Clwstwr cytiau hynafol Garreg Fawr

A cluster of ancient huts stands on a gentle rise above Llanfairfechan in Conwy County Borough. The ruins date from the Bronze Age, around 1500 BC, and form part of a wider tradition of stone-built settlements across north-west Wales. Known locally as ‘Cytiau’r Gwyddelod’, or ‘Irishmen’s Huts’, the site carries Cadw’s SAM number CN185. These roundhouses were raised by the same people who built burial chambers, standing stones and hillforts across Gwynedd and Anglesey. The huts were occupied for centuries before the Romans arrived in Britain. Their builders also raised burial mounds, chamber tombs and stone circles, leaving traces across Conwy and Carmarthenshire. The remains at Garreg Fawr show the simple, drystone walls that once supported timber roofs. Excavations confirm the huts were home to farming communities who herded cattle and grew cereals on the surrounding slopes. Visitors walk among low, grass-covered banks that mark the hut circles. The site overlooks the Conwy valley and the distant Carneddau mountains. A short path leads from the roadside to the ruins, where the layout of doorways and hearths can still be traced. The wind carries the sound of sheep from nearby fields, linking the ancient past with the working landscape of today.