Foel Cwmcerwyn

Foel Cwmcerwyn

Foel Cwmcerwyn is the highest point of the Preseli Hills and Pembrokeshire. It rises to 536.5 m (1,760 ft), with 345.7 m prominence. It is a Marilyn, Dodd and Dewey, and a historic, administrative and current county top.

Summit and landscape

The highest natural ground is 2 m northeast of the trig pillar. Four Bronze Age round barrows are recorded around the summit. Grassy moorland and forest tracks characterise the Rosebush approach; the final summit ascent is steeper and the path north towards the Golden Road can be wet.

The National Park’s Rosebush guide describes wide views across Dyfed, extending to Devon and Ireland in clear conditions. Nearby hills include Cerrig Lladron (Foel Eryr), 468 m, and Mynydd Carningli, 346.9 m.

Rosebush circuit

Start and finish at Rosebush car park (SN075295). Follow the footpath opposite the telephone box past the farm, then the track along the forest’s eastern side. Climb from the plantation corner to the summit. Continue north to the Golden Road, turn west to Bwlch Pennant and descend south through Pantmaenog Forest to Rosebush.

Walking Britain walk 3469 gives this complete circuit as 8.1 km, 273 m ascent and an estimated 3 hours 10 minutes, graded moderate. Use its route description and a suitable map, such as OS Explorer OL35, to plan the walk.

Access, transport and facilities

Pantmaenog is privately owned and managed for timber. Public access is agreed on signposted forest tracks, which may be temporarily restricted for forestry work. Follow local signs. Camping and fires are not permitted in the forest. Keep dogs controlled around livestock and leave gates as found.

Richards Bros lists service 644 between Rosebush and Clarbeston Road. Check the operating days and both journeys before travelling. Tafarn Sinc offers food and drinks in Rosebush; confirm its hours. Take provisions for the hill and be prepared for wet ground, changing weather and reduced visibility.

Geology, archaeology and name

BGS’s Fishguard district explanation places the hill within an Ordovician landscape of sedimentary and igneous rocks. It identifies Aber Mawr Shale Formation mudstone at the old Rosebush slate quarries.

Heneb’s Preseli Prehistoric Trail identifies four Bronze Age round barrows on Foel Cwmcerwyn and recounts its place in the legendary Arthurian hunt for Twrch Trwyth. Leave archaeological stones undisturbed.

The Ordnance Survey Welsh glossary gives moel as a bare hill, cwm as a valley and cerwyn as a vat or pot-hole, using Foel Cwmcerwyn as an example of the last element.