The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Penbedw

Stone Circle

Fieldnotes

I am a believer in Penbedw stone circle.

Whilst en route to another Clwydian hill fort I decided to take another look at this place, there is a lay-by on the road almost opposite the stones. Sciatic leg strangely not giving me any jip so I carefully leapt the fence and made my way over to perhaps the oddest of Clwyd's ancient sites.
Coflein says it has five stones and eight trees, and isn't mentioned before the 18th century. But today I could only see four stones and four trees and a stump, perhaps the other trees were carted off for road or wall building. The trees are big and old, one more so than the others, perhaps a botanist could estimate it's age, which could give us a clue about the circle as the trees are supposed to occupy the place of missing stones.
Despite Coflein and Aubrey's doubts, it felt real to me. The whole site is on a slightly raised platform, the bigger of the four stones looks like it was chosen for it's odd shape, as so many circle builders did, there is an outlier about 250 meters west, in the next field is a kosher barrow, and an ancient track way runs by very closely, but where I do not know. All positive points in my opinion.
I leave the circle and creep over to the outlier, playing hide and seek with a tractor, keep a tree between you, handy things trees.
Burl is suspicious of this stone too, but if I were lord of the manor and asked for a standing stone, and got this, I'd want me money back, that's a stone lump not standing stone., and I wouldn't really want it right next to the track up to the big house where any unobservant toff could crash into it.
It is maybe five feet tall, grey, and made of a rocky substance. Most helpful i'm sure. The red leafed trees either side of the track are particularly fetching.
Now it's time to go, but before I do I try to get a closer look at the barrow, but tractor man and some big brown cows dissuade me. Johnako presumes a brownish patch to be an old entrance or possibly the excavation scar from 1860, it is almost certainly neither, grass would have covered the scar by now, it's been 150 years and grass grows well in Wales and barrows don't have entrances. Most likely it is rabbits.

I wasnt sure about this site last time I came, but now i'm a little bit more sure , but still not certainly sure though.
For goodness sake get it dug.
postman Posted by postman
19th May 2014ce
Edited 19th May 2014ce

Comments (3)

Great stuff. I like old trees. https://twitter.com/swami2005/status/468066615532064770/photo/1 thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
19th May 2014ce
This is one of my favorites
http://www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/file/Nantglyn%20November%202013.pdf
postman Posted by postman
31st May 2014ce
That's brilliant, yet another place on the list. thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
1st June 2014ce
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