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Gelligaer Common Round Cairns is a prehistoric round cairn located on Gelligaer Common in Wales. The monument sits upon bedrock of the South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, a geological sequence of mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete deposited during the Westphalian period. The upland setting and underlying geology would have been well known to Bronze Age communities who constructed cairns as burial monuments across the Welsh uplands.
Round cairns were typically constructed as burial structures during the Bronze Age, built by piling stones gathered from the surrounding landscape to create prominent monuments visible across considerable distances. The stones used at Gelligaer would have been sourced locally from the coal measure rocks and associated deposits of the immediate area. Such cairns often contained central burials, sometimes accompanied by grave goods, though their construction and use could extend over considerable periods.
The cairn has been protected as a scheduled monument under Cadw, Wales's historic monuments service, under reference GM220. This designation recognises the archaeological importance of the site as a surviving prehistoric funerary monument. The common setting preserves the cairn within a landscape that would have held significance for ancient communities, offering insight into Bronze Age burial practices and settlement patterns in the Welsh uplands.
Gelligaer Common Round Cairns is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM220. View the official record →
Gelligaer Common Round Cairns is a prehistoric round cairn located on Gelligaer Common in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference GM220.
Gelligaer Common Round Cairns 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.
Gelligaer Common Round Cairns 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 GM220.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Capel Gwladys (3.1 km), Tir Lan round barrow cemetery (3.4 km), Fforest Gwladys Roman practice camp (3.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Gelligaer Common Round Cairns'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.
Gelligaer Common Round Cairns 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.