Garn Coch Motte

Has been described as a Questionable Timber Castle (Motte)

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains

NameGarn Coch Motte
Alternative Names
Historic CountryBrecknockshire
Modern AuthorityPowys
1974 AuthorityPowys
CommunityLlangattock

Small motte on a flat, low lying site is almost worn away. (Salter)

The monument consists of the remains of a chambered long cairn, dating to the early Neolithic (c. 4,200BC - 3,000BC). A long cairn is a roughly rectangular or trapezoidal mound of stone, usually between 25m and 120m long, with a length exceeding twice its greatest width. The mound may be edged with a timber or stone revetment, and they contain one or more stone or wooden burial chambers at one end. The denuded remains of Garn Coch comprise a roughly circular mound measuring 17m in diameter and 1.7m high at the centre. A horizontal slab is located on the eastern side of the monument which is the possible capstone of a central chamber. Two further stones protrude from the grass on the westerns side. The monument was investigated in 1874 and found to contain an adult male inhumation and traces of charcoal. (Scheduling Report)

Gatehouse Comments

Salter gives a map reference of SO213477 for this site where there is no archaeological feature. However, at SO212177 is Garn Coch scheduled as a Prehistoric Cambered Long Barrow which is what presumably Salter is referring too. This close to the church at Llangattock and on the other side of a important river crossing from Alisby Castle, Crickhowell and is certainly a position which could well have been used as a manorial centre, a supplementary outwork or a siege castle. However the site was excavated in the C19 and was clearly a barrow with cremated remains and no one else has ever suggested medieval use of this site.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSO212177
Latitude51.8523292541504
Longitude-3.14507007598877
Eastings321230
Northings217710
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of Mid Wales (Malvern) p. 25
  • RCAHMW, 1997, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Brecknock (Brycheiniog); The Prehistoric and Roman Monuments, Part i