1. A centrally mutilated and somewhat spread Early Bronze Age barrow, 22.7m in diameter and 2.0m high, opened several times since 1871, shown to have concealed five cists containing cremations. (source OS495 card; SO23NW3)
RCAHMW 2002

2. Archaeological summary from Bannau Brycheiniog National Park 2024: Twyn y Beddau represents an earthen built round barrow, of probable Bronze Age date (c2,200 years BC to 700BC) situated in an open grazed hillside below Hay Bluff at approx. 390mOD. The underlying geology is the St Maughans Formation interbedded rocks and sandstones The monument is circular in plan, measuring approximately 20m in diameter by 2m high. The site is scheduled, recognised to be of national importance for its archaeological potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices (BR119).

The site contains well preserved archaeological deposits, as demonstrated during an excavation  at the site in May 1871 by the Woolhope Club. Two trenches were excavated across the barrow, the cuts of which can still be detected, running NE to SW across the mound, and from the centre of the monument north towards the road. A plan and section drawings of the monument were made of the excavations, published the following year in an article in Archaeologia Cambrensis (Thomas, 1872).  

The excavation confirmed the monument to be a stone and earth built funerary mound. Five burial deposits were identified, each in a stone lined ‘cell’. The two central ‘cells’ were the largest identified, with cell B recorded as having been covered with a large stone slab measuring four foot long by three feet across. Human remains found within all five cells were recorded as cremated. However, in one cell (A) the remains of a human skull was identified, crumbing to dust upon exposure to the air after a few days.  This, and the size of the covering stones of the two largest cells, suggest that the mound may also have contained inhumation burials. Finds during the excavation included flint artifacts and a slate whetstone and are recorded in the article as having been deposited at the new museum in Hereford at that time (ibid).

3. This prominent roadside barrow has suffered from illegal off-roading vehicle damage since at least 1999. Following renewed damage from vehicle tyres reported in 2003 and 2016, boulders were placed on top of the monument by a member of the local community to prevent further damage. 

T. Driver, RCAHMW, Feb 2024.

Bibliography

Berry, A., and Brown, I., 1994. Erosion on Archaeological Earthworks: Its Prevention, Control and Repair. Clwyd Archaeology Service.

BBNPA, 1996. Prehistoric Peoples, their Life and legacy (Information booklet)

Cadw, 2011. Conservation principles for the sustainable management of the historic environment in Wales. Available at: http://cadw.gov.wales/docs/cadw/publications/Conservation_Principles_EN.pdf [Accessed 19/10/2016.

RCAHMW, 1997. An inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Brecknock (Brycheiniog): The Prehistoric And Roman Monuments. RCAHMW, pg. 130 – 131.

Thomas, J. E. 1872. An account of the opening of a Tumulus known as ‘Twyn y Beddau’ near Hay. Archaeologia Cambrensis IX : 3: 1-4

Transactions of the  Woolhope Club (1871), pp. 1-2;  https://www.woolhopeclub.org.uk/system/files/documents/transaction/1871-1873-woolhope-club-transactions_3.pdf