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Y Foel Ddu Round Barrow is a prehistoric round barrow located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference DE276. The monument sits upon bedrock composed of Caradoc Rocks, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone laid down during the Caradocian period of the Ordovician. This substantial geological foundation, formed from ancient marine sediments, has provided a stable base for the barrow's survival across thousands of years.
Round barrows of this type were constructed during the Bronze Age as burial monuments and territorial markers. Built as earthen or stone mounds raised over cremated or inhumed remains, they typically clustered in landscape groups that reflected the settlement and land-use patterns of Bronze Age communities. Y Foel Ddu represents one such monument within the broader Welsh barrow tradition.
The Caradoc bedrock underlying the site—comprising fine-grained sedimentary rocks—would have presented particular challenges and opportunities to Bronze Age builders. The local stone resources available from this geology may have influenced the monument's construction technique and materials. Today the barrow remains an important record of prehistoric burial practice and the ways ancient communities engaged with their local landscape.
Y Foel Ddu Round Barrow is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference DE276. View the official record →
Y Foel Ddu Round Barrow is a prehistoric round barrow located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference DE276.
Y Foel Ddu Round Barrow dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a round barrow. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Y Foel Ddu Round 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 DE276.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Ty'n-y-Celyn Castle Mound (6 km), Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant Crop Marks W of Meusydd Smithy (6.6 km), Tomen Cefn Glaniwrch (6.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Y Foel Ddu Round 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.
Y Foel Ddu Round Barrow stands on Caradoc Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.