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Pen y Groes Uchaf Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn situated in Wales and protected as an ancient monument by Cadw. The site lies upon bedrock formed from Wenlock rocks, a geological formation comprising interbedded sandstone and conglomerate that was laid down during the Silurian period. This underlying geology would have influenced both the construction methods available to the monument's builders and the character of stone used in its construction.
Round cairns of this type were characteristically erected during the Bronze Age as burial monuments, typically constructed from rubble piled into a circular mound. The sandstone and conglomerate bedrock at Pen y Groes Uchaf would have provided locally quarried stone suitable for such building, with larger blocks potentially selected for the cairn's outer structure and smaller fragments incorporated into the core.
The monument's survival into the present day represents the enduring character of these stone structures. Cadw's statutory protection recognises the archaeological significance of round cairns as evidence of prehistoric burial practices and land use, with their distribution across the Welsh landscape marking sites of considerable importance to Bronze Age communities.
Pen y Groes Uchaf Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MG261. View the official record →
Pen y Groes Uchaf Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn situated in Wales and protected as an ancient monument by Cadw. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference MG261.
Pen y Groes Uchaf 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.
Pen y Groes Uchaf 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 MG261.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Gwyn Fynydd Camp (4.8 km), Roman Earthwork NE of Caersws (revealed by aerial photography) (5.9 km), Caersws Roman Site (6.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Pen y Groes Uchaf 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.
Pen y Groes Uchaf Cairn stands on Wenlock Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.