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Llanbedr Hill Cist Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference RD182. The monument sits on bedrock composed of Ludlow Rocks, undifferentiated strata of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposited during the Ludlow epoch of the Silurian period. This geology would have shaped both the materials available for construction and the drainage characteristics of the hilltop location.
Round cairns of this type, typically Bronze Age in date, were raised as burial monuments, their stone mounds often containing cists—stone-lined burial chambers—where cremated or inhumed remains were placed. The presence of a cist indicates this example functioned as a formal burial site for one or more individuals of social standing. The construction would have required considerable labour to gather and pile stone, making such monuments visible markers of community effort and commitment to honouring the dead.
The monument's survival on open upland terrain, preserved under Cadw's protection, provides evidence of Bronze Age burial practice and settlement patterns in Wales. Such cists and cairns remain among the most direct physical records of prehistoric Welsh communities, their positions across the landscape revealing choices about where the dead were commemorated and how the living moved through and understood their environment.
Llanbedr Hill Cist Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference RD182. View the official record →
Llanbedr Hill Cist Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference RD182.
Llanbedr Hill Cist Cairn 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.
Llanbedr Hill Cist 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 RD182.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Begwns round cairn (4 km), Pentre Jack Settlement (4 km), Bailey Bedw Ring Cairn (5.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Llanbedr Hill Cist 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.
Llanbedr Hill Cist Cairn stands on Ludlow Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ludlow. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.