welsh landscape, preserving evidence of ritual practices that shaped the cultural memory of those societies.

Carn Dol-Gau is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CD065. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Carn Dol-Gau?

Carn Dol-Gau is a prehistoric round cairn situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference CD065.

What period does Carn Dol-Gau date from?

Carn Dol-Gau 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.

Who is responsible for protecting Carn Dol-Gau?

Carn Dol-Gau 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 CD065.

What other scheduled monuments are near Carn Dol-Gau?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cairn Circle 200m NNW of Dolgamfa (5 km), Bwlch-y-Crwys Round Barrow (5.1 km), Pen-y-Felin Wynt Hillfort (5.2 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Carn Dol-Gau

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Carn Dol-Gau'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 Carn Dol-Gau

Carn Dol-Gau stands on Llandovery Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Llandovery. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.