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Tomen y Rhos is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference CM347. The monument sits upon bedrock of Ludlow Rocks, a geological formation comprising mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposited during the Ludlow period. This stable foundation of varied sedimentary deposits would have provided a firm base for the cairn's construction.
Round cairns are among the earliest monumental structures in the prehistoric landscape, typically built as burial monuments or ceremonial markers during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Their construction involved the deliberate accumulation of stone, often gathered from the surrounding terrain. The presence of this cairn reflects the ritual practices and settlement patterns of early prehistoric communities in Wales.
The monument's survival to the present day, despite millennia of weathering and agricultural activity, testifies to the substantial nature of its original construction. Its protected status recognises the archaeological and cultural significance of round cairns as key evidence for understanding prehistoric Welsh society, land use and beliefs about the dead.
Tomen y Rhos round cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CM347. View the official record →
Tomen y Rhos is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference CM347.
Tomen y Rhos round 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.
Tomen y Rhos round 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 CM347.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Garn Las platform cairn (5.4 km), Stone Setting on Waun Llwyd (5.5 km), Twyn yr Esgair Settlement (6.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Tomen y Rhos round 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.
Tomen y Rhos round cairn stands on Ludlow Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ludlow. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.