DE125

Hendre-Waelod Burial Chamber  

 

Designated  

Conwy  

Llansanffraid Glan Conwy  

279279  

374751  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Chambered Long Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument consists of the remains of a chambered long cairn, dating to the early Neolithic period (c. 4,200BC - 3,000BC). A long cairn is a roughly rectangular or trapezoidal mound of stone, usually between 25m and 120m long, with a length exceeding twice its greatest width. The mound may be edged with a timber or stone revetment, and they contain one or more stone or wooden burial chambers at one end. Situated between the A470 and the Conwy River the burial chamber is set in ground which slopes from the northwest towards the southeast and consists of a massive capstone which is at least 1m in height, 3.5m long and 2.5m wide supported by five low uprights. The supporting stones average 0.6m in height and are grouped around the southwestern end of the chamber; the northern end of the capstone rests on the ground. To the east of the chamber are two tall uprights, 1.7m in height which are set in the remains of cairn material and lie on the line of a field bank. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features are an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retain significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of both intact ritual and burial deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Chambered long cairns 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.