Ystum-Cegid Burial Chamber

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 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.

The site comprises of a megalithic chamber with the remains of a passageway and associated cairn. The chamber is an irregular quadrilateral formed by five upright stones which support a capstone, 1.2m above ground level; it measures 4.8m in length and 3.5 m in width at its extremities and slopes downwards to the north. The remains of the passageway lie to the north of the chamber and are built into a modern field wall; it is defined by three low upright stones and a forth stone which is now recumbent measuring 1.8m in length. The cairn material consists of turf covered stone which extends 10m to the south and 5m to the north of the chamber, material is prevented from falling into the chamber by dry-stone revetment walls. The cairn is overlain by loose boulders and also by a field wall which is built through the chamber and follows the line of the passageway.

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 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.