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Gwernvale chambered cairn is a prehistoric chambered long barrow located in Wales. The monument is protected as a scheduled ancient monument by Cadw under reference BR016. Constructed during the Neolithic period, chambered long barrows of this type served as communal burial places and represent some of Britain's earliest monumental architecture, dating to between 3500 and 2500 BC.
The cairn sits upon bedrock of Lower Devonian age, comprising interbedded sandstone and conglomerate formed during the Early Devonian period. The local geology of sandstone would have provided ready stone for the monument's construction, making this a practical location for a substantial burial structure. The builders would have quarried or gathered surface stone from the immediate vicinity to raise the mound and construct the internal burial chamber.
Chambered cairns like Gwernvale typically consisted of a stone burial chamber, often cruciform or rectangular in plan, covered by a long earthen or stone mound. The communal chambers allowed multiple burials to be deposited over generations, suggesting these monuments functioned as focal points for ritual activity and territorial markers for the Neolithic communities that built them. The site remains an important record of early Welsh prehistoric society and funerary practice.
Gwernvale chambered cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR016. View the official record →
Gwernvale chambered cairn is a prehistoric chambered long barrow located in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference BR016.
Gwernvale chambered cairn dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a chambered long barrow. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Gwernvale chambered 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 BR016.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Ironstone Quarries at Carreg Maen Taro (8.4 km), Pwll Du Limestone Quarry & Water Balance Lift (8.7 km), Dyne Steel Incline (8.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Gwernvale chambered 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.
Gwernvale chambered cairn stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.