Gors Fawr Stone Circle shares none of Stonehenge’s associated development, tourism or wow factor. Rather, these diminutive stones occupy a gorsy plain in a gently peopled landscape. Conifer windbreaks, a house or two on the lane.
Sixteen are gathered here though two have toppled. Eight are glacial erratics while eight, like the smaller Stonehenge orthostats, are spotted dolerite (bluestone) from the Preselis.
Yet humble though they appear, this stone circle in the Preseli Hills is dense in history and mystery. Its relationship to the Neolithic landscape is visible, palpable, walkable, somehow present. Look! Right there are the outcrops of quarried dolerite. Within walking distance are yet more circles, tombs and standing stones.
Crymych to Gors Fawr walk
12.1 miles/19.5 km | 8 hours | challenging | 438m ascent
1. Start
From the bus stop, walk through Crymych. This spirited, well-equipped village developed around a railway that once served the quarries. Pass the school and Spar, then turn right, the Preselis ahead. The road is quiet and hedge-banked. Turn left at the junction, pass a farm. Park by the road here if driving.
2. Foeldrygarn
The bridleway crosses the road and takes you onto The Golden Road, a prehistoric un-waymarked trail crossing the Preselis. Note the path right to Foeldrygarn - an imposing Iron Age fort, but instead keep left to the fenceline, and continue past the forestry over rough sheep pasture.
3. Carn Menyn
Grassland cedes to heather moorland with ascent. Craggy dolerite tors either side of the route provide power and atmosphere. To your left is Carn Menyn, the outcrop of spotted dolerite from where the Stonehenge orthostats were quarried.
4. Carn Bica
Continue along The Golden Road. Expansive views on either side of the trail backdrop the tors. Pass Carn Bica and Bedd Arthur – a Neolithic oval enclosure of stones. Leave it for the obvious path leading down the valley to your left. Aim for the visible kink in the road.
5. Llainwen
Join the road and continue on the same trajectory, then take the track marked Llainwen. Take the central footpath and follow it as it meanders through gorse.
6. Mynachlog-ddu
Two orthostats (one known as the Dreaming Stone) stand a short distance from the stone circle. They seem to frame Carn Menyn on the hill. The stone circle is modest after the hilltop grandeur but its connection to the tors is tangile. Join the road and turn left through Mynachlog-ddu.
7. Crymych
Take the trail left back up the hill, with Carn Menyn towering above you. The wind blows through rushes that grow in the cracks between the rock. Cross a wet flush to re-join The Golden Road and return.
Crymych and Gors Fawr map
Crymych to Gors Fawr walking route and map
Useful information
Starting Point
Start in Crymych where the 430 bus between Aberteifi (Cardigan) and Arberth (Narbeth) delivers you. Drivers may park by the road at the east end of The Golden Road.
Terrain
Including some road walking, the route is mostly by un-waymarked track over gentle hills that can be boggy. Basic navigational skills are required.
Map
OS Explorer OL35
Eat/drink/stay
Caffi Blasus opposite the bus stop in Crymych offers delights such as home-made Scotch eggs and orange drizzle cake. 01239 831792
