Standing Stones

So many of the people who stay with us come to the Brecon Beacons to walk and taking a look at the various standing stones in the area is a good reason for a walk.

It isn't known exactly how many of our surviving standing stones are prehistoric. Some appear to be memorial stones and others may well have had more than one function either as boundary markers, waymarks on ancient routeways, signposts or even rubbing stones for livestock.

Maen Llia is a standing stone made of Old Red Sandstone and measure nearly 4 m high and 3 m wide but only less than a metre in depth. It is thought to be the highest standing stone in South Wales.

Situated in the beautiful wilderness between the Breacon Beacons and the Black Mountain and overlooked by the hills of Fan Fawr and Fan Gihirych, Maen Llia is a truly massive sliver of rock. It looks very like a giant Neolithic hand axe. Although it is aligned North-South, the sides of the rock become surprisingly warm to the touch on a sunny day.

It is likely the stone was erected in the Early Bronze Age between 2500 and 1800 BC. When you see the dimensions and realise that probably a quarter of the stone is underground, it must have been quite a challenging job.

This must have been an important pass between the hills, both to the local prehistoric population and to the Romans who came this way some 3000 years later - they built the road 'Sarn Helen' right by the stone and the current road still follows part of its course. In fact you can ancient graffiti on the stone. According to legend, Maen Llia climbs the mountain to drink from the river Nedd every morning as the cock crows.

Maen Madoc is a very different standing stone but also very imposing, standing almost 3 m high on the moors alongside the Roman road, Sarn Helen. The Latin inscription, DERVACUS FILIUS JUSTI IC JACIT translates as Dervacus, son of Justus, lies here. Dervacus was a sixth century Roman name.

Although widely recognised as a Roman memorial stone, it may well have been erected in Bronze Age times.

Saith Maen is actually not one standing stone but several. In some parts of the country, such as Dartmoor, stone rows are relatively common, but in the Brecon Beacons National Park this is the only one not associated with a stone circle, making Saith Maen rather special to us locals. Saith Maen means seven stones, and seven stones still survive at this remote moorland site, although sadly, at least two have now fallen.