<< Our Photo Pages >> Cist Cerrig - Portal Tomb in Wales in Gwynedd
Submitted by TimPrevett on Sunday, 21 July 2002 Page Views: 17806
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Cist Cerrig Alternative Name: Cist GerrigCountry: Wales County: Gwynedd Type: Portal Tomb
Nearest Town: Porthmadog Nearest Village: Morfa Bychan
Map Ref: SH54333841 Landranger Map Number: 124
Latitude: 52.923289N Longitude: 4.168288W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
Internal Links:
External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
43559959 PAB elad13 would like to visit
Penbron TimPrevett have visited here
Contributed by vagabondnma on Saturday, 09 April 2005
According to the Penguin guide to prehistoric England and Wales, quoting F. Lynch in Megalithic Enquiries (1969): "Only three stones, looking like a great armchair, survive of this fine portal dolmen, whose burial chamber lay to the west. The two uprights of the portal and the door slab survive. No trace of the covering cairn remains. Twenty three meters to the south east is an outcrop of rock with a slopping face on which 15 cup marks can be traced. Study shows that these have been pecked rather than ground out of the rock surface."
It's a wonderful site - very odd looking. But it is VERY DIFFICULT to get to! I came from Morfa Bychan across the Easterly public footpath acrosss the golf course. After that the path was a stream and the 'sign posts' were handy hinters at most, this was an unpleasant journey. Gorse bushes pricked you and the ground kept trying to dislocate my ankles. The path is not at all clear (- take a 1:25 map and a compass) Eventually after Ty'n-myndd the path got better, but then the real problems began.
Cist Cerrig, according to the map, lies in a field next to a field that is next to a public footpath. Fine. The first field is easy to cross, then you get to the field with the site in it. It is a Very High Wall with DOUBLE BARBED WIRE!! Try to go round it and you either meet a thick wood or gorse bushes. Typical Welsh farmers (from my experience) - I know there is no official path, but this is an ancient site of NATIONAL importance. To get there you have to scale (and risk damaging) a high dry stone wall). Usually, I'd refrain, but this was a red rag to a bull.
I saw none of the 'Cup Marks' mentioned by Lynch, but the rocks did seem far closer than 23 meters away. I checked those on the other side of the field wall - more likely to be the 23m distance - but no joy. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, or maybe they have been grassed over.
I could not see Goel Moedog to the South East which was a surprise. The alignment of the surviving stones is that they face North west and South East (and the hard to find cup marks).
The only other way to get access is through the farm, and across the far lower walls - I guess you'll have to ask the farmer - good luck!
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.
Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Click here to see more info for this site
Nearby sites
Click here to view sites on an interactive OS mapKey: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed
Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)
To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.
Turn off the page maps and other distractions
Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
203m WSW 257° Enclosed Hut Group near Ty Mawr* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH5413038370)
281m ESE 105° Hut Circle East of Cist Gerrig* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH5460038330)
537m NE 42° Hut Circle West of Moel Y Gest Ancient Village or Settlement (SH547388)
750m NE 48° Moel Y Gest Hillfort* Hillfort (SH549389)
1.0km SW 236° The Treflys Stone* Sculptured Stone (SH53453785)
1.1km NE 50° Hut Circle North of Moel Y Gest* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH552391)
2.0km ESE 106° Parc Y Borth Enclosed Hut Circle Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH562378)
2.1km NW 306° Trefllys* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SH52663968)
2.5km NNE 16° Hut circles west of Allt Wen* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH551408)
2.6km ENE 59° Porthmadog Eisteddfod Stone Circle* Modern Stone Circle etc (SH56583966)
2.7km N 8° Cairns east of Graig Y Gesail* Cairn (SH548411)
2.9km N 6° Hut Circle near Graig Y Gesail* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH547413)
2.9km N 9° Hut Group West of Cwm Mawr Ancient Village or Settlement (SH549413)
3.0km N 9° Cwm Mawr Hut Group Ancient Village or Settlement (SH54904135)
3.1km NNE 16° Cwm Mawr Stone Circle (SH553414)
3.2km W 265° Caer-Dyni* Burial Chamber or Dolmen (SH51103821)
3.7km NE 41° Fach Goch* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SH56844115)
3.8km WNW 292° Braich y Saint Stones* Standing Stones (SH5086239902)
3.9km NNE 13° Cerrig Cae-glan-yr-afon* Marker Stone (SH55324220)
4.1km NE 35° Hendre Seler Hut Circle* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH5680041730)
4.2km WNW 281° Moel Ednyfed Hillfort* Hillfort (SH5018039370)
4.3km NW 324° Garnedd-hir Modern Dolmen* Modern Stone Circle etc (SH5192441988)
4.3km N 5° Cefn Coch (Gwynedd)* Stone Circle (SH548427)
4.4km N 6° Meini Herion Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SH54914276)
4.6km WNW 292° Bryn Braich y Saint Carved Stone* Rock Art (SH5012040232)
View more nearby sites and additional images