Cwm Nantcol — the valley above Llanbedr in the southern Rhinogydd — holds several Neolithic and Bronze Age standing stones set in a mountain landscape of unusual emptiness. The stones are not well-known and are rarely visited; finding them requires map reading in remote terrain. That remoteness is part of their value — they stand where they were placed four to five thousand years ago, in a landscape that has changed less than most. This is Experience #47 of the Snowdonia 100.
The Stones
The principal standing stones of Cwm Nantcol include a pair of standing stones (maen hirion) in the upper valley and several associated features — cairns, a stone circle fragment — that suggest the valley was a significant ritual landscape in the prehistoric period. The stones are on open moorland, unmarked by interpretation boards, approached across rough terrain. Their context — the enclosing ridges of the Rhinogydd, the silence of a remote valley — makes them feel genuinely prehistoric in a way that more accessible monuments often do not.
| Access | Via the lane from Llanbedr to Cwm Bychan |
| Navigation | OS Explorer OL18 essential — stones are not on main paths |
| Note | Maes y Garnedd farmhouse (16th century) also in the valley |
Maes y Garnedd
The 16th-century farmhouse of Maes y Garnedd at the head of the valley was the birthplace of Colonel John Jones, who signed the death warrant of Charles I. The farmhouse still stands, inhabited, at the end of the navigable track. The combination of prehistoric standing stones, medieval farm, and the connection to the English Civil War makes Cwm Nantcol one of the most historically layered valleys in Eryri.
Experience #47 of 100 — Heritage category.
Independently written — Snowdon.com