PE122

Bedd yr Afanc Burial Chamber  

 

Designated  

Pembrokeshire  

Eglwyswrw  

210795  

234590  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Chambered Tomb  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient 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 long, low cairn of Bedd yr Afanc is about 18m long, 10.6m wide and 0.5m high; it is orientated east-west. Within the cairn is a 'gallery grave’ or long, simple, parallel-sided structure open at one short end. The main part, the passage, has an entrance on the east and is composed of about 10 pairs of upright stones 1m wide and up to 0.5m in height. It leads to a small circular chamber at the west end, delimited by seven boulders of roughly similar size, c. 2m x 1.8m. No capstones survive. The name of the tomb translates as 'the grave of the monster’; the site was excavated in 1939 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 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.