|
|
 Log in |
Register
|
|
|
Wales
GarnwndaBurial Chamber
|
Show map (inline Google Map)
|
|
|
Images (click to view fullsize) |
 Add an image |
|
Fieldnotes |
Add fieldnotes |
|
Not much to add in the way of fieldnotes, except to say that Merrick's bluestone is probably the spotted dolerite type. Above the tomb is ankle-breaking rock and heather, the view is of course magnificent. I walked up from the lane, along the path past a small derelict schoolhouse. Glyn Daniel who gave the name 'earthfast' to this localised crop of tombs, goes on to say that they come from the sub-megalithic group which existed in western France, Wales and Ireland; he plays around with terms such as primary, demi-dolmen, or half-dolmen. They do seem original 'cave' tombs, giving them a somewhat primitive feel. But like Carn Llidi tombs they hide themselves from view in a jumble of rocks and are often difficult to find. Not far from here are are the Garn Wen tombs, there are three in a row (SM 948 390) sadly you won't be able to find them for they are covered safely in a thick vegetation of nettles and brambles. Safely, because they back on to council housing, and the area in front of the cromlechs is used for a motorcycle track and tipping. At Garn Wynda I had jammed the car key in the door lock but deciding not to panic had managed to work out how to unjam and vowed there and then NEVER to lock the car. Arriving at the council estate I asked the road sweeper, how to get onto the coast path, giving me instructions he warned me not to leave anything in the car and to lock securely (did not). But coming back to the car three children who had been watching me intently, yelled back to their mother, 'Mum she's back in her car' So if you really want to find these three take a sickle. ;) |
Posted by moss6th October 2007ce Edited 6th October 2007ce |
|
This is an absolutely staggering place. It's not just the fact that the rain's abated and we're in the first glorious sunshine of our tour, there is something a lot more, a solid, strident magnificence to this place and its view. Our theory that the burial chambers with names on the OS map (Gwal-y-Filiast, Pentre Ifan, etc) are generally in better nick than the ones merely marked 'Burial Chamber' is once again confirmed here. Our other theory of the Pen Caer cromlechs being Calanais-style orientated on rock outcrops is rammed home hard – this cromlech is literally sticking out of the outcrop! Looking up the hill from the south there's a weird flat slab of capstone jutting out. Get up here and it's resting on a single upright, 12ft long bluestone at a 45 degree angle, facing out at a rugged horizon around Garn Fawr. There was some encroachemnt from ivy and bracken., which we removed. It's an 'earth-fast' cromlech, one side of the capstone resting on the ground. It can clearly never have had a covering mound as it's so hard against the outcrop. Children & Nash (1997) say these cromlechs came later than the others. In The Modern Antiquarian, Cope refutes the idea given by some (such as Chris Barber) that those others were never covered, and suggests a later cult of uncovering the mounded tombs. Could the earth-fast builders, with their belief in cromlechs of stone open to the sky, be that later cult? Climb the extra few feet to the top of the outcrop for the most amazing panorama. To the west the outcrops of Garn Fawr, Garn Fechan, Garn Gilfach and Garn Folch form a serrated skyline; scoop clockwise past the Pen Caer lighthouse; Carreg Wastad Point where the French invaded in 1797; the sea coming in to the village of Llanwnda (whose churchyard apparently has an ancient holy well); round to look east with the foreground showing the outcrop by the Penrhiw cromlech, the background being the view from those cromlechs of Bae Abergwaun/ Fishguard Bay and the mountains of Mynydd Dinas and Mynydd Preseli. Turn further to see Carn Gelli outcrop, which presides over the Ffynnon Druidion burial chamber, then the sacred mounds along Penmaen Dewi/ St David's Head and two islands in the open sea. It's an utterly amazing view, a total must-visit of a place irrespective of the great megalithic value. The sun is out now, the sea a rich grey-blue and I wouldn't be anywhere else. A few people have had problems finding it, so here's directions: Just before you descend into Llanwnda you see the outcrop above you on the left. Then there's a turning marked Garn Gron and Garn Fach on the left, and a wooden public footpath sign. Take this and keep going till you run out of road at the last house, Garn Fach. The footpath runs in front of you to the left of the house. Look up to your left and there's an obvious flat slab just below the summit. This is it! Take the footpath 30 metres or so, then there's one that goes straight up to the cromlech. If you're coming by car, go beyond the Garn Gron turning to the village, park by the church and walk back up. Incidentally, the footpath loops right round the outcrop, and in a field off the south side is Parc Hen standing stone. visited 20 Aug 04 |
Posted by Merrick 7th September 2004ce Edited 10th September 2004ce |
| Strange site in a nice location. Mind the grassy slope up to the tomb - could be lethal in the wet. |
Posted by Grendel 26th June 2002ce |
Folklore |
Add folklore |
|
Garnwnda (Carn Gwnda) is named after Saint Gwyndaf Hen (Gwyndaf the Aged), who presumably used it as a nice quiet spot for a bit of hermitage and religious introspection. He lacked some of the sympathy for nature that some of the other Celtic saints had. He was returning from Fishguard one day and was just crossing one of the (many) streams in the area, when a fish leapt up and frightened his horse. Poor Gwnydaf was thrown to the ground and broke his leg. He cursed the brook so no fish would ever live in it again. (mentioned in volume 3 of Baring-Gould's 'Lives of the British Saints' 1913). |
Posted by Rhiannon20th July 2006ce Edited 20th July 2006ce |
Miscellaneous |
Add miscellaneous |
| The photo in Barber & Williams' The Ancient Stones of Wales (1989) labelled 'Carn Wnda' is wrong, it's of a different cromlech altogether. |
Posted by Merrick 7th September 2004ce |
| At the given NGR is NPRN 309041 a clearance cairn, of which the steep angle of the remaining stone shows it to have been a sheepfold. The correct NGR for the tomb in the photo is SM93313923 and is yet another Carreg Samson, distinguished as Carn Wnda. The capstone is approx. 3.3m x 3.1m and covers a rock-cut pit. |
Posted by wideford 9th July 2004ce |
| Garnwnda burial chamber(s) lie above the village where the French tried to invade in 1797 (honestly). The capstone is apparently only supported by one upright. |
Posted by Rhiannon 21st June 2002ce |
Top of page