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Pen-y-Wyrlod Long Barrow is a prehistoric chambered long barrow located in Wales. The monument sits upon bedrock of Lower Devonian mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, rocks formed some 400 million years ago during the Early Devonian period. This geology would have been familiar to the Neolithic communities who constructed the barrow, though the precise stone used for its chambers and construction would likely have been sourced from local glacial deposits or exposures rather than quarried directly from the underlying bedrock.
As a chambered long barrow, the monument represents a significant funerary tradition of Neolithic Britain and Wales, typically constructed to house communal burials within internal stone-built chambers. These monuments served both as tombs and as territorial markers across the landscape, often commanding prominent positions within their local terrain. The chamber arrangement at Pen-y-Wyrlod would have facilitated repeated use and ritual activity across generations.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh Heritage Monuments service, under the reference BR012. This statutory protection ensures the preservation of this important archaeological site for research and public understanding of Neolithic Wales. Long barrows remain crucial evidence for studying the ritual practices, settlement patterns and social organisation of communities during the earliest farming period in Britain.
Pen-y-Wyrlod Long Barrow is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR012. View the official record →
Pen-y-Wyrlod Long Barrow is a prehistoric chambered long barrow located in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference BR012.
Pen-y-Wyrlod Long Barrow dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a chambered long barrow. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Pen-y-Wyrlod Long Barrow 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 BR012.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Remains of Blaenau Stone Circle (2.9 km), Two bowl barrows and a lime kiln 220m west of Llan Oleu (4.5 km), Craswall Priory, associated building remains, pond bays and hollow ways (5.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Pen-y-Wyrlod Long Barrow'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-Wyrlod Long Barrow stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.