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Coed Newydd Boiling Mounds & Smelting Hearth is a prehistoric iron forge situated in Wales. The site comprises multiple mounds created through the accumulation of waste material from ironworking processes, together with evidence of in-situ smelting hearths. The underlying Dinantian bedrock, composed of sandstone, limestone and argillaceous rocks, provided both raw materials and structural foundations for metallurgical activity. The varied geology of this Mississippian-age stone would have influenced both the quality of ore available locally and the heat-retention properties of the hearth construction.
The boiling mounds represent the physical signature of sustained prehistoric iron extraction and processing. Material was discarded in distinct heaps as slag and waste products accumulated from repeated smelting cycles. The presence of in-situ hearths indicates this was not merely a collection point but an active working site where iron ore was reduced to usable metal.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh heritage organisation, and is registered as AN103. Such sites are rare and valuable records of early metallurgical knowledge in Wales, demonstrating how prehistoric communities exploited local geological resources and developed specialised craft expertise.
Coed Newydd Boiling Mounds & Smelting Hearth is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference AN103. View the official record →
Coed Newydd Boiling Mounds & Smelting Hearth is a prehistoric iron forge situated in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference AN103.
Coed Newydd Boiling Mounds & Smelting Hearth dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a iron forge. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Coed Newydd Boiling Mounds & Smelting Hearth 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 AN103.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Parciau Dovecote (2.1 km), Maen Addwyn (3.7 km), Pant-y-Saer Burial Chamber (4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Coed Newydd Boiling Mounds & Smelting Hearth'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.
Coed Newydd Boiling Mounds & Smelting Hearth stands on Dinantian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is sandstone, limestone and argillaceous rocks.