Trellyffaint Burial Chamber & Standing Stone

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.

Trellyffaint chambered tomb is situated on a gentle slope about 0.8km from the sea. It is a double tomb, consisting of a main chamber and a smaller perhaps later chamber, lying side by side, rather than one behind the other. The main rectangular chamber has a small capstone supported on two large stones to the south and another which closes the back on the north side. A smaller upright stands on the east, but the slumped stone which lies against this is a broken piece from the capstone. The capstone only covers part of the chamber, on its upper surface are carved 35 cup-marks, small saucer like depressions about 5cm in diameter, with one elongated hollow on the broken piece. Of the smaller rectangular chamber only three side stones survive.

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.

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

The monument comprises the remains of a standing stone, which probably dates to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC) which is situated to the south of Trellyffaint. The stone is 1.2m tall and 0.5m square at the base before tapering to a point. When viewed from the north or south, its shape is that of an elongated pyramid. The view from the east is that of a rectangle with its top left hand (southern) corner sliced off to form a point at its northern edge.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. It is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of intact burial or ritual deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Standing stones are often 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.