<< Our Photo Pages >> Parc le Breos - Chambered Tomb in Wales in West Glamorgan

Submitted by JUDY on Friday, 26 August 2016  Page Views: 24007

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Parc le Breos Alternative Name: Park Le Bruce, Parc Breos Cwm, Parc Cwm Long Cairn
Country: Wales County: West Glamorgan Type: Chambered Tomb
Nearest Town: Swansea  Nearest Village: Parkmill
Map Ref: SS53738984  Landranger Map Number: 159
Latitude: 51.588374N  Longitude: 4.112778W
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
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 3 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.
 4 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

Geojazz visited on 6th Sep 2021 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

bishop_pam visited on 25th Jun 2021 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Rather over-manicured, but a great example of a chambered tomb

mrdre visited on 15th May 2021 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 3

coldrum visited - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Very nice setting.

michmax visited - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5

coldrum visited - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5

SandyG hoperp DrewParsons hamish have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 4.17 Access: 4.4

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by coldrum : Neolithic Chambered cairn. Lovely setting. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Chambered Tomb in West Glamorgan. This partially restored burial chamber, said to be one of the finest in south Wales, lies down the road beside the Parkmill Visitors Centre.

Park at the entrance to the Scout Camp site from where you can see the chamber. A footpath leads down their drive. Further down are caves which were once inhabited.

Note: The Chambered Cairn, a new film premiering at Gower Heritage Centre on Sat 17 Sept. Made as part of artist Tom Goddard's residency. See the most recent comment on our page
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Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Bladup : Parc le Breos. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Bladup (Vote or comment on this photo)

Parc Le Breos
Parc Le Breos submitted by coldrum : Gower, Wales *A* (Vote or comment on this photo)

Parc le breos
Parc le breos submitted by Robc : OS159 SS537898 This Neolithic chamber cairn is in the Severn-Cotswold tradition of chambered long cairns. It has been well excavated in 1869 and the remains of 20-24 individuals were found in it. Due in 1960-61 it was partially restored. Most chambers of this type have a large capstone or slabs covering the passage but no evidence has been found for this at or near the site. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by enkidu41 : SS 5372 8983 Also known as Parc Cwm this tomb on the Gower displays the classic attributes of the Severn-Cotswold chambered long barrow. This picture shows the passage, the 4 chambers off and the blocking sill stone.

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by sem : Looking north. According to a recent episode of Weatherman Walking (BBC - presented by Derek Brockway), following the 1869 excavation the remains were reinterred in a metal-lined box in one of the side chambers.

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Postman : Site in West Glamorgan Wales A very dismal day

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Bladup : Parc le Breos.

Parc Le Breos
Parc Le Breos submitted by JUDY : A general view of Parc Le Breos aka Park Le Bruce.

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Antonine : 2008

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by sem : Looking from the north. Taken from Coflein - Excavated in the early 1960s, samples have recently been subjected to radiocarbon dating in the most complete dating programme undertaken for any chambered tomb in Wales. The tomb was in use for as long as 800 years, from 3800 BC, or for as little as 300 years. (1 comment)

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Postman : Site in West Glamorgan Wales

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Bladup : Parc le Breos.

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by DrewParsons : Overview of the site showing the courtyard and restored retaining walls. September 2010.

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by DrewParsons : The passage which leads from the courtyard and has side chambers off it. Photographed in torrential rain in September 2010

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Horatio : The entrance to the tomb showing the the 'horns' that form the narrow bell shaped forecourt (seen easier from an aerial pic) this leads to the main passage 6m long with two pairs of transept chambers from off this passage

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Horatio : Excavations here discovered bones belonging to 40 different people along with animal bones and Neolithic pottery. If I remember correctly this is the furthest west of the discovered Cotswolds-Severn Group of long barrows and lies within Parc Cwm on the floor of a dry narrow limestone gorge. The barrow is of trapezoidal shape, 22m long and 13m wide and has a south facing forecourt.

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Antonine : 2008

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Antonine

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Orcinus : passage detail 1988

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Orcinus : 1988 visit

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by coldrum : Drawing made in 1887.

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Postman : Brown, grey green.

Parc le Breos
Parc le Breos submitted by Postman : Wet wet wet

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 114m WNW 284° Church Hill Earthwork* Misc. Earthwork (SS53628987)
 184m N 11° Cat Hole Cave* Cave or Rock Shelter (SS53779002)
 856m SE 137° Gower Heritage centre* Museum (SS543892)
 1.2km NNW 328° Tooth Cave* Cave or Rock Shelter (SS531909)
 1.3km SSW 200° North Hills Lane Barrow Cemetary Barrow Cemetery (SS53248863)
 1.3km S 174° Pennard Pill Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle (SS53828851)
 1.6km ESE 102° Trinity Well, Ilston* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SS55308946)
 1.8km SW 235° Cefn Bryn Beacon 2 Cairn (SS52238886)
 1.8km SSW 197° Penmaen Burrows* Chambered Tomb (SS53168812)
 1.8km SW 236° Cefn Bryn Beacon 1 Cairn (SS52198886)
 1.9km WSW 239° Cefn Bryn Cairn 1* Cairn (SS52068889)
 1.9km WSW 249° Cefn Bryn Ring Cairn Ring Cairn (SS51918922)
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 2.3km SSW 197° Leather's Hole Cave or Rock Shelter (SS530877)
 2.6km SW 223° Crawley Rocks Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle (SS51878796)
 2.7km SSE 157° Ravencliffe Cave* Cave or Rock Shelter (SS547873)
 2.9km WSW 250° Nicholaston Hall Cairn Cairn (SS50948894)
 3.0km WSW 256° Talbot Road Cairn 2 Ring Cairn (SS50758921)
 3.0km WSW 256° Talbot Road Cairn 1* Ring Cairn (SS50758920)
 3.0km WNW 299° Pen-y-Crug Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SS51099137)
 3.1km WSW 249° Nicholaston Long Cairn* Chambered Tomb (SS50768879)
 3.5km SSE 148° Minchin Hole Cave or Rock Shelter (SS555868)
 3.5km ENE 71° Bishopston Burch Cairn (SS571909)
 3.6km SE 143° Crow Hole Cave or Rock Shelter (SS558869)
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"Parc le Breos" | Login/Create an Account | 16 News and Comments
  
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A window into the soul? A reappraisal of Parc le Breos Chambered Tomb by Andy B on Saturday, 29 April 2023
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A window into the soul? A reappraisal of Parc le Breos Chambered Tomb, Gower, South Wales, John Cooper, March 2014

It is believed that the now open central passage of Parc le Breos tomb could originally have been
roofed and contained a roof opening. The tomb’s orientation, combined with this opening, enabled sunlight to shine into the tomb’s passageway during the period of the mid
-winter solstice standstill. To test this hypothesis a temporary roof with a small window opening was placed over
the tomb’s central passage. This focussed the mid
-winter sunlight into the passageway of the tomb and provided confirmation that the tomb could have been built with a similar sized window. Sunlight shining into the passage could be observed from a shallow recess built into the
forecourt’s west wall without the observer’s shadow breaking the beams entering the
passageway and interrupting the solar ritual taking place. An accompanying landscape survey highlighted a number of other features that help explain why the tomb was raised in such an unusual location, on the floor of a steep sided cwm. The tomb sits at the junction of a number of paths crossing south Gower. The cwm is also a route northwards to the rest of Gower and during the Neolithic period, southwards it would have been a route to a safe harbour on an inlet of the sea. Constructed with its central passage aligned in one direction on the solar noon of mid-winter, in the opposite direction the tomb was aligned on the narrow vertical fissure of Cat Hole Rock, with the entrance to Cat Hole Cave at its base. Also an important
spring rises close by. The tomb’s passageway, the fissures in the rock and inside of the cave’s main
chamber and the spring are all illuminated by the same sunlight at the solar noon. In addition it is believed that the tomb is aligned along a major fault in the bedrock directly below it. If these features were considered relevant to the solar worship and rituals practiced in the early Neolithic then the builders could not have erected this tomb more that a few centimetres from its present
position and still have achieved this combination of alignments.

Read paper at
https://www.academia.edu/6648928/
[ Reply to This ]

3D Model of Parc Le Breos Burial Chamber / Parc Cwm Long Cairn by Andy B on Saturday, 20 March 2021
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3D Model of Parc Le Breos Burial Chamber / Parc Cwm Long Cairn

http://heritagetogether.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=111&pid=9154#top_display_media
[ Reply to This ]

The Chambered Cairn, a new film by Thomas Goddard by Andy B on Friday, 27 January 2017
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As part of the Parc le Breos chambered tomb artist in residence by Thomas Goddard, a film was produced by the artist.

Some of the shots taken in the film are from the National Museum Wales’s Natural History displays. These add a layer of surrealism to the work. Tom wrote a blog about his use of the taxidermy, scenes, models and soundtrack from the Natural History displays, which can be viewed here.
https://museum.wales/blog/2016-09-16/The-Chambered-Cairn/

There are some familiar archaeological voices in the film too, including Professor Alasdair Whittle, Dr. Jacqui Mulville and the author Dr. Ffion Reynolds.

The film includes footage of the Gower landscapes, including Paviland cave, Parc le Breos chambered tomb, the National Museum in Cardiff & the Archaeology department at Cardiff University. It’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not at times!

Watch The Chambered Cairn, 2016 :

https://tinkinswoodarchaeology.wordpress.com/2016/12/04/parc-le-breos-an-artists-view-of-the-work-we-do/
https://vimeo.com/183336286
[ Reply to This ]

The Chambered Cairn, a new film premiering at Gower Heritage Centre on Sat 17 Sept by Andy B on Friday, 26 August 2016
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Thomas Goddard writes: My new film The Chambered Cairn made as part of my residency at Parc le Breos with CADW Gower Landscape Partnership will be screening at La Charrette, Gower Heritage Centre on Sat 17 Sept from 12-3.30pm

The film considers migration as a mode of collectively understanding the past, the project is in opposition to the current cult of the individual showing the tension between the individual and society. The themes are related to shelter, survival, hunting and rituals.

Made during a Cadw residency at Parc le Breos, a neolithic burial chamber, The Chambered Cairn explores our evolution and migration to the British Isles and the impact of human development from hunter gathers to agriculture and domestication.

For approximately 2 million years prior to the advent of agriculture, gatherer-hunters enjoyed excellent health, social and sexual equality, very light workloads, plenty of leisure time and freedom from any form of government.

All welcome.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJfAMeEgFvM/
http://www.thomas-goddard.com/

[ Reply to This ]
    Re: The Chambered Cairn, a new film by Thomas Goddard by Andy B on Friday, 27 January 2017
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    As part of the Parc le Breos chambered tomb artist in residence by Thomas Goddard, a film was produced by the artist.

    Some of the shots taken in the film are from the National Museum Wales’s Natural History displays. These add a layer of surrealism to the work. Tom wrote a blog about his use of the taxidermy, scenes, models and soundtrack from the Natural History displays, which can be viewed here.
    https://museum.wales/blog/2016-09-16/The-Chambered-Cairn/

    There are some familiar archaeological voices in the film too, including Professor Alasdair Whittle, Dr. Jacqui Mulville and the author Dr. Ffion Reynolds.

    The film includes footage of the Gower landscapes, including Paviland cave, Parc le Breos chambered tomb, the National Museum in Cardiff & the Archaeology department at Cardiff University. It’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not at times!

    Watch The Chambered Cairn, 2016 :
    https://tinkinswoodarchaeology.wordpress.com/2016/12/04/parc-le-breos-an-artists-view-of-the-work-we-do/
    https://vimeo.com/183336286

    [ Reply to This ]

Parc Cwm Aerial by gaianlife on Tuesday, 22 January 2013
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Taken while practising with my camera drone, flying skills slowly improving :)
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Parc le Breos 360 degree spherical panorama by Andy B on Thursday, 28 July 2011
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Having a go at embedding the image, thanks Hoperp

Parc Le Breos in Wales
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    Re: Parc le Breos 360 degree spherical panorama by MikeAitch on Thursday, 28 July 2011
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    I could play with these all day long, looking forward to seeing more Richard!
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Parc le Breos by Anonymous on Monday, 25 July 2011
A full 360 degree spherical panorama of Parc le Breos has just been produced and can be viewed at:-
http://www.360cities.net/image/parc-le-breos-wales
Drag the mouse around to view all around including the sky and down to the ground too.
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Parc le Breos by Martin_L on Monday, 25 July 2011
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    Fantastic work. Thanks for this link.
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Parc le Breos by MikeAitch on Monday, 25 July 2011
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    That's excellent thanks Anon
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: Parc le Breos by hoperp on Monday, 25 July 2011
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      Must admit I came across this site whilst searching for info regarding Parc le Breos. Thought it was worth passing the link onto you all here. If I come across any other sites (I know there are loads here) I will try to do a similar panorama for each of them too. King Arthur's Stone comes to mind as I type here, and it is not that much further for me. Just hope the weather & sky is better for the next one. Cheers all & enjoy
      [ Reply to This ]

Re: Parc le Breos by coldrum on Wednesday, 06 January 2010
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Coflein site entry.

http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/93072/details/PARC+LE+BREOS+BURIAL+CHAMBER%3BPARC+CWM+LONG+CAIRN/
[ Reply to This ]

Highlights of Pre-historic Gower, 4th August, by Andy B on Saturday, 23 June 2007
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Saturday 4th August.....Highlights of Pre-historic Gower
10.30am - 4.30pm

A moderate valley and moorland walk visiting 3 megalithic tombs, 3 ring cairns and an inland bone cave. All this plus interesting sites from Norman times and later periods.
(In case of bad weather it is possible to visit all sites by some driving and less walking.)
Meet at: Park Wood Car Park - Forestry Commission
From Swansea follow A4118 west for app 7 miles – signed South Gower, just past Shepherd’s shop and the Heritage Centre at Parkmill. Turn sharp right signed Park Wood, and follow rough track for app ½ mile to the car park, which is free. Alternatively park at the Heritage Centre for £2 and walk up the lane.
Leader: Mary Lewis, 01792 232883

http://www.breconbeaconsparksociety.org/psSpecialEvents.htm
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