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Crug yr Afan Round Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference GM233. Round cairns of this type were constructed during the Bronze Age as burial monuments, typically serving as the final resting place for individuals of social significance. The monument's construction would have involved the deliberate accumulation of stone to create a prominent mound visible across the surrounding landscape.
The cairn sits upon bedrock of the South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, a geological sequence formed during the Westphalian period. This foundation comprises mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete—materials that would have been available locally and potentially worked by prehistoric communities. The varied geology of the Coal Measures would have influenced both the character of available building stone and the broader environment in which the monument's builders lived.
As a protected monument, Crug yr Afan retains archaeological potential. The specific conditions of its site—its location on Coal Measures bedrock and its survival into the present day—preserve evidence of Bronze Age burial practice and the relationship between monument builders and their geological landscape. The cairn remains an important record of prehistoric Wales.
Crug yr Afan Round Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM233. View the official record →
Crug yr Afan Round Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference GM233.
Crug yr Afan Round 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.
Crug yr Afan Round 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 GM233.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Carn y Hyrddod & Neighbouring Cairn (2 km), Mynydd Ton Cairns (3.1 km), Mynydd Caerau Round Cairns (3.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Crug yr Afan Round 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.
Crug yr Afan Round Cairn stands on South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.