Llandudno Burial Chamber

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled 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 site is also known as Llety'r Filiast.

The remains comprise a ruined burial chamber which is roughly pentagonal and measures approximately 1m high, 2m long and 1.5m wide and a disturbed long cairn about 24m long and 12m wide. Four upright stones remain, three of which support a part of the capstone. Two further sections of the capstone lie on the ground, one inside the chamber, the other leaning against the outside of the north-west upright. The eastern side of the chamber is now open but may have originally been closed by a further upright. The chamber sits at the south-east end of the cairn, much of which consists of a natural outcrop.

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 be 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.