Banc y Celyn, Brecknockshire - Royal Commission on the Ancient ...

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Uplands Initiative – <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> 2008CAIRN 17305781 CEFN CLAWDD, CAIRN I Bronze Age305763 TWYN-Y-BIG, CAIRN Bronze Age247198 CEFN GLEDWEN, CAIRN II Bronze Age247197 CEFN GLEDWEN, CAIRN I Bronze Age247191 TWYN Y POST, CAIRN II Bronze Age305782 GWAUN YMRYSON, CAIRN I Bronze Age305784 CEFN CLAWDD, CAIRN II Bronze Age305783 GWAUN YMRYSON, CAIRN II Bronze Age247188 TWYN Y POST, CAIRN I Bronze Age247232 CEFN CLAWDD, CAIRN II Bronze Age247224 NANTYROFFEIRIAD FAWR, CAIRN Bronze Age305778 BLAEN LLWYN DDU, CAIRN Bronze Age247192 LLYN PEN Y LAN, CAIRN Bronze Age?247251 GWAUN YMRYSON, CAIRN IV Bronze Age?247252 GWAUN YMRYSON, CAIRN III Bronze Age?247216 NANTYROFFEIRIAD FAWR, CAIRN Unknown247215 NANTYROFFEIRIAD FAWR, CAIRN UnknownCAIRN? 1247189 TWYN Y POST, STONE SPREAD II Bronze Age?RING BARROW? 1247190 TWYN Y POST, EARTHWORK Bronze Age?RING CAIRN? 1247263 BLAEN GWENDDWR, STONE SPREAD Bronze Age?STONE CIRCLE 1275623 BANC Y CELYN STONE CIRCLE PrehistoricTable 5: Bronze Age sites40
Uplands Initiative – <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> 20083.2.3 Significance of the prehistoric archaeologyThe number of prehistoric monuments and finds within the <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> study area isnot high. There is no evidence of prehistoric settlement and the evidence from withinthe study area is limited to Neolithic and Bronze Age funerary monuments, as well as apossible Bronze Age stone circle on <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> hill. Occasional finds of Neolithicand Bronze Age artefacts outside the study area are, however, suggestive of settledcommunities exploiting the wider landscape during both periods.The presence of a small Neolithic chambered tomb at Bailey Bach is of considerablesignificance in view of the rarity of such monuments in upland contexts in mid-Wales.The major Neolithic chambered tombs of Breconshire are located much further to theeast, and are considerably larger than the Bailey Bach example. Its diminutive sizemakes it unsurprising that Bailey Bach was originally described as a cist or a roundcairn, but it would appear to bear similar characteristics to some of the smaller, simplertombs or cromlechs seen in southwest Wales, such as the Carn Wnda burial chamber atLlanwnda, Pembrokeshire. The significance of this site is recognised by its protectionas a Scheduled Ancient Monument.The group of over 20 Bronze Age cairns now recorded within the study area aresignificant as they are evidence of a settled Bronze Age population in the landscape, butthe position of many of the large cairns along the high ground of Cefn Clawdd andTwyn y Post may also tell us that some may have been positioned to be visible from theeast and northeast. The Cefn Clawdd Cairn NPRN 305784 is now the only one of thegroup that is sufficiently well preserved to be seen on the skyline from that direction.The cairns of Twyn y Post and Gwaun Ymryson are now rather denuded, therefore it isdifficult to know how visible they originally were in the landscape. However, it is veryinteresting to note that the old Brecon to Builth Wells road (NPRN 247185), which mayhave it origins as a medieval, or even a Roman road, follows a line of cairns northwardsfrom NPRN 247232 on Cefn Clawdd, past Twyn y Post Cairn II (NPRN 247191), thePrehistoric Monument Complex at Twyn y Post (NPRN 307215), the Blaen Llwyn DduCairn (NPRN 305778) and also the Llyn Pen y Lan Cairn (NPRN 247192). It is notunreasonable to suspect that these ancient cairns have been used to guide travellersacross the open moor for many centuries. It is also possible that much stone was takenfrom these cairns, over time, to help maintain or repair the road surface.Six of the <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> Bronze Age cairns are protected as Scheduled AncientMonuments, including the three within the Twyn y Post Prehistoric MonumentComplex. Collectively, the funerary monuments of the study area are of highsignificance as a group, despite the fact that most are now in poor condition due to stonerobbing or erosion.The only other prehistoric monument in the area is the <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> Stone Circle. Itssignificance is questionable, despite its status as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, as itpresents little surface evidence of being a stone circle. Without further study, includingexcavation, the archaeological significance of this site is difficult to determine, althoughCPAT have linked this site with several other small stone circles as a new type of ritualmonument in the Powys landscape (Jones, 2008, p.25-32).41
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