Tŷ Newydd Burial Chamber.

 

Tŷ Newydd burial chamber although ruined, is still a good example of a megalithic dolmen. 

Set on a natural outcrop it would originally have been covered with a mound or cairn 

now marked out by the small bollards that surround it.

Visit Date May 2023

Click on image for a larger version.

Ty-Newydd has a massive cracked capstone, about 4.0m by 1.8m and up to 1.2m thick, that rests on three of the four remaining uprights. The Capstone is likely to have originally been wider as part of the southern edge has broken off.

The chamber was originally part of a passage grave. One theory is that the tomb was originally similar to Bryn Celli Ddu (the subject of a later blog), with a second chamber joined to the first by a passage, and the entire tomb was covered by a large earth mound which was later removed.

Early reports claim that the second larger chamber existed close by, this has long since been broken up and carried away as has any surface evidence of a covering stone cairn so it is impossible to establish the original layout of the site although several small concrete markers around the chamber hint at the possible extent.

It is said to have once been enclosed by a circular wall about 32m in diameter and this may reflect the form of the cairn.

The huge tilted capstone is split and is now partly supported by brickwork and concrete. This does distract from the natural beauty of this site however one suspects that without this intervention the capstone would now be on the ground.

There is a photo in 'The Ancient Stones of Wales' by Barber and Williams, which purports to show Ty Newydd in 1900, with the capstone resting on 3 uprights, without all the modern brickwork.

The chamber was excavated in August 1935 by Charles Phillips.

There was a lot of charcoal, suggesting evidence of a large fire that formed this thick layer of charcoal as well as a quantity of quartz.

There were no human remains found at the site however the finds included five flint flakes, a burnt flint arrowhead, a small chip from a polished flint axe, and some small fragments of pottery. Phillips believed that the pottery fragments were from the Beaker culture, suggesting a Bronze Age reuse of this earlier Neolithic monument.

More recently, prehistoric artwork termed ‘cup marks’ have been detected on the capstone.

Footer:Visit Information: -

Google Reference: -
53.23592779682485, -4.482380635799995

Google search term:
I have had a few problems with google maps trying to locate the exact place by description so please use the google reference above.

What Three Words reference: -
///overgrown.broke.slings

OS Details: -
SH 34422 73862 Altitude:115 ft

Additional information.

Visiting is relatively easy.
There is a turn off to an unnamed road off the A4080
It traveling north the entrance to the field is on the right hand side and is has a ancient monument signpost and information board.
There is a small layby (53.23661829013594, -4.485084849839341).

There are no facilities here.

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Cenarth Falls

 

Cenarth is a small village on the border of Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. 

The focus of the village is Cenarth Falls, a series of small waterfalls and pools

 on the river Teifi known as The Salmon Leaps.

Visit Date September 2023

The waterfalls are one of the first real barriers to salmon and seatrout on their way up the Teifi from the sea to spawn.

There has been a mill on the south bank of the river at Cenarth since the 13th century when Cenarth Mill came into the possession of Edward I when he became Lord of the Manor of Cenarth.

The mill holds a secret in its base. There is a trap door in the floor and it is said that the miller would open the door and catch the salmon that were leaping there. The catching of salmon here was illegal but despite this, there was a lot of poaching of the fish, especially at night.

Light round boats, called coracles here in Wales, would often be seen on the river in the autumn nights with their occupants poaching the fish.

As well as the falls at Cenarth the other main feature of this small town is the bridge over the River Teifi at Cenarth that joins two counties, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion and has existed at least since 1188 when it was mentioned in the writings of Gerald of Wales.(a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively).

The design includes two cylindrical holes 6 ft (1.8 m) in diameter, one on either side of the central span. The holes were included in the design while reducing the overall weight of the structure they also allow floodwaters to pass through them, instead of going over the top of the bridge: In these images, the water appears to flow under the southern arch only however, when in full flood the Teifi flows through all three arches.

This feature was used by Edwards's father William, who used six holes in the Old Bridge at Pontypridd to reduce the weight and pressure on the centre section.

Footer:Visit Information: -

Google Reference: -
52.04573152490105, -4.524292938371246


Google search term:
Cenarth Falls

What Three Words reference: -
///shows.riper.correctly

OS Details: -
SN 27008 41592 Altitude:40 ft

Additional information.

Visiting Cenarth falls and bridge is very easy.
There is lots of parking here right on the river bank. (52.04578729006762, -4.525187301082359).


There are shops toilets and a very nice cafe adjacent to the car park other also other amenities close by.

A full list of blogs can be found at my website

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