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Llainwen Round Cairns is a prehistoric cairn cemetery in Wales, comprising a cluster of burial monuments that rise from bedrock of Ashgill mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. The site represents a communal burial ground typical of the Bronze Age, when such cairn cemeteries served as focal points for successive generations of a local community. The rounded stone mounds, constructed from material gathered across the surrounding landscape, would have been visible markers of ancestral presence and territorial identity. The underlying Ashgill rocks, dating to the Ordovician period, form the geological foundation upon which these later prehistoric monuments were raised, creating a landscape layered with different phases of human activity and geological time.
The cairns at Llainwen exemplify the enduring practice of secondary burial, where additional interments were made within and around existing mounds over generations. Such sites often contained cremated remains, pottery and occasionally worked stone, though the specific archaeological record of individual cairns at Llainwen reflects the patterns of use, disturbance and preservation characteristic of upland burial grounds. Their cemetery arrangement suggests the importance of this location within the prehistoric settlement pattern of the region.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh Historic Monuments Service, under reference CD142, ensuring its preservation as a significant record of Bronze Age funeral practices and community organisation.
Llainwen Round Cairns is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CD142. View the official record →
Llainwen Round Cairns is a prehistoric cairn cemetery in Wales, comprising a cluster of burial monuments that rise from bedrock of Ashgill mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference CD142.
Llainwen Round Cairns dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a cairn cemetery. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Llainwen 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 CD142.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cwmsymlog Lead Mine (8.5 km), Standing Stones c.600m NE of Cwmdarren (8.6 km), Standing Stone c. 500m SW of Llyn Pendam (8.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Llainwen 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.
Llainwen Round Cairns stands on Ashgill Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.