Circle 278 forum 2 room
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Circle 278

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Maggie & Keith from the superb http://web.ukonline.co.uk/megalithics/index.htm website added this helpful research to the discussion:

This 278 thing is starting to drive us nuts. We did a RCAHMW area search for 700m around SH 722 746. "Moelfe/278" is 72202 74630 and the Druid's is 72292 74658, these are our GPS figures and with the 30min ish averaging times will have a maximum horizontal error of 3m.

The search shows five Stone Circle entries for SH 722 746 entitled Penmaenmawr Stone Circle C - G and one entry for Penmaenmawr Stone Circle (no letter) at SH 7219 7463, the easting for this reference is definitely 100m out!

At first we thought that the letter listings were just different reports dealing with the Druid's Circle, then we noticed further listings up to M with categories such as Cairn and Enclosure.

A Ring Cairn is listed as an enclosure at SH 7216 7457 and we fancy this for your find and what Lynch calls Circle 278.

Moelfre Cairn is listed as SH 7172 7441 which is nowhere near our GPS for "Moelfre/278".

We extended the search out to 1km and there were no entries for stone rows or alignments from RCAHMW, CADW or Gwynedd Arch Trust.

So we hit the library and found the excavation paper for 278, from the description your find is definitely Circle 278. If you're interested the ref is Griffiths W.E., Proc. Prehist. Soc. 36, p305-18
1960.

Although this solves the 278 problem, it makes the identity of "Moelfre/278" an even deeper mystery. Even the Gwynedd Arch Trust entries (which are all 8 figure), show nothing at this spot, of course these august bodies may not have been using GPS, which will put all of their "professional" map fixes into question.

Last night,I also e-mailed Frances Lynch, noted archaeologist & author, to see if she is willing to lend her knowledge of the area to clear up the confusion of these sites.

Cheers

Tim
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WelshStone/

We've been corresponding with Tim about this confusing site which we put up on our website as Circle 278 http://web.ukonline.co.uk/megalithics/wales/circl278/c278main.htm
our GPS fix for the centre of this site is SH 72202 74630 with an expected accuracy of about 3m.

A search on CARN gives RCAHMW entries for a prehistoric circular enclosure at SH 7223 7463 and a "circular feature" period unknown at SH 7220 7465, the monument we photographed is almost certainly one of these. We wasted a lot of time looking for evidence of a stone row.

The "real" Circle 278 described in the Griffiths paper and illustrated in "Prehistoric Wales" by Lynch, is the ring cairn spotted by Tim and listed by RCAHMW at SH 7216 7457, Tim's photos match the description and the illustration perfectly.