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Ancient Sites in The Rhondda ... |
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Ancient Monuments in the Rhondda
Valleys The monuments that are included in this guide are all pre Dark Age. The information is given in a chronological order. All of the technical measurements are supplied by the books, “An Inventory of Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan, Vol. I, Part I: Stone Age and Bronze Age.” and, “An Inventory of Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan, Vol. I, Part II: Iron Age and Roman Occupation.” and the technical descriptions are taken from, 'R.C.H.M. Glamorgan Vol 1, Part 1 and Part 2'
The valleys run nearly parallel in a south east direction.
The two valleys meet at Porth. There are over 80 cairns on the hill tops of the two Rhondda valleys. A large number of the cairns are classified as “Uncertain or destroyed” about a quarter counts as this. Most cairns that are featured in this guide are round cairns, unless otherwise stated, sites classed as ring cairns include cairn circles and are quite rare. The platform cairn are rarer than the ring cairn. There are 10 cairn
groups or cemeteries, half are dubious. And
6 pre Dark Age settlements are contained in the Rhondda valleys,
with a couple just outside the Rhondda but are included in the
scope of this guide. Not all of the many sites mentioned above are included in this work.
All of the monuments that are listed in this guide are
listed in the Inventories of Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan, with
the exception of the Late Neolithic settlement of Cefn Glas. The earliest known monument in the Rhondda is a Mesolithic settlement on the mountain ridge of Craig y Llyn (SN 917 030). During forestry work on the ridge in the 1960’s, flint implements were found, along with the waste that creating such tools would make. No settlement has been found but the vast number of finds make it probable that one existed. |
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A Late Neolithic hut floor was discovered at
Cefn Glas (SN 932 024). Late
Neolithic flints were found at this site.
Unfortunately the area now lies under afforested land. Garn Fach (SN 905 033) is a turf-covered
mound that is 10.1m N-S by about 0.6m high.
It has a modern stack of stones on top.
Carn Foesen (SN 908 029) is a
On Hirwaun Common, Craig y Bwlch (SN 942 035)
is 11m in diameter and 0.9m high.
Craig y Bwlch shares a great view of the
Brecon Beacons with Tarren y Bwlch, which is on the edge of a
cliff. This cairn measures 8.9m in diameter and is 1.2m high.
This cairn has a central hollow 2.5m in diameter and 0.4m
deep. The National
Grid Reference is SN 948 034.
The moorland ridge on Mynydd Tynewydd has
Garn Bica (SN 943 005) on its summit.
This circular cairn is 10.4m in diameter and is 0.6m high.
A central hollow, 2.5m in diameter is an excavation hole.
Garn Fach (SN 945 001) is 5.5m in diameter
and 0.6m high. The
cairn might be natural.
Close to the bridge at Lluest-wen, which is
near the head of the Rhondda Fach valley, a disturbed cairn (SN
961 014) measures 11.9m in diameter and 0.9m high.
There is “crater” 3m in diameter in the centre.
Garn Wen (SN 965 008) is found near the head
of the Rhondda Fach valley. The
cairn is 7.6m in diameter and 0.4m high.
The cairn is very hard to find and it would be impossible
if it were not for the boundary stone that is found near the
centre.
West of Blaenrhondda is Carn y Wiwer (SS 902
991). It is roughly
7.6m in diameter and 0.3m high.
A little further south is Bachgen Garreg (SS
908 981). On a knoll
the denuded cairn base is 12.2m long from north to south by 7.6m
wide. The cairn does
not appear to be very high but from the SW its has a height of
0.9m. There is a
hole, which seems to have been the result of robbing.
Further south again is the ring cairn Pebyll
(SS 911 973). The
structure is oval and measures 24.7m long internally from NE to SW
by 22.9m wide, the stony bank varies from 1.5m to 4m in width and
up to 0.6m high. There is a damaged entrance on the S 2.8m wide defined by
leaning and recumbent slabs.
On the NW there is a smaller entrance.
In the bank on the SE there is a stone cist about 0.6m
square.
Near to Pebyll on the mountain summit is a cairn capped by an O.S. pillar. The cairn is 7.6m in diameter and 0.6m high. The National Grid Reference is SS 906 974.
The most impressive round cairn in the
Rhondda is Crug yr Afan (SS 921 954).
It is located W of Cwmparc.
A ditch of 28.4m in diameter surrounds the cairn.
The ditch has a width of 1.8m at the top and 0.6m at the
flat bottom and is cut 0.6m into the subsoil.
A berm 4m wide separates the ditch from a mound of clayey
soil containing small slabs of stones, this is 20.5m in diameter
and 0.9m high. The
top is flat and measures 13.5m in diameter.
A round cairn measuring 10m in diameter and 0.9m high is
piled on top of the clayey mound.
There is a cairn in between the defences of the Iron Age hillfort of Maendy Camp in Cwmparc (SS 957 955). The cairn is about 9.1m east-west by 6.1m, and 0.3m high.
A hole in the centre is 1.8m in diameter.
Tarren Maerdy I (SS 979 972) is 7.6m in diameter and 0.6m high. A
damaged cist is at the centre 1.4m long from E to W and 0.9m wide
and 0.8m deep.
Tarren Maerdy II (SS 981 971)
A shallow depression at its centre contains a damaged cist. The capstone 2.1m long by 1.2m wide by 23cm thick lies across the depression.
An extension of Cefn Rhondda, Mynydd Tyntyle is level moorland and the cairns are found just north of the summit. The first cairn (SS 993 963) is 5.8m in
diameter and 0.3m high. There
is a small central hollow.
The next cairn (SS 993 964) is a platform cairn and is found 17m north of the previous cairn. The cairn is 14.3m in diameter and 0.4m high.
The centre is slightly “dished”.
Although Carn yr Hyrddod (SS 920 934) is
situated slightly outside the Rhondda, it is included here because
it is easily accessed from the Bwlch mountain road from Cwmparc to
Blaengwynfi and many of the surrounding cairns can be seen from
its summit. The cairn
is 15.5m in diameter and 0.9m high.
The ring cairn on Tarren Felen Uchaf (SS 947 948) is found S of Cwmparc. The
ring bank is 9.1m in diameter and 2.1m wide and 15cm high.
Between Nant-y-moel and Tonpentre, there is a moorland ridge called Mynydd Ton. The first cairn (SS 947 939) is 10.7m in diameter and 0.6m
high.
The second cairn (SS 949 941) is 10.4m in
diameter and 0.6m high.
Between Price Town and Clydach Vale is Mynydd
William Meyrick. Garn
Fawr (SS 952 927) is 18.9m in diameter and 0.6m high.
The cairn has been very disturbed.
A triangulation pillar is set into the cairn and two modern
cairns are contained within its diameter, one larger than the
other. Near the south side is an upright slab, which may be what
remains of a cist.
Garn Fach (SS 957 917) is 11.6m in diameter
and 0.4m high. The
top was originally flat which suggests that this cairn may be a
platform cairn. The centre is slightly hollowed out. The ground slopes to the south.
Between Blaenclydach and Ystrad Rhondda is
Mynydd y Gelli. The
cairn circle (SS 975 940) called the ‘Rhondda Stonehenge’
consists of small slabs enclosing a ring measuring 10.7m NW – SE
by 9.1m. Nine of the
slabs survive and there may have originally been fifteen.
The slabs measure 0.6m sq and 8-15cm thick.
A hole found 3.7m from the centre was probably once a cist.
A platform cairn 31m south east of the
‘Rhondda Stonehenge’ consists of a kerb of blocks enclosing a
level platform 6m in diameter.
South of Tonypandy is Mynydd Pen-y-graig (SS
988 912) it has fine views in all directions except the south
west. The mound is 5.2m in diameter and 25cm high.
A cist at the centre is square, 1.1m each way.
Carn y Pigwn (ST 012 974) is found east of Ferndale. The cairn is 11.3m in diameter and 0.6m high.
The cairn found at the south end of Cefn Gwyngul is east of Ynys-hir (ST 036 929) it is 14.6m in diameter and 0.3m high. A modern wall divides the cairn in half travelling east to west.
Craig y Pant (SN
896 036) is damaged by forestry.
It is 10.7m NW – SE and 0.9m high.
Foel Chwern (SN 898 039) is made of small
slabs and turf-covered, it is 7.3m in diameter and 0.6m high.
Not all cairns are man-made or intended for burial. So called ‘walkers-cairns’ are tricky, they can be relatively modern or may mark the spot where a genuine Bronze Age cairn once existed or they could be way-marks on old trackways. Garn Goch (SN 905 016) is a marker on a
ridge-way route.
Another type of cairn is natural terrain that could be mistaken as sepulchral. Carn Eiddil (SS 972 997) found on the Rhondda
Fach side of the road from Maerdy to Aberdare, is considered to be
a natural outcrop.
Classed under probably sepulchral, is a group
of cairns in Maendy Camp (SS 957 955) in Cwmparc.
Nine small mounds scatter the end of this spur.
The mounds consist of three ‘scoop-graves’ being 3m
long by 1.5m wide and 0.2m high.
Low turf-covered irregular cairns make up the remaining
six. They measure
2.5m in diameter and 0.2m high.
Here is a scoop-grave from the site.
Originally designated as doubtfully
sepulchral, the cairn group found at Carn y Wiwer (ST 026 943) is
now thought to be probably sepulchral.
Found north east of Wattstown are 19 mounds.
They are all roughly circular and are on average 0.3m high
but their diameters vary.
The picture above is one of the larger
cairns. In the
picture below the cairn is a smaller example.
Included for completeness is the cairn group
on Mynydd y Gelli (SS 976 942).
This group is classed as non-sepulchral.
Mynydd y Gelli is south of Ystrad Rhondda.
The site comprises of nine small heaps of stones that
measure 3 to 5m in diameter and less than 0.5m high.
They are generally in the form of the cairn in the picture
below.
Maendy Camp (SS 957 955) is an Iron Age
hill-fort. It is
classed as being a Multivallate Enclosure with Wide-Spaced
Ramparts. The camp is
1.5km south of Treorci. All
sides are steep except the west.
The area encompassed by the camp is 0.9ha, the central
enclosure is 0.2ha. A
stony bank forms the inner enclosure, which measures 6m wide and
0.6m high. In the south east is the entrance, which is 7.5m wide, a post
hole was found at this position.
The outer rampart is best preserved on the west,
measurements being 9m wide and 1.5m high.
On the south the bank curves inwards to form an entrance
about 4.5m long and 2.7m wide.
Excavations revealed a pavement of stones, 2.7m wide and
extending 11m. There
might have been another entrance in the north.
Below is a picture of the inner rampart on the west side.
A Roman Marching Camp at Twyn y Briddallt (ST
001 982) is north of Ferndale and follows the top of a ridge. The bank and ditch measures 5.5m wide and 0.9m high.
Usually Roman marching camps used geometrical regularity
but this site takes advantage of the form of the ground.
The enclosure measures 402m NW – SE and 183m wide, the
overall area measures 7.3 hectares.
The entrances are placed on the NW and NE and are formed by
a bank 3.6m wide and 0.6m high. On the ground
there is not much to see, just a field. but the camp can be appreciated for its size and positioning.
Huts and enclosures above Garreg Lwyd (SN 923
019) over look the head of the Rhondda Fawr.
Two groups of irregular enclosures with round huts, most of
which are between 2.5m and 3.5m in diameter, make up the site.
The larger group has 12 or 13 round huts with two pairs of
rectangular enclosures. The
walls stand a metre high and are 1.2m thick and are made up of
rubble faced partly with laid stones and orthostats.
The exact date of the site is uncertain, the most likely time period is the Roman occupation. Below is a picture of an enclosure taken from the north and facing the Rhondda Fawr valley. The mountain in the background is Pen
Pych.
The hut settlement at Hen Dre’r Gelli (SS
976 942) is found a kilometre south of Ystrad.
The remains of a round house 10m in diameter with a wall
1.3 to 1.7m thick was found.
The entrance was at the south and a crecentric annexe 2.5m
wide outside the wall on the north.
NNE from this hut, about 80m away, is a low bank 2m wide,
two straight sections meet in an angle. This bank concealed the foundations of a massive wall.
A round hut was discovered at this spot.
The site is now under the tip.
The pottery found dates the site, coarse grey
Romano-British ware, of 2nd or 3rd century.
Padell y Bwlch (SN 944 035) is 2km south of
Hirwaun. The
settlement is found at the foot of a cliff.
Many parts of the enclosure have been adopted as sheep
shelters and as a result the settlement is much ruined.
There are a couple of ruined huts, two measure 3.7m sq, a
ruined foundation of a rectangular building measuring 10.7m long
by 2.7m and another rectangular hut 7.3m long by 2.4m.
The area enclosed by the settlement is quite big, only an
aerial photograph would do the site justice.
Four huts lie below Tarren y Bwlch (SN 951
035) on a steep north-facing slope.
The huts are found 600m E of Padell y Bwlch and 20m higher.
This site along with Padell y Bwlch seem to be designed
with easy access to the mountain ridges.
Hut 1 is 5m long by 3.3m wide.
Hut 2 is built against hut 3 and is 3.7m long by 3m long.
Hut 3 is the main structure, oval, 3.3m wide and 2.7m long.
Hut 4 is 4.3m long by 3.3m wide, walls being 1m wide and
0.5m high. Pictured
below are two of the huts.
On Mynydd Cefnygyngon (SN 957 034) are more
huts and enclosures. Later
structures have confused the layout of this site but where best
preserved the walls of the main enclosure are 3m thick and 0.5m
high. A hut lies at
the S end of the enclosure and measures 3.7m in diameter.
The remaining structures are scattered to the east and
north of the main enclosure.
Most has been reused as shelters, hafodai and lambing pens.
There are about sixteen huts all mostly made of walls 1m
thick, of thin laid slabs, and have a height of about 0.3m or
less.
This site along with the above two, namely Padell y Bwlch and Tarren y Bwlch are dated at the time of the Roman occupation, these settlements could have been in use for some time before the accepted date of the site. These kind of hut settlements are
concentrated in a particular part of Glamorgan, namely Rhondda and
Aberdare. Garreg Lwyd
at Blaenrhondda, Padell y Bwlch, Tarren y Bwlch, Mynydd Cefngyngon,
Buarth Maen (not detailed here, in Llwydcoed, Aberdare) and Hen
Dre’r Gelli are
unique in Glamorgan. The following complete inventory of sites and
monuments are taken from Paul R. Davis ‘Historic Rhondda’. * indicates that a picture of the site or
monument is included in this work. Round Cairns
Platform Cairns
Ring Cairns
Uncertain or Destroyed Cairns
Cairn Groups
Settlements
* indicates that a picture of the site or
monument is included in this work. THE
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The two big lakes on the top left of the map represent the beginning of
the two Rhondda valleys, namely Rhondda
Fach and Fawr, right and left respectively.
