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Pen Tir Ring Cairn and Ritual Platform is a prehistoric ring cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw as monument BR291. The site occupies ground underlain by Lower Devonian rocks of undifferentiated age, a geological foundation of sandstone and conglomerate beds laid down during the Early Devonian period. This bedrock provides the stone resource from which the monument was constructed.
Ring cairns represent a distinctive category of prehistoric ceremonial monument, typically comprising a circular or near-circular kerb of stones enclosing an open or sparsely filled interior. The ritual platform element at Pen Tir indicates the monument served functions beyond simple burial, suggesting its use for ceremonies, gatherings or other acts of significance to its Bronze Age or earlier builders.
The monument's location and form reflect deliberate choices made by prehistoric communities about where to establish ritual places. Surviving today as an archaeological record, Pen Tir Ring Cairn and Ritual Platform remains an important source of evidence for understanding prehistoric religious practice and land use in Wales.
Pen Tir Ring Cairn and Ritual Platform is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR291. View the official record →
Pen Tir Ring Cairn and Ritual Platform is a prehistoric ring cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw as monument BR291. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference BR291.
Pen Tir Ring Cairn and Ritual Platform dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a ring cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Pen Tir Ring Cairn and Ritual Platform 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 BR291.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Twyn Disgwylfa platform cairn (8.1 km), Carreg Waun Llech Prehistoric Standing Stone (8.4 km), Garn Coch (9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Pen Tir Ring Cairn and Ritual Platform'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.
Pen Tir Ring Cairn and Ritual Platform stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.