Garn Goch (Llangatwg)

Also known as:
Carn Goch
Nearest town:
Crickhowell (2km NNE)
OS reference:
SO212177
OS sheet:
161
Latitude:
51° 51' 6.67 N
Longitude:
3° 8' 39.11 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Garn Goch (Llangatwg) (Long Barrow) by Jane

The lump in the foreground in the long barrow. The weirdy shaped mountian in the background, Sugar Loaf hill, is surely what it’s pointing at...

Jane
Jane Dec 29, 2005
Image of Garn Goch (Llangatwg) (Long Barrow) by Jane

Nice to see the residents care enough to have erected a sign against their local monument.

Jane
Jane Dec 29, 2005
Image of Garn Goch (Llangatwg) (Long Barrow) by Kammer

Taken 20th June 2003: The exposed capstone that lies on top of the cairn, viewed from the north east.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Jul 1, 2003
Image of Garn Goch (Llangatwg) (Long Barrow) by Kammer

Taken 20th June 2003: The cairn from the west, complete with a park bench.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Jul 1, 2003
Image of Garn Goch (Llangatwg) (Long Barrow) by Kammer

Taken 20th June 2003: The cairn (or long barrow, depending on who you ask) viewed from the north.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Jul 1, 2003
Image of Garn Goch (Llangatwg) (Long Barrow) by Kammer

Taken 20th June 2003: The cairn (long barrow or whatever it is) viewed from the north east. In the background are the bungalows of Park Drive, and to the right is the children’s playground.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Jul 1, 2003

Articles

Garn Goch (Llangatwg)

C
CARL Jun 9, 2010

I have visited this site a couple of times and it has always been sunny! Lovely views over to the mountains, easy to park right next to the site and Dafydd can play in the park whilst I look at the ‘old stones’ – a ‘win win’ situation!

Garn Goch (Llangatwg)

thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat May 16, 2010

Visited 1.5.2010. This is a great survivor, although much disturbed the mound is still substantial and the remains of a chamber (at least the capstone) can still be seen. It has views towards Crug Hywel fort and the Black Mountains.

Garn Goch (Llangatwg)

GLADMAN
GLADMAN Sep 28, 2009

Hmm.... how can some people be so lucky as to have a bona-fide chambered cairn sitting in their local park? Not to mention one that hasn’t been daubed with paint or otherwise vandalised in such a location. Sometimes life can be really unfair........... so much so that the Mam Cymru wants to move to Llangattock immediately. Sod the commute!

The sentiment is understandable, if a little, er, ‘impractical’. For in addition to the Norman castle – obligatory for a Welsh borderland town with such a turbulent history – the charming town of Crickhowell, just across the river, already boasts the Gwernvale chamber. Not to mention the bizarrely decapitated hillfort of Crug Hywel acting as terminus for one of the sweeping, elegant 2000ft ridges of the Black Mountains across the valley.

The cairn itself possesses a fine set of old oaks planted around it – a nice touch – and even has a small capstone.......

On second thoughts, where’s that piggy bank?

Garn Goch (Llangatwg)

Jane
Jane Dec 29, 2005

Out on the other side of Crickhowell on the edge of a village recreation ground is Carn Coch burial chamber. There’s not much left to see here, but I liked it. A grassy mound with a bit of rubble poking through here and there and a single flat capstone is all that remains. It’s been disturbed a bit too, as its outline is not smooth or distinct.

It has as tremendous view of the very unusually shaped Sugar Loaf hill on the other side of the valley.

Garn Goch (Llangatwg)

Kammer
Kammer Jul 1, 2003

Visited 20th June 2003: We stopped off at Garn Goch on our way to Bristol, and it turned out to be a bit of a coup because William was convinced we’d stopped so he could try out the playground. It was lunchtime, so we took the opportunity to have something to eat, let Will stretch his legs and investigate Garn Goch.

Next to the site is a small information plaque, that says:

This is a burial mound probably of Neolithic date (about 4000 – 2500 BC) containing a stone chamber with a capstone.
I’ve seen the site described in a variety of ways, including chambered cairn, chambered long barrow or just cairn. Child and Nash describe it as, “a ‘hybrid’ Severn-Cotswold tomb, similar to Gwernvale“. The remaining mound is almost circular in plan, looking more like a round barrow than a long barrow, but this may be because of damage to the tomb from archaeologists and tree roots over the years.

Although there’s less stone to be seen here than at Gwernvale, the tomb feels marginally less defiled. Despite the playground and adjoining football pitch, this is a pleasant spot. How many Neolithic sites of this calibre can boast their own park bench and public toilets?

Sites within 20km of Garn Goch (Llangatwg)

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