ME011

Gwern Einion Burial Chamber  

 

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Llanfair  

258734  

328608  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Chambered Tomb  

Prehistoric  

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). 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 chamber of a Portal Dolmen is incorporated into the end of a field wall adjoining a 19th century barn. The chamber is roughly rectangular, measuring c. 1.22m in length and 1.52m wide, consisting of five set stones. Three of the stones on the east side form an impressive blocked portal of which the two side stones stand 2m above the floor of the chamber, whilst the transverse blocking stone between them is less than 1.5m high and at its top is some 0.45m below the underside of the capstone. The remaining two stones forming the south and west sides of the chamber are only 1.22m high. The north side is now open. At the back (western side) of the chamber, part of another large stone, laid on its side can be seen forming the foundation of the modern stone wall. The capstone is a massive slab, curved and irregular on its upper surface, but perfectly flat and smooth below. It takes the shape of an irregular rectangle measuring 2.44m from east to west and 2.75m from north to south and a maximum thickness of 0.45m. 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.