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Carnedd Fach cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales. The monument stands on bedrock of felsic tuff, part of the unnamed Ordovician extrusive rocks that form the geological foundation of this upland area. These volcanic deposits, laid down over 440 million years ago, would have exposed weathered stone suitable for cairn construction when Neolithic or Bronze Age builders selected this hilltop location.
The cairn represents a burial monument typical of prehistoric Wales, built by stacking stone cleared from the surrounding landscape. Its elevated position on this Ordovician bedrock offers commanding views across the terrain, a characteristic placement for such monuments. The felsic tuff's natural fracturing would have provided ready-worked stone for the cairn's construction, making this site practically as well as ceremonially significant.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh heritage organisation, under reference CN366. This designation recognises Carnedd Fach's importance as an archaeological site preserving evidence of prehistoric burial practices and settlement patterns in the Welsh uplands. The cairn remains a physical link to the Bronze Age communities who inhabited these hills and marked their landscape with enduring stone monuments.
Carnedd Fach cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN366. View the official record →
Carnedd Fach cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference CN366.
Carnedd Fach cairn 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.
Carnedd Fach 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 CN366.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The Holyhead Road: the Ogwen Pass (2.1 km), Nant Ffrancon Anti-invasion Defences (2.6 km), Hut Circle Settlement at Nant Bochllwyd (2.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Carnedd Fach 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.
Carnedd Fach cairn stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Ordovician, bedrock that formed in the Ordovician. The rock here is felsic tuff.