Barclodiad y Gawres Passage Grave, Historic Sites and Archaeological Sites Cable Bay, Anglesey - Wales where to go, what to see and where to stay in Wales

This is one of the most important Neolithic sites in Wales, dating back some 5000 years. The heavily restored mound encloses a series of burial chambers with a central area probably used for funeral rituals. The tomb was covered by a great turf based mound some 27m in diameter. On the north side was an inturned forecourt from which a 7.0m long passage led into the irregular central chamber. Three smaller chambers branched off this central space producing a cruciform plan. These smaller chambers at least were roofed by great stone slabs, only one of which survives. The west chamber had a smaller annex within which the cremated remains of two men were found. The end stones of the east and west chamber and three of the stones in the inner end of the passage were decorated with abstract pecked patterns of zig-zags, lozenges and spirals, in a tradition of megalithic rock art common among the tombs of the Boyne Valley in Ireland, including the famous Newgrange, and chambered tombs in Britanny and Spain.