Bron-y-Foel West 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 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 consists of a large rectangular cairn which is orientated west-southwest to east-southeast with the remains of a burial chamber at its north-eastern end that have been incorporated into a drystone wall. The cairn material extends 12m into the field from the drystone wall and varies between 6m and 10m in width. The capstone of the chamber is 3.7m in length, 1.8m wide and 0.9m thick, its south-western edge sits on the ground whilst its north-eastern edge rests on the south portal stone, one of two upright stones that form a blocked portal facing towards the east. The south portal stone is 1.2m in height and 1.7m wide, the second upright, the entrance slab, sits at right angles to the portal stone is 0.7m in height.

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.