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Ffrith Llwynhwfa Burial Cairn is a prehistoric stone monument situated in Wales and protected as a scheduled ancient monument by Cadw under reference CN317. The cairn represents a form of burial practice common to Neolithic and Bronze Age communities across Britain and Ireland, where accumulated stones marked the resting places of the dead and served as enduring territorial markers across the landscape.
The monument stands upon bedrock of Ordovician felsic tuff, an extrusive volcanic rock formed some 450 million years ago during the Ordovician period. This ancient geological foundation would have provided builders with loose stone suitable for cairn construction, whilst the solid underlying rock ensured stability for a structure designed to last millennia. The local stone sources shaped both the appearance and durability of the monument.
Burial cairns of this type typically contained stone-built chambers or cists housing human remains, often accompanied by pottery and stone tools. The construction and maintenance of such monuments demanded significant community effort and knowledge, reflecting their importance in death rituals and the commemoration of ancestors. Ffrith Llwynhwfa's survival to the present day, despite millennia of weathering and agricultural use, testifies to the substantial labour invested in its original construction.
Ffrith Llwynhwfa Burial Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN317. View the official record →
Ffrith Llwynhwfa Burial Cairn is a prehistoric stone monument situated in Wales and protected as a scheduled ancient monument by Cadw under reference CN317.
Ffrith Llwynhwfa Burial Cairn dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Ffrith Llwynhwfa Burial 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 CN317.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Afon Dulyn ring cairn (5 km), Hafod y Garreg Deserted Rural Settlement (5.1 km), Clogwyn yr Eryr Deserted Rural Settlement (6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Ffrith Llwynhwfa Burial 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.
Ffrith Llwynhwfa Burial Cairn stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Ordovician, bedrock that formed in the Ordovician. The rock here is felsic tuff.