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The Significance of Monuments

The Significance of Monuments

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Bedd Branwen - Ring Cairn in Wales in Anglesey

Submitted by vicky on Thursday, 15 February 2007  Page Views: 24352

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Bedd Branwen
Country: Wales County: Anglesey Type: Ring Cairn
Nearest Town: Holyhead  Nearest Village: Elim
Map Ref: SH3611184978  Landranger Map Number: 114
Latitude: 53.336252N  Longitude: 4.462853W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
2 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Bedd Branwen
Bedd Branwen submitted by TimPrevett : A view to the south showing the stone is split, and nearby pile of clearance material. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ringcairn in Anglesey. Named after Queen Branwen, this ruined cairn is surrounded by a kerb and has a small standing stone in the middle, close to a cist. Several urns and a cremation were found during excavations by Frances Lynch in the 1960s.

The Journal of Antiquities includes an entry for Bedd Branwen, Glanalaw, Treffynon, Anglesey, which includes a photograph, directions for finding this site, a description of the ring cairn, and background information about the legendary princess Branwen (Bronwen) about whom the cairn is named (although the Journal adds the cairn pre-dates the princess by a few thousand years). The Journal also includes a list of reference sources for more information.

This Bronze Age funerary mound is recorded as Coflein NPRN 302327, and extract from which reads: "This is a near circular rather dished mound about 30m across and 1.0m high. It was excavated in 1967, revealing a complex sequence of construction. At the centre of the monument is a rather dumpy erect boulder or standing stone 1.2m high, set in a 0.6m deep stone hole. This is set at the centre of a carefully constructed cairn ring, 2.0m wide with an internal diameter of 7.5-8.5m. Eight Bronze Age urns were recovered, with fragments of three others, in addition to that recovered in 1813".

Note: With hardly any coverage anywhere on the web of this location, to date, there are now 6 photos of this ring cairn and its area on The Megalithic Portal. Click more to see the photos.
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Bedd Branwen
Bedd Branwen submitted by guile : Bedd Branwen taken 17th. June 2012. The grass was very long around the cairn that day. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bedd Branwen
Bedd Branwen submitted by TimPrevett : Looking north to the nearest of the rocky outcrops. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bedd Branwen
Bedd Branwen submitted by TimPrevett : Looking east, with the river in clear view. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bedd Branwen
Bedd Branwen submitted by TimPrevett : A pile of clearance material just south of Bedd Branwen, next to the river. In cases like this you can't help but wonder if this was *something* (well of course it was *something*, but perhaps related to the nearby ring cairn). (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bedd Branwen
Bedd Branwen submitted by TimPrevett : The first view on the right (south) when getting adjacent the field wherein lies Bedd Branwen. Have left the telegraph poles clearly in shot as means of reference. The central stone, and wide, low mound are clearly visible. Perhaps more overgrown in the summer, subject to grazing? (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bedd Branwen
Bedd Branwen submitted by TimPrevett : A close up of the large remaining central stone at Bedd Branwen. Much smaller stones are still detectable as cairn material in the wide, low ring.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.0km NE 41° Bod Deiniol* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SH3683285739)
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Re: Bedd Branwen by Anne T on Monday, 14 August 2017
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For more information see Coflein NPRN 302327, an extract of which reads: "This is a near circular rather dished mound about 30m across and 1.0m high. It was excavated in 1967, revealing a complex sequence of construction. At the centre of the monument is a rather dumpy erect boulder or standing stone 1.2m high, set in a 0.6m deep stone hole. This is set at the centre of a carefully constructed cairn ring, 2.0m wide with an internal diameter of 7.5-8.5m. Eight Bronze Age urns were recovered, with fragments of three others, in addition to that recovered in 1813. Most of these contained cremation deposits. Four were incorporated into the cairn ring and the remainder were found in the inner court, one cramed into a small cist. This last was accompanied by a string of jet and amber beads. The court was paved with stones inclining towards the central monolith. The cairn ring is set rather off centre within an earthen ring bank, 3.0-4.0m wide with a kerb of erect stones and enclosing an area about 16m across. A turf stack fills the remaining area within this ring."
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    Re: Bedd Branwen by TimPrevett on Monday, 14 August 2017
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    Are you planning a North Wales trip, Anne? I will often spend a while looking at sites online before going there in real life!
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: Bedd Branwen by Anne T on Tuesday, 15 August 2017
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      Hi, Tim,
      No, sadly. I'm helping to update the grid references on some of the Welsh sites from 6 to 8 digits for Andy B! If I come across some additional information to add, I do this where I can. I completed his list last night and have moved onto some in the wilds of Scotland. Having said that, I love looking at all the different sites and my 'wish list' grows longer (and longer) by the day. From Northumberland to Wales is a bit too far for the occasional day trip that we normally do. One day .....
      Thanks for asking, though!
      Best wishes,
      Anne T.
      [ Reply to This ]
        Re: Bedd Branwen by TimPrevett on Tuesday, 15 August 2017
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        Ah! Good stuff. Occasionally get to Northumberland, have a good friend tour guide in Berwick, magnificent county.
        [ Reply to This ]

Re: Bedd Branwen by gru on Thursday, 31 May 2007
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if youve been browsing these pages like i have then perhaps youve noticed my entries on bodewryd and llanfechell 1 ... ?
well, anyway ... my family used to own a property in the village of Elim before we lived by the bodewryd stone (thats a tale in itself ... i wont name the house, but in all the years my family owned it, it retained all its original features including hotch-potch windows, some from later centuries than others, but all with that sunken-glass look, where the liquid glass has slowly sunk to the bottom of the panes .... sadly the property was sold on and the new owners decided to replace these irreplaceable artifacts with that terrible affliction ... white uPVC!!! UGHH!!! HEATHENNNNNS!!!)
ANYWAY .... the point is, the cottage was only a few fields away from bedd branwen and i remember dragging my father out for a walk one day to try to locate it, but i being too young and my father too unaware of what we were seaching for, never found the site and to this day it remains unvisited by me, sadly, though i hope to rectify that come the summer, as i now have friends who live as nearby as our old cottage was (though our cottage was to the south and my friends house to the north) and who have invited me to perform at the party they are throwing, thus hopefully ensuring my presence .... however, my point is one more related to the mabinogion, which is what bought me here on my cyber-travels today .... although it is stated here that the site was excavated in the 1960s, there exists a previous record of excavation in 1813, where it was noted a single urn was found upturned, full of ashes and bone fragments ... possibley the cremation urn of the white crow herself, branwen ... but really, my point is ... WHERE ARE THESE EXCAVATIONS HELD? i want to see this urn, and the others that are reported to have been dug up in the 1960s ... WHY ARENT THEY PRESERVED LOCALLY???????
although currently in exile i consider anglesey my spiritual home, and something stirs deep inside me, troubled that our history is widthheld from us! GIVE IT BACK!!!!! :)
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Bedd Branwen by Anonymous on Friday, 10 July 2009
    The Bedd Branwen burials (there are several urns with multiple cremations) and grave goods are held at the Bangor Museum, just over the Menai Straits from Angelesy. They are on display, along with a cut away model of the site, allowing you to see what lies below ground. It is a powerful site, to be sure, but remember that it dates to the Bronze Age, which is pre-Celtic and certainly pre-Mabinogi. I hope you have the opportunity to visit the exhibit, and wish you blessings on your path to Branwen.
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Bedd Branwen by Anonymous on Friday, 10 July 2009
    Here is an informative website about the burials from the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery, Bangor where the Bedd Branwen grave goods are held.

    Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Bedd Branwen by Anonymous on Sunday, 06 February 2011
    You say you never found Bedd Branwen...and you lived in Elim.I lived in LLanddeusant and played on the grave most of my childhood...I never knew how important it was in those days though.I really dont believe you never went to Glan Alaw...did you NEVER go out to Play in the villages.....never go to Glan Alaw at all....I am gobsmacked...You have got to be a SAIS LOL!!!
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Bedd Branwen by TimPrevett on Thursday, 15 February 2007
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This is the reputed grave of Branwen, of the Mabinogion. It yielded some quite spectacular pottery when excavated. Seemingly little visited, it is worth a look in. A very quiet, reclusive spot. To the north of the village of Elim, take the footpath to the east. When passing the last field boundary for the field in which the cairn sits (assuming the presence of the 1:25000 map), look to the right, and two telegraph poles should locate the wide low mound, with a knee high stone in the centre. A gate further east easily gives access to the field. The mound is surprisingly wide in diameter. Rock outcrops sit to the north and the east. The river is to the south. Various piles of apparent field clearance make for much headscratching, and "hmmmns" too.
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