Garn Coch

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument consists of the remains of a chambered long cairn, dating to the early Neolithic (c. 4,200BC - 3,000BC). A long cairn is a roughly rectangular or trapezoidal mound of stone, usually between 25m and 120m long, with a length exceeding twice its greatest width. The mound may be edged with a timber or stone revetment, and they contain one or more stone or wooden burial chambers at one end. The denuded remains of Garn Coch comprise a roughly circular mound measuring 17m in diameter and 1.7m high at the centre. A horizontal slab is located on the eastern side of the monument which is the possible capstone of a central chamber. Two further stones protrude from the grass on the westerns side. The monument was investigated in 1874 and found to contain an adult male inhumation and traces of charcoal.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features are an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retain significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of both intact ritual and burial deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Chambered long cairns 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.