Llech-y-Tribedd Burial Chamber

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.

'Llech y Dribedd (“Tripod Stone”) burial chamber consists of a wedge shaped capstone resting on three uprights, the northern one of which is cracked. It measures 3m long and 2.8m in width, at its thickest end rests on two squat uprights. The capstone tapers in thickness, but only to a blunt square end which is supported by the only other upright still in position, rather smaller in size that the other two. This accentuates the wedge shape of the capstone to create an apparently deliberate look of a higher open front at the south-east. The stone which now lies prostrate on the south side of the chamber may be a fourth upright. A linear 'ditch' feature passes from north-east to south-west through the north-western side of the scheduled area and is 0.5m wide and 0.2m deep, it lies approximately 8m from the chamber.

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.