Clyro Court chambered tomb

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of a chambered tomb, dating to the Neolithic period (c. 4,400 BC - 2,900 BC) and situated within improved pasture, on the leading edge of a substantial and prominent S-facing riverine terrace. The grass-covered stony cairn is oval on plan and measures about 32m from NE to SW by up to 16.5m transversely and up to 0.7m in height. The remains of the chamber are visible in the SW end, comprising five earthfast orthostats, the largest of which measures 1.8m in length and 0.3m in thickness. The tomb would have originally consisted of a burial chamber and entrance passage covered by an earthen barrow or stone cairn. The terms dolmen and cromlech are sometimes used to describe those burial chambers that have lost their covering mound and yet retain their capstones. 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.

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.

The area scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is rectangular and measures 40m from NE to SW by 20m transversely.