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Cwm-piban Platform House is a medieval platform house situated on bedrock of Ludlow age rocks composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. The monument is protected by Cadw under reference RD188. Platform houses represent a characteristic form of medieval settlement in Wales, where the dwelling was constructed upon an artificially levelled or terraced platform cut into sloping ground. This building method provided both a level foundation and improved drainage on difficult terrain. The geology of the site, with its mix of mudstone and sandstone, would have presented considerable challenges for construction, though such variable bedrock was typical of many Welsh upland settlements. The platform technique allowed medieval builders to adapt flexible timber-frame structures to steep Welsh valleys without requiring extensive stone foundations.
The Ludlow rocks forming the bedrock here belong to the Silurian period and would have weathered to create unstable slopes, making deliberate platform construction essential for stability. Cwm-piban Platform House survives as a rare example of this settlement form, preserving evidence of medieval Welsh domestic life and construction practices adapted to local geology and landscape.
Cwm-piban Platform House is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference RD188. View the official record →
Cwm-piban Platform House is a medieval platform house situated on bedrock of Ludlow age rocks composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference RD188.
Cwm-piban Platform House dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a platform house. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cwm-piban Platform House 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 RD188.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Begwns standing stone (4.5 km), Castle Mound 400m N of Cefnige (4.7 km), Begwns round cairn (4.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cwm-piban Platform House'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.
Cwm-piban Platform House stands on Ludlow Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ludlow. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.