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Pen Trumau Round Cairns is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR129. Round cairns of this type were constructed during the Bronze Age, typically serving as burial monuments for high-status individuals or community leaders. The cairn's structure would originally have comprised stones gathered from the surrounding landscape, often heaped over a central burial chamber or grave pit, though the monument has been substantially modified over millennia.
The site occupies terrain underlain by Lower Devonian sandstone and conglomerate, rocks formed during the Early Devonian period some 410 million years ago. This solid bedrock of interbedded sediments would have influenced both the availability of stone for cairn construction and the character of the surrounding countryside. The underlying geology, combined with the presence of the monument itself, contributes to the archaeological significance of this location.
Today, Pen Trumau Round Cairns survives as a tangible record of Bronze Age burial practice and territorial organisation in Wales. The cairn's preservation reflects the enduring nature of its stone construction, making it an important archaeological resource for understanding prehistoric settlement patterns and ritual practices across the region. Its protection by Cadw ensures its continued study and conservation for future generations.
Pen Trumau Round Cairns is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR129. View the official record →
Pen Trumau Round Cairns is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR129.
Pen Trumau Round Cairns 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.
Pen Trumau 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 BR129.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Tretower Shrunken Medieval Settlement (7.9 km), Darren ring cairn (7.9 km), Tretower Castle (8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Pen Trumau 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.
Pen Trumau Round Cairns stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.