The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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Bodvoc Stone Ring Cairn

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00753w
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Margam
Unitary authority : Neath Port Talbot
NGR : SS8307588788
Site Type (preferred type first) : Bronze Age Ring cairn
Status : Scheduled Monument

Summary :
A ring cairn now very badly overgrown and has probably been heavily damaged, the only clear feature being the replica of the Bodvoc stone (PRN 809w), erected with the inscription facing S.

Description :
This monument was described by RCAHMW in 1962 as '12.8m in diameter and consists of a stony bank about 3m wide and 0.3m high. There is a suggestion of a slight outer ditch'. OS fieldworkers recorded the diameter in 1956 as 14.0m. It is now very badly overgrown and has probably been heavily damaged, the only clear feature being the replica of the Bodvoc stone (PRN 809w), erected with the inscription facing S. The only earthwork feature is a mound 3m to the S of the stone, 1.7m wide and 0.4m deep, possibly part of the bank, with a depression (?ditch) to the S of this, heavily overgrown with reeds. This is the only point at which a possible edge to the monument can be seen; c4m to the N of the stone is a metalled track, beyond which is a pond. diameter not possible to determine;? height c0.4m GGAT 72 Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Sites survey 2001.

ALSO SITE OF BODVOC STONE 00809W
(1956) The barrow rim is 14.0m in diameter , 3.0m wide and 0.3m high. It is grass covered with vague traces of an outer ditch, though this may be modern and a result of much surface digging which has occurred in the vicinity. A concrete replica of the stone complete with inscription and OS BM has been erected in the centre of the round barrow. The original stone was seen in Margam Museum. (Source 03)
(1961/1976) On Mynydd Margam, an upland massif between Port Talbot and Maesteg. Barrows and cairns on the Margam Estate between Llangynwyd and Port Talbot were excavated by the National Museum of Wales in 1921, but apart from brief references the results were never recorded. The mounds had all been previously damaged, but one cist burial containing slightly charred bones was found at Twmpath Diwlith (PRN 754w). Some of the mounds had been built of irregularly cut turves, and yielded a few flint flakes.
Ring cairn at about 341m above O.D. on the level summit of a ridge at the E end of Mynydd Margam. It is 12.8m in diameter and consists of a stony bank about 3m wide and 0.3m high. There is a suggestion of a slight outer ditch. At the centre stands a replica of the inscribed stone of Bodvoc, of which the original (I iii 848; PRN809w ), now in the Margam Abbey Museum, probably stood here from the time of its erection. If this is so , the form of the cairn is original, and not due to robbing in recent times. (Source 02 )
(1990) A ring cairn 12.8m in diameter consisting of a low bank 3m wide and 3m ( sic ) high , with slight suggestion of an outer ditch. (The bank is 0.3m high, not 3m ). A replica stone stands on the site ( Source 09 )
(1991) I could not identify the ring cairn for sure. If the circle is as large as stated , assuming the stone to be central , then the metalled access track to the N must impinge upon it. Undergrowth makes the circle difficult to trace. (Source 08 )
(1997) It is still not possible to make out the outline of the cairn with any confidence. It has almost certainly been truncated on the north. Trees have been planted quite close to the site on the SW (Source 10).
(1999) 14m in diameter, 3m wide & 0.3m high. Possible traces of an outer ditch. Stone in centre is a copy of Bodvoc inscribed stone (now in Margam museum) PRN 00809W. Cairn is on edge of FE land, clear of trees. (Source 01)

Sources :
Langlands, L. , 2021 , Foel Trawsnant Windfarm Connection: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment & Assessment of the Significance of the Impact of the Development on the Historic Landscape (ASIDOHL2)
01/ Forest Enterprise Welsh Heritage Assets Project Phase III
02/ PM list / RCAHM /// 1976/ Glam Invent/ p 84 No. 271
03/ MM Record card/ OS/// 1956/ SS 88 NW 13/
04/ MM Record card/ OS/// 1976/ SS 88 NW 13/
05/ PH Desc text// Westwood/ JO/ 1876/ Lapidarium Wallise/ pp 22 - 3
06/ PM desc text/// 1928/ Arch Camb/ p 291
07/ PM Desc text// Fox/ C & A/ 1934/ Antiquity/ Vol. 8 p 401 fig. 4
08/ MM Desc text/ CADW/ 1991/ AM 107/
09/ MM Desc text// Knight/ JK/ 1990/ AM 7/
10/ MM Desc text// Burnham/ HB/ 1997/ AM 107 B/
Forest Enterprise Welsh Heritage Assets Project Phase III
12/Desc Text/Cadw/ Full Management Report/2005/Copy in further information file

Events :
E000460 : Bodvoc Stone Ring Cairn (year : 1921)
E008389 : Foel Trawsnant Windfarm, Maesteg (year : 2021)
E008391 : Foel Trawsnant Windfarm, Maesteg (year : 2019-21)

Related records
National Monuments Record NPRN 93274
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 751w
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 752w
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 754w

Compiled date :


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