Written by Roger Hulm

This is one of two such large stones in the Dulas valley. You can just see the other one in the fields below Henriew if you continue along the minor road after viewing this stone, through Cefn Llech Farm, across the stream again, up the hill and bend sharply to the left. If you stop on the hillside just 400 metres after the bend, you can see the tall standing stone in the centre of the field across the valley.

It is impossible to guess the original purpose of these stones. I have been told there was more than one stone at Henriew, in fact there was a configuration.

At Cefn Llech, you will see another stone lying down. This was once upright. Maybe they once marked the boundaries or ownership of land? There might even have been an ancient track through the valley?

In my experience, where such stones have a broad and a narrow face, and do appear to mark an old route, they are normally erected with the broad faces across the line of the track. The reason for this might have been to give the stone a maximum visibility from a distance.

Public Access

Take the B4518, St Harmon road up the steep hill northwards from the Leisure Centre at Rhayader, through St Harmon to the village of Pant y dwr.

As you come into the village, ignore the turning on the right to Bwlch y Sarnau, and continue ahead for about 200 metres to a road junction on your left. Turn left here, and continue along this narrow road for about two and half miles, until, at a bungalow, at the bottom of a hill, by some tall conifers, across a small stream, the road begins to double back to the east.

The standing stone can be easily seen in the field between the stream and the road. The road continues past Cefn Llech Farm in 400 metres, then finally back to the B4518 in one and half miles."

Written by Roger Hulm from Rhayader