Visited 11.7.10.
Easy to visit when walking up to the Gop Cairn (see directions for the cairn). I took a torch with me and once you bend down to get into the cave it is big enough to stand up straight in. There were lots of tea lights about and a fair amount of rubbish. Definitely worth a look when visiting the famous Gop cairn above it.
There is room for two cars to park at the side of the road near to the footpath sign, on the Trelawnyd to Llanasa road, east of the mound and caves.
The path through the trees is a nice walk especially in the autumn (funny how nine months of three other seasons dulls the mind to the memory of this most beautiful season) when you arrive at the foot of the mound turn left and go through the stile and down the hill about twenty yards , take care not to run, the cliff with the cave comes up quick.
I love a good cave, and now apparently so does my daughter, gee I wish I'd brought a torch she wanted to explore it more and so did I but it was a bit of an opportunistic visit so I was ill equiped, next time maybe (how many times have I said that). we did see two sheltering butterflys hanging from the cave roof they were a velvety dark purle/brown in colour and quite lovely.
George Nash, doyen of Welsh dolmens says there was an actual burial chamber constructed inside the cave, unique in Wales. It was rectangular in shape three walls erected with the roof and back wall formed by the cave wall itself, though I didnt know precisely where in the cave I was supposed to be looking but I still didnt see owt that looked manmade.
Finds found at time of excavation include a Graig Lwyd polised axe, a discoidal polished flint knife and a jet slider or necklace, allegedly sold by a worker to a tourist.
Robert Harris, in his 'Walks in Ancient Wales', draws attention to these caves which are immediately below the Gop Cairn. Prehistoric burials have been found in the low, natural caverns in the limestone.
He says: "These caves were known and used well before the cairn was erected on the hilltop above... One is large enough to enter easily, and with the help of a torch it is possible to climb into and sit inside a small but comfortable chamber. It would be difficult to sit within it and not be aware of the enormous passage of time and sense the legacy of events which must once have taken place on this ancient hill."
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Posted by postman
Posted by Rhiannon
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