Scheduled MonumentsWalesCefn Sychbant Round Cairns
Prehistoric · Round Cairn

Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns

Breconshire, Wales
Cadw SAM BR137
Period
Prehistoric
Site type
Round Cairn
Broad class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Nation
Wales
The designation
Reference
Cadw SAM BR137
Authority
Cadw
Designated
1956-05-25
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR137. Round cairns of this type are burial monuments built during the Bronze Age, typically constructed from stones gathered from the surrounding landscape and heaped into a mound. They commonly covered cremated or inhumed human remains, sometimes accompanied by grave goods. The monuments served as focal points for ritual activity and territorial markers within prehistoric communities.

The cairn sits upon bedrock of Upper Devonian age, comprising sandstone and conglomerate strata that were interbedded during the Late Devonian period. This underlying geology would have influenced the character of stone available for the cairn's construction and the workability of the ground. The local stone sources, combined with the monument's location on elevated terrain, would have made it a prominent landmark visible across the surrounding landscape.

Though specific excavation records and finds from Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns are not documented in the available sources, the monument remains an important witness to Bronze Age burial practice and land use in Wales. Its preservation under Cadw protection ensures that this ancient monument continues to inform our understanding of prehistoric communities and their relationship with the Welsh landscape.

Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR137. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns?

Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR137.

What period does Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns date from?

Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns 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 Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns?

Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns 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 BR137.

What other scheduled monuments are near Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Tarren y Bwlch round cairn (7.6 km), Gadlys Ironworks (Remains of Blast Furnace) (7.6 km), Craig y Bwlch round cairn (7.8 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns'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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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns

Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns stands on Upper Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.

The wider landscape

Around Cefn Sychbant Round Cairns

Caerphilly CastleArchaeological site · ~18.1 miles