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Cefn Wylfre Deserted Rural Settlement is a medieval house platform located in Wales. The settlement sits upon bedrock formed from Ludlow Rocks, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposited during the Ludlow period of the Silurian. This geology shaped both the landscape and the building practices of medieval inhabitants, providing stone materials for construction whilst the underlying clay-rich soils supported pastoral activity typical of upland Welsh settlements.
The house platform represents a domestic structure abandoned sometime after the medieval period, leaving behind the earthwork trace of its former occupation. Such platforms mark the foundations and flattened ground of dwellings, often the only visible remains where timber-framed or rubble-stone buildings once stood. The survival of the platform indicates the site's position on stable, well-drained ground, characteristic of deliberate settlement choices in the Welsh uplands.
Cefn Wylfre is protected by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic monuments service, under reference RD186. This designation recognises the settlement's significance as evidence of medieval rural life and land use in Wales. The site contributes to understanding patterns of habitation, agricultural adaptation and landscape change across the medieval period in upland regions.
Cefn Wylfre Deserted Rural Settlement is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference RD186. View the official record →
Cefn Wylfre Deserted Rural Settlement is a medieval house platform located in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference RD186.
Cefn Wylfre Deserted Rural Settlement dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a house platform. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cefn Wylfre Deserted Rural Settlement 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 RD186.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Castle Mound 400m N of Cefnige (5.9 km), Begwns standing stone (6 km), Blaenhenllan round cairn (6.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cefn Wylfre Deserted Rural Settlement'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 Wylfre Deserted Rural Settlement stands on Ludlow Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ludlow. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.