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Mynydd y Garth Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn situated in Wales on bedrock of the South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation. The underlying geology, formed during the Westphalian period, comprises mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete deposits that would have shaped the physical landscape and available stone resources available to monument builders.
Round cairns of this type were typically constructed during the Bronze Age as burial monuments, with stone heaped over a central grave or cremation deposit. The cairn's location on the coal-bearing uplands of South Wales places it within a region rich in prehistoric activity, where communities exploited both the elevated terrain and mineral resources of the landscape. The specific geological setting would have influenced both the building materials and the visibility of the monument across the surrounding terrain.
The site is protected as a scheduled ancient monument under Cadw, the Welsh Historic Monuments service, under reference GM612. This designation recognises its importance as a record of prehistoric funerary practice and land use in the South Welsh uplands. The cairn survives as a physical testimony to Bronze Age settlement patterns and ritual behaviour in this distinctive geological region.
Mynydd y Garth Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM612. View the official record →
Mynydd y Garth Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn situated in Wales on bedrock of the South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference GM612.
Mynydd y Garth 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.
Mynydd y Garth 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 GM612.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Carreg Bica Standing Stone (8.3 km), Three Round Cairns on Mynydd Drumau (8.7 km), Neath Abbey Ironworks Dam (9.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Mynydd y Garth 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.
Mynydd y Garth Cairn 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.