Arthur's Stone, Cefn Bryn

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

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

The monument comprises the remains of a chambered tomb, dating to the Neolithic period (c. 4400 BC - 2,900 BC). Chambered tombs were built and used by local farming communities over long periods of time. There appear to be many regional traditions and variations in shape and construction.

Maen Ceti, generally known as Arthur's Stone, is a double-chambered megalithic tomb standing in the remnants of a round cairn on the brow of the moderate northern slope of Cefn Bryn, well below the highest part of the ridge. The megalith's most striking feature is the enormous size of the capstone which has an estimated weight of twenty-five tons. It measures 4.1m in length, 2m in breadth and 2.3m in height, and was originally considerably larger, for a large portion of the western side has been detached. The upper surfaces of the capstone are rounded by weathering, but the underside is mainly flat and horizontal. Its material is the local conglomerate, which was also used for the supports and for the stones of the cairn. About one quarter of its mass, consisting of a regular slab 0.5 m thick, has fallen to the W, where it lies in one large and two smaller portions. Two separate chambers have been formed beneath the capstone by the insertion of uprights, of which nine remain in position. The central row of three, which serve as the main weight bearers, have a gap widening enough at the top to allow access between the chambers.

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.