Nearest town: Merthyr Tydfil
Nearest village: Deri
Map reference: SO 100036
On the top of Carn Bugail there
is a damaged burial cist, once lined with upright stones
(70Kb)
Gelligaer Common is scattered with prehistoric and historic remains (see also Gelligaer standing stone). The largest and most visible of the Bronze Age sites is Carn Bugail round cairn, at the summit of Cefn Gelligaer (475m - 1558ft). Its almost circular mound of stones measures 15.5m x 16.4m (51ft x 54ft) and it is bounded by a kerb of larger slabs (0.3m - 0.9ft high), laid flat. On its top there are some slabs sloping upwards and overlapping towards the centre, where there is a damaged burial cist, probably originally lined with upright slabs (but only a small one of these, on the west, is still in place). Only one of the two side slabs of the cist remains and the oval cover stone, 2m (6.5ft) long, has been displaced to the south.
There is a record that Carn Bugail was opened in the 1700 and that some urns and burnt bones were found. J.W. Lukis in 1875 recorded the existence of three parallel cists, each apparently measuring 3m x 0.6m (9.8ft x 1.9ft), two divided by transverse slabs, but there is no evidence of them anymore.
To the north of Carn Bugail there is a smaller cairn and other Bronze Age round cairns lie to the north and south.
On the top of Carn Bugail there
is a damaged burial cist, once lined with upright stones
(70Kb)
