Plas Newydd Burial Chambers

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of a chambered tomb, dating to the Neolithic period (c.4,400 BC - 2,900 BC). Chambered tombs were built and used by local farming communities over long periods of time to accommodate the dead. There appear to be many regional traditions and variations in shape and construction.

The site comprises the remains of two burial chambers, the one to the north being considerably larger than its partner. The larger chamber has a massive capstone, 3.8m in length, 3.5m wide and 1.2m thick, which is supported on five orthostats. The north-eastern end of the capstone rests on three of the uprights 1.4m above the ground and slopes down towards its south-western end which is supported by the remaining two uprights. The capstone of the smaller chamber is broken, a large part of the north eastern end lies on the ground between the two chambers. The remaining section of the capstone measures 2m in length, 1.8m wide and is 0.6m thick; it is supported by three low uprights which are c.0.7m in height. There are a number of other stones which may represent fallen uprights.

The chamber would originally have been covered by a cairn (mound of smaller stones) or barrow (earthen mound), but access would generally have been possible along an entrance passage through the mound. Unfortunately centuries of erosion, agricultural improvement and stone robbing for more recent structures such as field walls has meant that in most cases only the largest stones remain, giving a false impression of how these monuments originally appeared.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual. The monument is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence, including a buried prehistoric land surface. Chambered tombs may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.