On the ridge of Gorsedd Bran there are three magnificent Bronze Age tumuli. One is situated on the open farmland on the north west side of the ridge next to the public footpath. The other two are located in the virtually impenetrable forest that covers the summit and south eastern slopes of Gorsedd Bran. Hidden and surrounded by the forest, these monuments have been sadly neglected and lost to visitors for many years.

Last year, after a long morning hacking through the jungle Indiana Jones style, I managed to 'rediscover' these lost barrows and can confirm that they are still there. Thankfully they were respected during the planting of the forest after the Second World War and lie in a large clearing at the summit.

To access, take the forest track to SH9707959663 and look for the overgrown start of a footpath on the north of the track that runs up a tree furrow towards the summit.

The Gorsedd Bran barrows have a place in the 19th century archaeological study of the uplands of Hiraethog. Sometime around 1850, three brothers working at the nearby Nantglyn quarry went up and looted the Gorsedd Bran barrows in search of ancient treasure. They then moved down the valley where the Llyn Brenig reservoir lies today and robbed a further four barrows. Their handiwork can still be seen as all the Gorsedd Bran barrows have large pits dug into their tops.

Alas no treasure. However a prehistoric urn that the brothers found, which probably once contained the cremated remains of a Bronze Age chieftain or a loved member of his family, was exhibited at a meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Society at Ruthin in 1854. Apparently this generated some considerable excitement amongst the assembled antiquarians and horses were immediately ordered. For several days they rode up to the Hiraethog to conduct the first scientific archaeological survey of the area.

That first crude survey was the basis of subsequent investigations including Canon Ellis Davies' fine research in the early 20th century and the excavations in the early 1970s prior to the flooding of the valley to create Llyn Brenig. Today the many tastefully restored Brenig monuments can be viewed on the excellent Brenig Archaeological Trail. Highly recommended - the Platform Cairn is stupendous!

Sadly Gorsedd Bran and the Brenig Archaeological Trail are under threat. Local wind farm developers Tegni have applied to construct a wind farm on the forested south east side of Gorsedd Bran. With massive turbines towering above, any ambience or 'spirit of place' around these scheduled monuments will be lost as well as any pleasure for walkers who like this beautiful area.

If they are successful with their planning application Tegni are planning to clear the forest as part of the wind farm development. In that event I do hope that they will respect the lost barrows as the foresters did sixty years ago. I also hope that during construction they look out for any other undiscovered and significant prehistoric sites which almost certainly lie beneath the forest in this historic landscape.

Location: Denbighshire, North Wales
Grid Ref: SH96925975, SH97396025