Bryn Celi Ddu Chambered Tomb

This was the most intact and accessible of the Burial Chambers I visited while on the island.  I sat inside it for quite a while just connecting with the ancestors and the spirits of the place.  It had a very calm and warm feel to it, the feeling of peace as I sat there with my eyes closed was……well its so hard to put into words. 

To give you a brief history, Bryn Celi Ddu is a late neolithic passage grave in the European Atlantic tradition, it was excavated and partly restored around the mid 1920’s by WJ Hemp.  Its basic structure comprises an outer circular stone kerb approx. 26m diameter with an inner stone arc, these both encircle a simple passage tomb the entrance of which lies on the East side.

It says that this passage tomb is “one of the finest in Wales” I can certainly vouch for this as it looked as if it had be very well cared for and maintained.  To gain entrance to the chamber you pass through two standing stones, this enters into a forecourt and stone lined passage approx. 7m in length which in turn gives access to a central polygonal chamber made of large stone slabs.  To the North angle of the chamber is a 1.7m high smooth stone pillar, this is known as the “Protectress” of “Tomb Guardian” which is in the same style as the Breton tombs.  One of the chamber stones has what is probably a neolithic carving on it of a small spiral.  In 1909 Sir Norman Lockyer stated the chambers alignment with the midsummer sunrise, this was

Trefignath Burial Chamber

It was one of the wettest day’s ever when we visited this Burial Chamber in Holyhead.  In fact this was the only wet day we had throughout our week on Anglesey.  As with a lot of these places the problem is actually finding them, they are not always signposted.  We eventually found this one and it was the one in the most ruined condition.  This didn’t take away the feeling surrounding the site, in actual fact this had the most amazing amount of energy despite its poor condition.

The Trefignath Burial Chamber is what is known as a Neolithic ceremonial or funerary monument with quite a complex structure.  It was built in three separate stages from about 3750-3500 BC and is thought to have been active until about 2250 BC.  Unfortunately the structure itself was greatly damaged in the late 18^th century and the cairn that surrounded the stones was mostly removed around 1870.  It was excavated around 1977-1979 before it was finally restored for public viewing.  It is said that the chamber was built over a scatter of occupation debris including flints and pottery, which was carbon dated to around 3100 BC.

The first stage of the monument was a small chamber set in a cairn up to approx. 4m diameter, it opened to the North with a short passage.  The second stage was a larger chamber built on the East side of the first stage, this cairn was incorporated into a much larger wedge-shaped cairn defined by dry stone walling. 

Barclodiad Y Gawres

We visited this one on a slightly overcast day, from the road it stood out against the skyline due to its location, this was built on the cliff overlooking the see and was one that, as mentioned earlier, was built in a similar way to Bryn Celi Ddu. 

From the road you could see in the distance a turf covered dome, the dome was constructed in 1953 after the site was excavated.  It was l lovely walk along the cliff edge to reach this chamber, I have to admit I was slightly disappointed when we got there, not because of the chamber but because it is now locked with iron gates as it was quite often the target of vandalism in recent times.  This, however, didn’t stop us from being able to see the chamber although it was done with a torch through the railings. 

Lligwy Burial Chamber

Lligwy Burial Chamber is a very strong, neolithic chamber. The eight uprights which support the massive capstone are larger than they at first appear, because half of their 2 m (6.6 ft) height is buried in the ground. The capstone is about 5.5 m (18.0 ft) long and 4.5 m (14.8 ft) wide, with a thickness of around 1 m (3.3 ft). It is estimated to weigh about 25 tonnes and is in contact with only three of the uprights. A gap between the uprights on the eastern side probably indicates where an entrance passage stood, with a way out of the mound; It is unclear whether this chambered tomb was covered by a cairn, but if it was, no trace remains today.  Deep grooves in the limestone capstone imply that erosion by rainfall has taken place, further evidence that the structure may not have been covered by a cairn.