King's Quoit Burial Chamber

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. 4,400 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.

"King's Quoit” burial chamber lies on open moorland above the sea cliff to the west, within the Pembrokeshire National Park footpath. The tomb is formed by a large capstone measuring, 3.5m in length, 2.5m wide and is 0.5m thick and is supported by two small uprights and the sloping terrain. One of these supporting stones establishes the entire, long western side of the chamber and measures 2m in length and is 0.85m high. The second supporting upright is 1m in length and 0.70m high and forms the northern end of the chamber adjacent to the path. Another stone, which is leaning, lies at the south-east corner. The partially subterranean chamber has maximum internal height of 0.8m.

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.