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Penllech Coetan Arthur

Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech

<b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by hamishImage © Mike Murray
Also known as:
  • Mynydd Cefn Amwlch
  • Cefn Amlwch Cromlech
  • Arthur's Quoit

Nearest Town:Pwllheli (14km ENE)
OS Ref (GB):   SH229346 / Sheet: 123
Latitude:52° 52' 45.35" N
Longitude:   4° 37' 55.59" W



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Photographs:<b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by blossom <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by blossom <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by blossom <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by blossom <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by postman <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by postman <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by postman <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by postman <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by sam <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by sam <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by hamish <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by hamish <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by hamish <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by greywether <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by greywether <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by Wotan <b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by Wotan Artistic / Interpretive:<b>Penllech Coetan Arthur</b>Posted by Rhiannon

Fieldnotes

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Follow the B4417 Nefyn to Pengroeslon Road. Just before Penllech there is a sharp left hand bend in the road. Just on the bend is a left hand turn. Take this road. The lane passes through a wooded area. As soon as the woods end there is a a yard on the right hand side with a metal shed/garage. The chamber is in the field just beyond this yard. There is a kissing gate leading into the field.

I parked here as there was no one around but as we were leaving the owners of the garage turned up. They were fine with us being there once we explained why we were parked up there.

It looks like the fencing has recently been replaced so I didn't manage to get in. The capstone is huge. The setting is lovely.
blossom Posted by blossom
31st July 2011ce

This is one of Wales' lovely pointy hatted Dolmens.It is situated halfway up a sloping field not far from the hedge wall.I really found this by chance.I was driving to Aberdaron and glimpsed this whilest passing.I stopped in a farm drive way and went back.Glad I did,well worth looking for if you are in the area. hamish Posted by hamish
2nd October 2006ce

Visited this place around 1985, beautiful summer day and the first thing that struck me was the colours. The Foxgloves around the monument contrasted sharply with the blooms of lichen and moss on the uprights and the sun beamed down onto the roof of the dolmen warming the great stone.

Shame that it was coralled with barbed wire, it would have been cool and peaceful among the nettles and the long grass beneath.
Wotan Posted by Wotan
18th February 2002ce
Edited 23rd June 2004ce

Folklore

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...upon Cefn Amwlch estate a cromlech resting upon its supporters; the tradition is, that when it is thrown down, the estate will change its owner.
From Archaeologia Cambrensis v14, 1849, quoting a manuscript from 1772.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
22nd January 2012ce
Edited 22nd January 2012ce

"[A]cromlech named 'Arthur's Quoit' is found in Myllteyrn parish, Caernarvonshire (SH22973456). Professor Grooms (1993, pp.118-9) translates the following from Myrddin Fardd (writing in the 19th-century), which is worth repeating for its illustration of the local folkloric traditions surrounding these stones:"
A multitude of tales are told about him [Arthur]. Sometimes, he is portrayed as a king and mighty soldier, other times like a giant huge in size, and they are found the length and bredth of the land of stones, in tons in weight, and the tradition connects them with his name - a few of them have been in his shoes time after time, bothering him, and compelling him also to pull them, and to throw them some unbelievable distance... A cromlech recognized by the name 'Coetan Arthur' is on the land of Trefgwm, in the parish of Myllteyrn; it consists of a great stone resting on three other stones. The tradition states that 'Arthur the Giant' threw this coetan from Carn Fadrun, a mountain several miles from Trefgwm, and his wife took three other stones in her apron and propped them up under the coetan.
Borrowed from Thomas Green, the writer of "A Gazetteer of Arthurian Topographic Folklore" at http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/concepts/folkgazt.htm
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
8th November 2005ce
Edited 5th May 2016ce

The chamber was once demolished by the farmer and the stones carted away, but the cows grazing in the field were so distressed by this vandalism that they bellowed incessantly until the tomb was rebuilt.

Frances Lynch in "Gwynedd" for CADW
greywether Posted by greywether
18th March 2004ce

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George Eastman House Archive


An old photo identified as Cefn Amlwch Cromlech (Arthur's Quoit) by the famous Alvin Langdon Coburn. Note the absence of the fence.

Like most of the photos in this collection, this one isn't dated. Thanks to FourWinds for identifying the site from the photo.
Kammer Posted by Kammer
23rd June 2004ce
Edited 23rd June 2004ce