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Location:
Near Talsarnau,
Wales (O/S - SH 647354). |
Grid Reference:
52� 53' 52" N, 4� 0' 36 " W. |
Bryn Cader Faner:
(Cairn Circle).
Bryn Cader Faner is one of the most beautiful Bronze Age sites in Wales. It
is a small cairn 8,5m (28ft) wide and less than 1m (3ft) high, with fifteen
thin slabs leaning out of the mass of the monument like a crown of thorns.
The
combination of stone circle and mound at Bryn Cader Faner bears some
resemblance to
Carn
Llechart, in
Glamorgan (Wales), and it is probably the result of a fusion of traditions.
The site was disturbed by 19th century treasure-seekers, who left a hole in
the centre.
| Bryn Cader Faner:
'Crown of Thorns'. |
Description
- Originally
there may have been about 30 pillars, each some 2m (6ft) long.
The monument sits on a hill overlooking the ancient Bronze Age track-way
which starts at Llanbedr, a seaport for one of the main trade routes to
Ireland, and proceeds to Wessex and the south of England via Trawsfynydd,
Bala and the Tanat Valley.
The Track-way passes beneath it, but as
you draw near the monument disappears, and equally if you approach from the
north you may never see it, because it is set in the centre of the flat-topped
ridge which conceals it from below. Obviously the siting was carefully contrived
to provide a concentrated dramatic impact to those coming up the
track from the south. In this monument we have a wonderfully
simple yet sensational design coupled with a most skilful choice
of site'. (1)
The most recent vandalism was at
the hands of the army before the second world war, unbelievably they
used the cairn as a target for gunnery practice and removed several of
the stones.
A similarly designed monument can be seen
at
Carn Liechart, also in Wales.
(Other Passage
Mounds)
(Other Welsh Sites)
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