Garw Valley Garden History and Heritage

Sunday April 10th 2011 was another beautiful day for those who came to Bryn y Wrach common to take part in the project.  Gareth and Carl finished the topographical survey of the area around the mound, and extended it also to a second possible cairn which has been noticed a little to the northwest.  Ian carried out the Magnetometry survey of the mound, and also of the possible cairn with the assistance of Lyn, Gwyn and Geraint.   Paul and Jenny, along with everyone else, including Peter and Ceri, worked on clearing the layer of old dung which had been piled over the mound many years ago. 

The results of the day were quite exciting.  The topographical survey now gives us an accurate plan of a large part of the common and includes the mound, a possible cairn, field boundaries and the pond at the top of the hill.   The Resistivity survey carried out on April 9th seems to show a possible ditch around part of the mound, which seemed to confirm that it is in fact a Bronze Age round barrow or cairn.  The Magnetometry survey of the possible cairn surprisingly shows a circular feature, which may well be the outline of another Bronze Age burial cairn. 

At the end of the day, all the focus went on clearing the dung off the mound. It didn't take long before the thin layer of dung, which was full of nettle roots, old baler twine and burnt stone was scraped away to reveal a layer of stones which seem likely to be the body of a genuine Bronze Age cairn, undisturbed and intact over 3,000 years after it was built.  Once this evidence was recorded and photographed, it was quickly reburied to protect it from the weather, and the horses and cows that graze the common.  This was a very rewarding end to a weekend of hard work by all those involved.