Corn Du facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Corn Du |
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The summit of Corn Du
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 873 m (2,864 ft) |
| Prominence | 28 m (92 ft) |
| Parent peak | Pen y Fan |
| Listing | Nuttall |
| Naming | |
| English translation | Black Horn |
| Language of name | Welsh |
| Geography | |
| Location | Powys, Wales |
| Parent range | Brecon Beacons |
| OS grid | SO012215 |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 160 |
Corn Du is a mountain peak in South Wales. It is part of the famous Pen y Fan mountain. Corn Du is the second highest peak in South Wales. It stands at 873 meters (2,864 feet) tall. You can find it in the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park.
The top of Corn Du has a special Bronze Age cairn. A cairn is a pile of stones. This one was built a very long time ago. It even has a central burial cist, which is like a stone box for burials. This is similar to the cairn on nearby Pen y Fan.
Both Corn Du and Pen y Fan are very tall. You can see them from far away. They are important landmarks in the area. The views from the top are amazing. You can see all around, like the Black Mountain and Fforest Fawr to the west. To the north, you can spot Mynydd Epynt behind the town of Brecon.
Exploring Corn Du
Many people hike to Corn Du. It's often part of a popular walking route. This route includes other peaks in the Brecon Beacons. From Corn Du, you get great views. You can look down into Cwm Llwch valley. You can also see across the Usk valley towards Brecon. To the east, you can see the Sugar Loaf, Monmouthshire mountain.
On the western side of Corn Du, you'll find Tommy Jones' Obelisk. This monument is between Corn Du and another peak called Y Gyrn. Most of the land around Corn Du is open for people to explore. However, some parts, like peat bogs, can be tricky to cross. The main walking paths are well-built. The National Trust helps to keep them in good condition.
How Corn Du Was Formed
The top of Corn Du looks a lot like Pen y Fan. It's flat and shaped like an anvil. This shape comes from the strong rocks it's made of. These rocks are called Plateau Beds. They are a type of sandstone from the Devonian age. This means they are very old!
You can clearly see the different rock layers at the edge of the mountain. These layers form a strong cliff edge. You can see these same rock layers all along the northern side of the mountains. They also appear on the south-east side, behind the main peaks. The same Plateau Beds are found in the Black Mountain (range) to the west. They also form the tops of Picws Du and Fan Foel. These rocks also create steep cliffs below those peaks.
Lakes Shaped by Ice
Near Corn Du, there's a small natural lake called Llyn Cwm Llwch. It's one of the few natural lakes in the park. You can compare it to bigger glacial lakes. These include Llyn y Fan Fach and Llyn y Fan Fawr. These larger lakes are about 15 miles west, below the main ridge of the Black Mountain.
All these lakes are glacial lakes. This means they were formed during the last ice age. Huge sheets of ice moved across the land. They carved out hollows below the mountain peaks. The water in these hollows was partly held back by moraines. Moraines are piles of rock and dirt. The ice carried these rocks after breaking them off the mountains. This process is called plucking and frost shattering.
