<< Our Photo Pages >> Maen Ceti - Chambered Tomb in Wales in West Glamorgan

Submitted by vicky on Wednesday, 25 February 2004  Page Views: 22718

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Maen Ceti Alternative Name: Arthur's Stone
Country: Wales County: West Glamorgan Type: Chambered Tomb
Nearest Town: Penmaen  Nearest Village: Reynoldston
Map Ref: SS49149055  Landranger Map Number: 159
Latitude: 51.593542N  Longitude: 4.179288W
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.
 3 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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I have visited· I would like to visit

dryslwyn SumDoood KieKa Chrissy jonathandown MicheleW would like to visit

bishop_pam visited on 25th Jun 2021 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4 So we’ll worth a visit!

KimIannucci visited on 3rd Apr 2016 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 3

gaianlife visited on 1st Jan 2002 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 3 Nice site with easiest access in dry weather (you do get some water pools and mud patches as you cross Cefn Bryn towards it in wet weather). Beautiful views across rest of Gower. Fairly heavily visited so there may well be other people wandering around.

Orcinus visited on 1st Jan 1988 - their rating: Amb: 5

coldrum visited - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 3

SandyG TheCaptain hoperp DrewParsons PhilipT sem Geojazz have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.25 Ambience: 4.6 Access: 3.25

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by PhilipT : Maen Ceti, November 2005 (Vote or comment on this photo)
Often called ‘Arthur’s Stone’, Maen Ceti is the remains of a ringcairn with a burial chamber in the middle. The burial chamber has a huge capstone, part of which has broken off but is nevertheless still impressive.

This burial chamber is recorded as Coflein NPRN 95736, which contains a description, information and photographs.

The Journal of Antiquities also includes an entry for Maen Ceti (Arthur’s Stone), Cefn Bryn, Reynoldston, Gower, Wales, which includes drawings, a plan of the tomb, background information and a list of information sources for background information.

Note: Researchers are examining a theory that one of Wales's best known landmarks may have been one of the world's first clocks., see comment.
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Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by coldrum : Also known as Maen Ceti, Gower, Wales. *A* (Vote or comment on this photo)

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by sem : A bit chilly at Maen Ceti today. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by rob_photographer : Arthur's Stone on Gower just west of Swansea. Nice walk along ridge from Penmaen carpark to the east. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Bladup : Maen Ceti. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by enkidu41 : SS 4913 9055 Also known as Arthur's Stone this double chambered neolithic cairn on the Gower has a 30 ton natural boulder as a capstone which has now split into three.

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Horatio : I wanted to capture a photo of this showing the bigger picture something that you can't really see from ground level. I forgot I'd been back here in September after Worms head until driving home from work today! So, information re the cairn is below taken from of the Coflein site- "The cairn does not appear as a mound, but rather as a slight stony bank surrounding a hollow, often water-fil...

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Horatio : The main capstone chamber of Maen Ceti which sits within a hollow that was probably produced by excavation and underpinning of this large glacial boulder of millstone grit that was resting at ground level. It is surrounded by stones from the cairn that made up this tomb.

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Antonine : 2008

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Bladup : Maen Ceti.

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Bladup

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Bladup

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Bladup

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Bladup

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Bladup

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by sem : Arthur's Stone Fur-lined boots were a definite plus in this weather.

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by DrewParsons : A view into the waterlogged chamber. September 2010. (2 comments)

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by sem : Also Known as Arthur's Stone,from this site you can view the N & S coasts of the Gower.FOR ANYONE VISITING - when you reach the site from the road follow the right hand path (northwards) and if you look in the heather on either side you will see that you are walking inside an avenue of of stones.If you choose the left hand path - well who knows?

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Horatio : Trying to show the depression the tomb sits in. Even though it's a fairly shallow depression you don't have to walk too far away from it before you start to lose sight of it

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by Antonine : 2008

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by TheCaptain : A walk around Maen Ceti, on it's hilltop position mid Gower peninsula. What a magnificent place this is.

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by TheCaptain (1 comment)

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by TheCaptain

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by TheCaptain

Maen Ceti
Maen Ceti submitted by TheCaptain

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 64m SW 217° Maen Ceti cairn Ring Cairn (SS491905)
 120m W 273° Cefn Bryn Great Cairn* Round Cairn (SS49029056)
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 609m WSW 254° Cefn Bryn SW Cairn* Ring Cairn (SS4854990395)
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 1.3km WSW 242° Reynoldston Millennium Stone* Modern Stone Circle etc (SS47958997)
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 2.4km SE 130° Nicholaston Hall Cairn Cairn (SS50948894)
 2.6km WSW 237° Knelston standing stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SS46888918)
 2.8km WSW 259° Burry Menhir* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SS4639990086)
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"Maen Ceti" | Login/Create an Account | 13 News and Comments
  
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Another 3D Model of Maen Ceti by Andy B on Saturday, 20 March 2021
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Arthur's Stone / Maen Ceti

http://heritagetogether.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=111&pid=9155#top_display_media
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Re: Maen Ceti by PERKYPUFFIN on Saturday, 15 August 2020
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Visited Maen Ceti (Arthur's Stone) on 13/08/2020. Main purpose to check if any of the supporting stones were Preseli spotted dolerite. I saw no bluestones, all stones were conglomerates, meant to be local from Gower area.
I calculated the weight of the capstone and its fallen two large stones. My measurements make the capstone as 24 tons, fallen rectangular stone at 5 tons and the smaller rectangular stone on the east side at 3 tons.

What is interesting about this dolmen is that the capstone has not been raised but the ground has been dug from beneath and uprights positioned one by one, taking the earth away leaving a cromlech structure. Originally supported on ten uprights, the 24 ton capstone has split, Coflein description suggests through frost damage. I suggest this was a lightning strike sometime after the original construction. The break in the capstone caused 20% of its mass to fall off to the west side. The remaining part of the capstone fell forward, shown by a space above the NW orthostat. The capstone is wedge shaped and the pointed SE corner the east (the main approach) and if this did fall at the same time, it has been moved to its present position. Coflein describes it as a double burial chamber. I think it is a single excarnation chamber. An impressive dolmen where the body of an elite member of the society was lain to rest inside for three years allowing the corpse to rot away to leave a skeleton (wrapped in hide). The side walls of the chamber were then removed and the skeleton (body) then underwent cremation at the same spot. Probably on a funeral pyre on top of the 8 ft long stone. Ashes would be left on top of this stone. The upper slope of the wedge shaped capstone giving a direction allowing the soul spirits from the ashes to rise into the 'Other-World' (heaven) of the skies.
There was no water under the dolmen in the summer of 2020.
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Re: Maen Ceti by john_d on Tuesday, 30 June 2020
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A 3D model of Maen Ceti created using 81 photos and some Open Source photogrammetry tools ( details on the Sketchfab page )




Maen Ceti Burial Chamber
by John Davies
on Sketchfab



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Re: Maen Ceti by sem on Monday, 13 November 2017
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This site is probably the most documented prehistoric site in Wales (94 book references according to Barber & Williams in The Ancient Stones of Wales), first mentioned in a Triad of the 10th Century. In the 15th Century, it is recorded that Henry VII's troops, having landed at Milford Haven en route to give battle at Bosworth Field, made a one hundred and twenty eight kilometre detour to visit the stone. This was presumably to support Henry's claim to be the new Arthur. In the 19th Century The Cambro-Britain (quoting from earlier sources), lists it as on of "The three Mighty Achievements of the Isle of Britain: the raising of the Stone of Ceti........We are informed, that there is a vast stone, resting upon others, in that part of Glamorganshire, which forms the peninsular of Gwyr, or Gower, which still bears the name of Maen Ceti.." Incidentally the other two 'Mighty Achievements' are Stonehenge and Silbury Hill.
Possibly the most important aspect of the site is that it is one of the few places on the Gower where the sea can be seen to the north and south.
The capstone weighs about 25 tons (Hawkes 1953)
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Maen Ceti Aerial by gaianlife on Monday, 21 January 2013
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I'm still getting the hang of drone flying, but here's that area including the cairns and rings from the air ...
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Re: Maen Ceti by hoperp on Wednesday, 27 July 2011
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See a full 360 degree spherical panorama of Arthurs Stone at:-
http://www.360cities.net/image/arthurs-stone-wales
also another of the nearby Great Cain at:-
http://www.360cities.net/image/great-cairn-wales

Richard
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Re: Maen Ceti by Gedv1 on Sunday, 29 May 2011
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For those not able to get to Stonehenge, or indeed would just like a quieter Solstice experience, there is always a gentle and unassuming get together at Arthur's Stone. Expect a crowd of up to 30 maybe, a few drums, pipes, a large warming fire by those that have stayed and waited all night. The big influx comes just before dawn, as early-day peops, rather than the all-nighters pick their way through the dark to the site.

It's just about right, awesome and soul theraputic.
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Re: Maen Ceti by coldrum on Monday, 11 January 2010
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Coflein entry.

http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/95736/details/MAEN+CETI%3B+ARTHUR%27S+STONE%2C+CEFN+BRYN/
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Re: Maen Ceti by Benjibun on Wednesday, 29 April 2009
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when living in swansea - six years ago now...

I met a researcher working on the site. His work demonstrated the alignment of the various stones indicating that this was a calendar complex. When i find the notes i'll post them. I do recall that he informed me that it was located at the northernmost latitude at which a calendar complex can preduct eclipses, which would make it a site of great signficance - comparable to stonehenge

also there were iron wedges used to secure the stone in place - only visible if you crawl right under the stone.



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    Re: Maen Ceti by gaianlife on Wednesday, 08 February 2012
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    are the wedges still there? It was flooded every time ive been so i didnt think to crawl under it...will do next time!
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Re: Maen Ceti by TimPrevett on Monday, 12 March 2007
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Arthur's Stone on YouTube
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Re: Maen Ceti by Anonymous on Wednesday, 25 February 2004
Condition:
Ambience:
Access:
Did not know my grandad had been to Wales (he is also named Arthur, joke). I beleive there are many other "clocks to be discovered" evidence here suggests fairly accurate time measuring devices were brought by the mesolithic or upper palaeolithic hunters, Arthur, Burbage Leic`s
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Re: Maen Ceti by Andy B on Thursday, 19 June 2003
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Researchers are examining a theory that one of Wales's best known landmarks may have been one of the world's first clocks.

Arthur's Stone, a 25ft boulder which sits on top of a series of smaller stones at Cefn Bryn in the middle of Gower has puzzled people for centuries.

But now the riddle of the enigmatic stones, also known as Maen Ceti, could be solved.

Academics are working on the theory that the 25-tonne stone and the smaller ones around it may have been hauled into place by our ancient forefathers.

The reason? According to Howard Middleton-Jones, of the University of Wales, Swansea's archaeology department, it could have been so that ancient Britons living on Gower could tell the time.

He said, "An astronomy researcher at the university, Paul Bessette, has been working on the site for years and has discovered evidence to suggest ancient Celts were well versed in astronomical alignments.

"By using the procession of the heavens and the movement of the stars in relation to the fixed stone, they may have been able to predict the exact timing of the seasons, sunset and sunrises."

This weekend, some of the researchers were flying over the stone and the surrounding area in a helicopter.

The aim was to look for any stones which could be associated with it to investigate a theory that the giant capstone was in fact deposited on Gower by natural movement during the Ice Age.

If, however, it is found the huge boulder was moved by hand to be used as a giant clock it will finally disprove one of the oldest legends surrounding Maen Ceti ... that it was the original stone from which King Arthur withdrew his sword to prove his right to be king.

Archaeology experts have speculated for some time that a number of ancient standing stones such as Stonehenge may have been used to reach alignments with the stars or the sun to help tell the time

icWales
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