Ffynnongroes or Crosswell Barrow Cemetery

Ffynnongroes or Crosswell Barrow Cemetery, Pembrokeshire

Reproduced under Open Government Licence No; 001588/1

This is the site that Mike Parker Pearson's team has been, and will continue to, excavate. The three aligned rings appear to be aligned to the Mid Summer Solstitial Sunrise. In recent talks he has outlined that underneath the bronze age ditches there are older ones, and under the banks there are stone sockets. Intriguing, the publication of the results and analysis are eagerly awaited. Could it be the missing bluestone circle?

Grid Reference SN1274036570  NPRN:423423

https://coflein.gov.uk/en/archive/AP2024_500_251  (Larger aerial photos)

Cemetery of four plough-levelled round barrows or ring ditches discovered on 11 July 2018 during RCAHMW aerial reconnaissance. The barrows are sited on level ground on a river terrace on the south side of the Afon Nyfer river. The four barrows are clustered closely together; three are aligned north-east/south-west comprising the two largest ring ditches framing a third smaller ring ditch in the centre of the alignment. The fourth smaller ring ditch lies outside this group. The two largest barrows are c. 50m diameter, with two smaller barrows each measuring c. 35m diameter. Only the south-western barrow displays evidence for internal features, in the form of an off-centre inner circular ditch and a possible entrance on the south side. The barrows are neatly framed within the present field boundaries suggesting the group was extant when the fields were laid out.

Discovered during the 2018 drought.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 11th Oct 2018