Site Record

On a NW-facing slope above Nant Ceiliog at 315m ASL lies a group of linear mounds. The location is enclosed moorland to the immediate south-west of the industrial complex of Cribarth. There are five, possibly six, mounds arranged in linear fashion down the moderately-steep slope over a distance of some 100m. They are turf-covered with a soft, peaty surface overlying an earth and stone core (probing). All are prominently ditched and some are enclosed by stone walling, now tumbled. The mounds bear close resemblance to so-called pillow mounds of medieval to nineteenth-century date, used for the farming of rabbits, which have been recorded elsewhere in these uplands. The enclosed examples, however, are unusual. No obvious date attaches to the mounds. Large warrens were briefly established in these hills in the mid-nineteenth century where rabbits were farmed at high atitude on an industrial scale. Given the proximity of the Nant Ceiliog mounds to the important industrial area of Cribarth it is possible that rabbit farming was practised as a by-employment associated with nearby mineral extraction.

David Leighton, RCAHMW, 4 February 2011