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Carn Wen is a prehistoric kerb cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference RD205. Kerb cairns are Bronze Age funerary monuments consisting of a mound of stone enclosed by a circular or polygonal kerb of larger stones, typically constructed to contain cremated human remains. The cairn's construction drew on the local geology: the site rests on Ashgill Rocks, composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone formed during the Ashgill period of the Ordovician. These sedimentary rocks would have provided suitable stone for the monument's kerbing and internal structure, though their friable nature means the landscape surrounding Carn Wen likely offered readily available material for cairn-building communities of the Bronze Age.
The monument remains an important record of prehistoric burial practice and settlement patterns in Wales. As a scheduled ancient monument, Carn Wen contributes to our understanding of how Bronze Age communities utilised the local bedrock and landscape to create enduring structures honouring their dead.
Carn Wen cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference RD205. View the official record →
Carn Wen is a prehistoric kerb cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference RD205.
Carn Wen cairn dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a kerb cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Carn Wen 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 RD205.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Garth cairn cemetery (5.8 km), Carn-y-Geifr (5.9 km), Ffynnon Mary Burnt Mound 300m SE of Carn Wen (6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Carn Wen 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.
Carn Wen cairn stands on Ashgill Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.