Welsh Journals

A TUMULUS AT GARTHBEIBIO, MONTGOMERYSHIRE. By R. E. M. WHEELER, M.C., D.LIT., F.S.A., Garthbeibio is an upland parish of Montgomeryshire, fifteen miles W.N.W. of Welshpool. The south-eastern corner of the parish coincides with the junction of the rivulets Banwy and Twrch, here nearly 600 feet above sea-level, and flanked by hills which rise to more than 1,100 feet. In the flat "bottom of the valley, between the rivulets, are the fragmentary remains of a tumulus, which is thus described in the Inventory of the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments (Wales) over the date 1910: "185. Foel Cairn (6 in. Ord. Surv. sheet, Mont. 13 S.W.; lat. 50° 41' 27.5", long. 3° 29' 53"). This tumulus is situate in Cae Erwyd, not far from the site of the cairn removed about the year 1790. It is now covered with turf, and two hawthorn bushes grow on its summit. Its circumference at the base line is about 130 feet, and it has a maximum height of 5 feet, 6 inches. In the winter of 1909-10, an opening was made into the cairn on the north side, with the intention of altogether removing the mound, but the work was abandoned. Four large unhewn stones were uncovered, and yet remain on the excavated portion. One of them is said to have been found on its edge.' The exposed section shows the mound to be largely constructed of water-worn stones, probably drawn from the bed of the river Banw, which bounds one side of the field." In September, 1923, a further unauthorized attempt to remove the mound led to the discovery of one of the cover-stones of a cist-grave, and the finder, on tilting this stone and inserting his hand under that which adjoined it, pulled out a stone hammer- head and fragments of burnt bone. The Vicar, and, through him, the Earl of Powis, upon whose land the discovery was made, were promptly informed, and Lord Powis at once ordered that the