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Maes Clythan Wood cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR310. The monument sits upon Lower Devonian bedrock of sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded deposits that formed during the Early Devonian period. This solid geological foundation provided the underlying landscape upon which the cairn's builders constructed their monument.
Round cairns of this type typically date to the Bronze Age and served as burial structures for prominent members of prehistoric communities. Built from stone cleared from the surrounding landscape, such cairns often contained cremated remains or inhumations, sometimes accompanied by grave goods. The durable sandstone and conglomerate bedrock at Maes Clythan Wood would have offered accessible stone resources for the monument's construction.
The cairn's location in woodland today reflects the long history of land use and vegetation change in Wales since its construction. The protection afforded by Cadw ensures this Bronze Age monument is preserved as an important record of prehistoric burial practice and community values in the Welsh landscape.
Maes Clythan Wood cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR310. View the official record →
Maes Clythan Wood cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR310.
Maes Clythan Wood 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.
Maes Clythan Wood 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 BR310.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Carn Caws round cairn (8.3 km), Pant Serthfa round cairn (8.6 km), Pant Serthfa stone row (8.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Maes Clythan Wood 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.
Maes Clythan Wood cairn stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.