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Cwmblaenerw House Platforms is a medieval domestic settlement located in Wales, consisting of terrace platforms cut into the sloping terrain. The site sits upon Ludlow Rocks of Undifferentiated age, a bedrock composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposited during the Ludlow period. This geology, weathered into a foundation of mixed fine clastic materials, provided the medieval inhabitants with a stable base upon which to construct their dwellings, whilst the sloping ground itself was deliberately terraced to create level building platforms.
The house platforms represent a characteristic response to the challenging topography of Welsh upland settlement. Rather than level the ground entirely, medieval builders employed the labour-intensive technique of cutting terraces into the hillside, a practice well-suited to pastoral communities whose principal activities lay in the surrounding landscape. Such platforms allowed dwellings to be positioned securely whilst minimising earthworks and accommodating drainage on naturally sloping ground.
The site is now protected by Cadw, the Welsh Historic Monuments service, under the reference RD170. This designation recognises the archaeological and historical significance of the platforms in understanding medieval settlement patterns and the domestic economy of medieval Wales. The survival of the terraced earthworks provides evidence of how medieval householders engineered their living spaces within the constraints of upland Welsh terrain.
Cwmblaenerw House Platforms is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference RD170. View the official record →
Cwmblaenerw House Platforms is a medieval domestic settlement located in Wales, consisting of terrace platforms cut into the sloping terrain. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference RD170.
Cwmblaenerw House Platforms 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.
Cwmblaenerw House Platforms 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 RD170.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Blaenhenllan round cairn (5.8 km), Castle Mound 400m N of Cefnige (6.7 km), Banc y Celyn Stone Circle (7.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cwmblaenerw House Platforms'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.
Cwmblaenerw House Platforms stands on Ludlow Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ludlow. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.