Blaenau Gwent is a unitary authority area in eastern South Wales. It has three heavily industrialised valleys, which are the setting for the eight post-medieval scheduled monuments. The uplands have three, possibly four prehistoric monuments, and a medieval site is in the south of the borough. There are 13 scheduled sites in total. The county borough was part of the historic county of Monmouthshire (historic), although shifting boundaries mean Y Domen Fawr round cairn was formerly in Glamorgan.
Scheduled monuments have statutory protection. It is illegal to disturb the ground surface or any standing remains. The compilation of the list is undertaken by Cadw Welsh Historic Monuments, which is an executive agency of the National Assembly of Wales. [1] The list of scheduled monuments below is supplied by Cadw [2] with additional material from RCAHMW and Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust.
Image | Name | Site type | Community | Location | Details | Period | SAM No & Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Y Domen Fawr round cairn | Round cairn | Ebbw Vale | 51°45′25″N3°12′34″W / 51.757°N 3.2095°W , SO166170 | Early Bronze Age burial cairn | (Bronze Age) | PrehistoricGM588 [3] | |
Afon Sirhowy Hut Circle | Hut circle settlement | Tredegar | 51°47′56″N3°16′44″W / 51.799°N 3.2788°W , SO119119 | Bronze Age hut circle, 5.3m in diameter | (Bronze Age) | PrehistoricMM347 [4] | |
Twyn Bryn March round cairn | Round cairn | Tredegar | 51°48′10″N3°15′09″W / 51.8028°N 3.2524°W , SO137123 | The best preserved of a group of Bronze Age burial cairns, 5m across | (Bronze Age) | PrehistoricMM344 [5] | |
Cefn Manmoel cross-ridge dyke | Cross Ridge Dyke | Cwm, (also Argoed, Caerphilly) | 51°44′39″N3°12′06″W / 51.7442°N 3.2018°W , SO171057 | Linear defensive earthwork which may be from neolithic or medieval period. This site crosses the border into Caerphilly | MM345 [6] | ||
St Illtyd's Motte | Motte | Llanhilleth | 51°42′38″N3°08′03″W / 51.7105°N 3.1343°W , SO217019 | Castle Mound next to the church. (Also known as Twyn Motte) Probably destroyed in 1233 | (Norman) | MedievalMM141 [7] | |
Sirhowy Ironworks | Industrial monument | Tredegar | 51°46′59″N3°14′37″W / 51.783°N 3.2436°W , SO143101 | Ironworks from 1778, site now open to the public | (18th century) | Post-Medieval/ModernMM185 [8] | |
Trefil Quarries North | Quarry | Tredegar | 51°49′04″N3°16′54″W / 51.8179°N 3.2818°W , SO117140 | Limestone Quarry opened in 1794 | (18th century) | Post-Medieval/ModernMM338 [9] | |
Clydach Coal Level | Tramroad | Brynmawr | 51°48′09″N3°09′40″W / 51.8024°N 3.161°W , SO200121 | Rock-cut coal levels from 1812 and tramroad | (19th century) | Post-Medieval/ModernMM264 [10] | |
Cefn Golau | Cholera cemetery | Tredegar | 51°45′37″N3°14′57″W / 51.7603°N 3.2491°W , SO138075 | Cemetery from the 1830s and 40s Cholera epidemics | (19th century) | Post-Medieval/ModernMM287 [11] | |
Clydach Rail Road | Tramroad | Brynmawr | 51°48′12″N3°09′30″W / 51.8033°N 3.1584°W , SO202122 | Stretch of Clydach Rail Road near Brynmawr, with causeway and stone arched bridge known as Hafod Arch | (19th century) | Post-Medieval/ModernMM263 [12] | |
Marine Colliery Pumping Engine | Industrial monument | Cwm | 51°43′53″N3°10′33″W / 51.7315°N 3.1759°W , SO188042 | Steam pumping engine, relocated to near the colliery entrance | (19th century) | Post-Medieval/ModernMM218 [13] | |
Mynydd Bedwellty Winding Engine | Industrial monument | Tredegar | 51°44′41″N3°13′40″W / 51.7448°N 3.2278°W , SO153058 | Incline haulage winding engine from the 1850s | (19th century) | Post-Medieval/ModernMM181 [14] | |
Trefil Tramroad | Tramroad | Tredegar | 51°48′16″N3°15′26″W / 51.8044°N 3.2573°W , SO134125 | Early Tramroad connecting to Trefil Quarries | (19th century) | Post-Medieval/ModernMM339 [15] |
Merthyr Mawr is a village and community in Bridgend, Wales. The village is about 2½ miles from the centre of Bridgend town. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 267. The community occupies the area west of the Ewenny River, between Bridgend and Porthcawl. It takes in the settlement of Tythegston and a stretch of coastal sand dunes known as Merthyr Mawr Warren. It is in the historic county of Glamorgan.
Mynydd Marchywel is a 418-metre (1,371 ft) high hill in the Neath Port Talbot area in South Wales. Its summit is marked both by a cairn and a trig point. The larger part of the hill is cloaked in modern forestry through which numerous streams fall away westward to the River Tawe, eastward to the River Dulais and southward into the Clydach, the latter two being tributaries of the River Neath.