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Y Gribin Round Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MG334. The monument sits on bedrock composed of Caradoc Rocks, a geological formation of the Caradocian period comprising mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. This substantial sedimentary foundation would have been exposed or thinly soiled when the cairn was constructed, presenting the builders with readily available stone for their work.
Round cairns of this type typically served as burial monuments during the Bronze Age, though some examples date to the Neolithic period. They were built by piling stones—either gathered from the surrounding landscape or quarried from local outcrops—into distinctive mounded structures, often to mark the graves of significant individuals or community members. The Caradoc Rock base at Y Gribin would have provided a stable, naturally rocky setting for such construction.
The cairn's survival to the present day, despite millennia of weathering and potential disturbance, reflects both the substantial nature of its original construction and the relative remoteness of its Welsh location. Its protection as a Cadw monument recognises its importance as evidence of prehistoric burial practices and community organisation in the region.
Y Gribin Round Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MG334. View the official record →
Y Gribin Round Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MG334.
Y Gribin 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.
Y Gribin 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 MG334.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bwlch Sych round cairn (3 km), Siglem Las conjoined round cairns (3.3 km), Carnedd Cerrig kerb cairn (3.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Y Gribin 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.
Y Gribin Round Cairn stands on Caradoc Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.