Stones of Wales - Bryn Celli Ddu burial chamber

Bryn Celli Ddu

Burial chamber and henge
Ynys Môn (Isle of Anglesey), Gwynedd
Nearest town: Brynsiencyn Nearest village: Landdaniel Fab Map reference: SH 507702

The entrance to the burial chamber, as seen at sunset from the East; traces of the original ditch are still visible

(60Kb)

Bryn Celli Ddu (the mound in a dark grove) is the best passage grave in Wales. It started as a late Neolithic henge or ritual enclosure, with a stone circle surrounded by a bank and internal ditch. A later passage grave was built inside the ditch; the north-east entrance to the burial chamber is retained by a kerb of stones, which with the dry-stone walling of the outer passage, creates an elaborate forecourt. The narrow passage (a torch may be useful) is 8.2m (27ft) long and 0.9m (3ft) wide with a low shelf along its north (right) side. This leads to a higher, polygonal burial chamber, 2.4m (8ft) wide, covered by two capstones. In the chamber is a tall, rounded, free-standing pillar, whose purpose is unknown. The spiral carving on the first stone on the left of the chamber entrance may be not authentic.
The whole passage was covered by a cairn, but the existing mound is a partial reconstruction, kept small so that three stones from the old stone circle and two other features behind the chamber, at the centre of the henge, can be seen. These other features are a pit (in which excavations revealed charcoal and a human ear-bone) and an upright stone carved on both faces and across the top with zigzag and spiral lines. The original pillar is now at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, but a replica has been set up in its presumed original position.
The site was visited from 1699, and excavated in 1865 and 1927-31. In the passage and in the chamber excavations revealed both burnt and unburnt human bones, a stone bead, two flint arrowheads, a scraper and mussel shells. Outside the entrance and the ditch, a small, unusual ox burial was found. On the ridge to the north of the site (on the right of the lane as you return) is a tall standing stone.

Stone Pages Message Boards

Recommend this Page to a Friend