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Cefn Cross Standing Stone is a prehistoric upright stone monument located in Wales and protected by Cadw as a scheduled ancient monument (reference GM241). The stone stands upon bedrock of the Pennine and South Wales Lower Coal Measures Formation, composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone interspersed with coal seams and ironstone deposits of Westphalian age. These coal-bearing strata, laid down in ancient river and swamp environments hundreds of millions of years ago, would have been overlain by soil when the standing stone was erected in prehistoric times.
Standing stones of this type typically date to the Bronze Age or earlier periods and served functions ranging from territorial markers to ritual monuments. The specific choice of location at Cefn Cross may reflect the practical accessibility of suitable stone material or the strategic visibility the site afforded across the local landscape.
The monument remains an important record of prehistoric land use and monumental practice in Wales. Its survival and legal protection under Cadw ensures that this standing stone continues to contribute to our understanding of early Welsh heritage and the enduring relationship between communities and their natural landscape.
Cefn Cross Standing Stone is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM241. View the official record →
Cefn Cross Standing Stone is a prehistoric upright stone monument located in Wales and protected by Cadw as a scheduled ancient monument (reference GM241).
Cefn Cross Standing Stone dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a standing stone. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cefn Cross Standing Stone 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 GM241.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Candleston Castle (5.4 km), Merthyr Mawr Warren (5.4 km), Ogmore Stepping Stones (5.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cefn Cross Standing Stone'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.
Cefn Cross Standing Stone stands on Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Lower Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.