We now arrive at the last and most interesting group of dolmens, namely, the twenty-seven examples which are either fairly complete or in a partially ruined condition.

Of these, the dolmen at Bryn Celli Ddu [Map], in the parish of Llanddaniel, and three-quarters of a mile E.S.E. of the Church, is in the best state of preservation and therefore seems worthy of first notice. Being close to Rowlands' home it naturally attracted his attention, and he thus describes it¹ "There are also in Llanddaniel parish, at a place formerly called Llwyn Llwyd, now Bryn Kelli, the remains of two carnedds within a few paces of one another; the one (fig. 3) is somewhat broken and pitted into on one side where the stones have been carried away; the other (fig. 4) having had its stones almost all taken away into walls and bridges, with two standing columns erected between them." A curious old-fashioned engraving is given, which is of interest, as it shews the position of the two standing stones and their relation to the carneddau.

Note 1. H. R., p. 94.

Between the date of Rowlands' death and 1770, when Pennant made his tour through the island, the chamber in the larger or eastern carnedd, had been discovered, for Pennant describes the creepway¹ as being 3 ft. wide, 4 ft. 2 ins. high, and about 19 ft. 6 ins. long. In the middle of the chamber was an artless stone pillar 4 ft. 8 ins. in circumference and "along the sides of the room a stone bench" on which were found human bones "which crumbled at the touch". This stone bench is only mentioned by Pennant, and it is very doubtful whether it was really found there as described. From his description it is not clear that he personally visited the spot, he certainly makes no mention of the second carnedd.

Note 1. T. P., ii, p. 262.

Skinner, in 1802, seems to have made a careful examination of the site. He refers¹ to his visit to the spot, "where in Mr. Rowlands' time there were two carnedds remaining, having two rude stone pillars placed between them, but these stones have been employed for the pur pose of building a wall near this place, as well as a great part of the western carnedd which is nearly destroyed for the same purpose about 20 years ago (1780), when the labourers, when digging towards the centre, discovered a flat pan, about 10 ins., overturned bottom upwards and under it a wedge of gold, as they pretend, the size of the heater of an urn, with a piece of wire passing through the smaller end of it".

Note 1. J. S., p. 25.

The discovery of the chamber in the eastern carnedd is thus described by Skinner: "whilst a farmer was removing some of the stones from the N.E. side of the larger carnedd", in order to employ them in his repairs, he came to the mouth of a passage covered with a square stone. On crawling down the passage and into the chamber he found a stone pillar about 6 ft. high, "standing in the centre of the chamber". He over-turned the stone to discover what might be buried beneath but he only found some large human bones lying near the pillar. There is no mention of any stone bench.

When Skinner entered the chamber he found the walls composed of flat stones, the intermediate space up to the roof being filled with stones placed one above the other in the manner in which they build walls, but without any kind of cement. Two prodigious flat stones covered the whole, one about 3 yds. in length and 2 yds. in breadth; the pillar lying in the cavern appeared to have been rounded with the tool. Pugh seems to have visited the spot but he tells us nothing new.

Miss Llwyd, writing in 1833¹, says: "The two upright stones are still (sic) in position and in several of the adjacent fields are stones of large dimensions". But the two upright stones, as we know from Skinner, had been demolished more than thirty years previously. Miss Llwyd gives² the dimensions of the creepway as 3 ft. wide, 4 ft. 6 ins. high, and about 19 ft. 6 ins. long. The "little room" is described as being covered by one stone near 10 ft. in diameter, supported by a rude pillar in the middle, and reference is also made to the stone seat and human bones, evidently quoted from Pennant. The statements that the roof consisted of one stone and that the pillar supported it, are at variance both with Skinner's sketches and with the fact that the farmer is said to have overturned the pillar immediately after entering; in any case a roof composed of two massive blocks of stone would not need support in the centre.

Note 1. A. Ld., p. 221.

Note 2. A. Ld., p. 241.

In 1847¹, the pillar is described as prostrate in the middle of the chamber, but there was no sign of the stone bench. The width of the entrance to the chamber is given at 20 ins. About the same year the site was protected by enclosing it with a stone wall², and trees were planted round the remains of the carnedd.

Note 1. 2 A. C., 1847, p. 1.

Note 2. 3 Ib., p. 3.

The Rev. E. L. Barnwell, in 1869, contributed a paper to the Arch. Camb.¹ in which is incorporated an excellent ground-plan and some notes by Captain Lukis, in which the latter mentions a second pillar near a small side cist close to the entrance to the crawl and about 3 ft. down it. He excavated the chamber and found on its right side a pavement of flat slabs lying on a bed of beach gravel about 2ft. thick; no pottery was found, but there were a few fragments of lead, some charcoal, a broken flint knife, a javelin head, and some pieces of human bones. The length of the larger pillar is given as 9 ft. Mr. Barnwell points out that there are two small cists which lead into the creepway, almost opposite each other, and he adds that some thirty or forty years previously one of the servants at Dinam remembered, as a boy, playing up and down the earn which was then tolerably complete, and as far as he could remember, the side chambers, shown by Captain Lukis in his plan, were then in existence. Mr. Barnwell was unable to find the second pillar.

Note 1. p. 140.

The following finds from Bryn Celli were presented to the British Museum by Captain F. D. Lukis, in April 1875; a piece of red colouring matter¹, a fragment of pottery, shells, and a lead band, but there is no record of the exact spot where they were found, or of the date of their discovery.

Note 1. The red colouring matter was probably composed of ground hematite. Stanley refers (A. J., xxvii,p. 161, and 3rd Mem., p. 5) to a quartzite grinding stone, much worn by friction and deeply tinged with red, such as would be produced by grinding hematite of iron", found in one of the cyttiau at Pen y Bone, Holyhead. Sir John Evans says that "there can be little doubt of this red pigment having been in use for what was considered a personal decoration by the early inhabitants of Britain".

In the Arch. Camb. of 1895¹, Mr. Hubert Allen calls attention to the fact that "three large stones on the outer circumference of the rise probably formed part of a circle of stones which bounded the carnedd.

Note 1. p. 157.

The site is marked on the Ordnance Survey of 1841 as "Yr Ogof", and in the surveys since 1895 as "Carnedd".

The alignment of the creepway is between 69° and 70° Mag. (Az. N. 51-2 E.), which allowing for a 2° hill is within 2° of the Summer Solstice sun-rising.

The trees which have been planted close to the dolmen are now a source of danger, as the roots have doubtless grown round some of the stones and in a strong wind might cause them to move from their positions, also the wall, which is built within a few feet of the remains, quite prevents the observer from forming any idea of the general appearance of the monument.

The supports are of schist (local). The capstone, which is in position, is of the carboniferous pebbly sandstone, which occurs a mile or so to the south. (E. G.)

Unfortunately in none of the records relating to the destruction of the western carnedd, is there any information as to whether a chamber and allee or a cistfaen was hidden under the tumulus, or whether the objects described by Skinner were all that it contained.

This is perhaps the finest monument of its kind in Great Britain and it is earnestly to be hoped that Lord Anglesey will hand it over to the care of the Commissioners for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments. References²:— H. R., p. 94, fig. A. C., 1847, p. 1, fig. T. P., ii, p. 262 21 1854, p. 205 C. B. (Gough), ii, p. 570 1860, p. 364 Cam. Reg., ii, p. 288 1869, p. 140 J. S., p. 25, fig. 1870, p. 55, fig. E. P., p. 71 1895, p. 157 A. Ld., pp. 221 and 241 1908, p. 67, fig. S. L., i, p. 502 A. J., 1871, p. 102 J. E. G., fig.

Note 1. References to existing dolmens will be found at the end of their descriptions.

Not far from Llyn Llywenan at Presaddfed, in the parish of Bodedern, and over three quarters of a mile E.N.E. of the Church, there stands a fine dolmen [Presaddfed Burial Chambers [Map]], and a little further to the north, at the distance of a few feet, is to be seen a second one, in the latter case, however, the capstone has been dislodged and remains with one end resting on the ground.

Gough first makes mention of these dolmens in his edition of Camden. He says¹ "In Bodedern parish, on an estate of Mr. Roberts, in the second field opposite the 9th milestone from Holyhead, is a very large double cromlech, almost equal to that at Plas Newydd [Map] the larger is 10 ft. by 8, and 2 ft. 6 ins. thick, resting on four stones, the highest 5 ft. The smaller is thrown down from its three stones and was 9 ft. square. The dimensions of the upper-most stones here exceed those at Plas Newydd, but, like that, their longest diameter points north and south. I find no mention of this noble monument in any other writer". (It must be remembered that in Gough's day the old coach road to Holyhead passed through Bodedern.)

Note 1. p. 571.

Skinner describes them¹ as "the most finished cromlechs we have yet seen in the island, the capstone measuring 41 yds. long, 4 yds. wide, and 2 yds. (sic) thick, its three supporters each about 11 yds. high. Indeed, there is a fourth nearly of the same height, but it does not touch the stone above. Under this cromlech we were informed a whole family, who had been ejected from their habitation, sought shelter during the last winter.² There was another cromlech close at hand but the capstone had been forced down and rests in a slanting direction against the supporters, the top stone of this measured 3 yds. long and 21 yds. wide, and its supporters nearly 2 yds. high". Miss Llwyd evidently derived the information which she gives, from Gough.

Note 1. J. S., p. 50.

Note 2. A family at one time lived in the dolmen at Haroldstown, Ireland, which has a singularly house-like appearance.- The Dolmens of Ireland, p. 397.

Figure 6. Ground Plans of Bryn Celli Ddu Burial Mound [Map] and Presaddfed Burial Chambers [Map].

In 1846 it is stated by Mr. Longueville Jones¹ that this cromlech was surrounded by a great number of small stones affording a strong presumption that here was once a carn", and in the Arch. Camb., 1870, we are told² that "it originally consisted of two chambers with openings facing the east". Griffith gives the following measurements:-Capstone 12 ft. 6 ins. long, at one end 8 ft. wide, at the other 7 ft., thickness from 20 to 28 ins. The supports are from 4 ft. 4 ins. to 4 ft. 6 ins. in height. These remains are marked on the Ordnance Map of 1841 and all subsequent surveys. When I first saw the standing dolmen I was immediately struck with the resemblance which the arrangement of its uprights bore to that at Bryn Celli [Map], which latter monument is directed to the Summer Solstice sunrise. Sir Norman Lockyer was of opinion that the creepway originally extended in a north-westerly direction, at right angles to the south-east stone and towards the Summer Solstice sunset, but I originally had an impression, which still holds good, that it must have been directed to the sunrise, although when I formed this opinion I was not aware of the statement in the Arch. Camb. of 1870, above referred to, where it is said that the opening faced the east. Sir Norman and I were agreed that the position of the south-east stone was the key to the alignment of the creepway. I have obtained an accurate ground plan of the upright stones, and if the alignment of the south-east stone, viz., 65° Mag. (Az. N. 47° E.), is correct, it seems to me that the chamber was designed approximately on the same plan as that at Bryn Celli, and that the creepway followed the direction of the south-east stone towards the Summer Solstice sunrise, and not at right angles to it towards the sunset (fig. 5).

Note 1. A. J., 1846, p. 43.

Note 2. p. 365.

The geological particulars supplied by Mr. Edward Greenly with regard to these dolmens are as follows:-

No. 1. Capstone and two supports of Ordovician pebbly grit; two remaining supports of chlorite mica schist.

No. 2. Capstone and one support of local chlorite mica schist. One support of chloritic epidote schist and the remaining two supports of Ordovician pebbly grit.

"There is therefore much the same assemblage of materials in both cromlechs. The cromlechs stand on the schists: but the Ordovician rocks are close by, the boundary runs just along the east side of Presaddfed woods. Only shales, however, occur there, but the pebbly grits come on about Bodynolwyn, two and a half miles to the N.N.E., and have sent so many boulders out with the ice that there are plenty at Presaddfed." (E. G.)

I am glad to say that Major Fox Pitt has handed over these dolmens to the custody of the Commissioners for the Protection of Ancient Monuments. C. B. (Gough), ii, p. 571 A. C., 1855, p. 25 J. S., p. 50, fig. 1862, p. 13, fig. A. Ld., pp. 188 and 243 1870, p. 365 S. L., i, p. 93 1871, p. 283 J. E. G., fig. A. J., 1846, p. 43, fig. 1871, p. 106.

The dolmens are marked on all Ordnance Surveys. No reference is made to any mound of earth and stones, although both dolmens were probably once covered in this manner. At the present day the capstone of the larger dolmen rests on three uprights at its north-east end, one of these is split, and is stayed by a fourth stone set as a strutt which was apparently fixed, in place of the wooden support, between the dates of Pugh's visit, in 1816, and Evans' description published in 1819. The eastern end rests upon two stones. The whole monument has a considerable list to the north-east. The cap of the small dolmen, from which a portion has been detached, rests on three stones.

These monuments are composed throughout of dark blue Glaucophane Schist, with the exception of one supporter of the larger dolmen, which is of mica schist. The schists do not occur in situ but there are so many ice bound erratics of them, brought only a mile or two from the north-east, that the cromlech builders could easily have obtained them on the spot. (E. G.)

The orientation of the larger dolmen, as calculated by Sir Norman Lockyer, from the south-eastern supporter, is to the sunrise on the 2nd of November. (137° Mag. = Az. S. 61° E.)

These dolmens stand in a railed enclosure in the private park of Plas Newydd and should be safe from any wilful damage. A large portion of the cap of the smaller dolmen has at some time been detached from the present stone, and now lies on the ground between the two dolmens. When this portion was in its proper position it must have nearly touched the cap of the large dolmen, so that the two caps would have appeared, at a little distance, to form part of one long stone. Mr. W. E. Jones, Lord Anglesey's agent, has kindly sent me the following measurements. Length of larger capstone 11 ft. 9 ins., breadth 9 ft. 6 in. Length of smaller capstone 6 ft. 6 ins. and breadth 5 ft. 4 in. Length of block which has fallen from the latter, 5 ft. 6 ins. and breadth 2 ft. 9 ins.

Figure 7.

"The dolmen" is scheduled to the Ancient Monuments Protection Act of 1882, but it has not, as yet, been handed over to the Commissioners appointed under this Act. H. R., p. 94 A. Ld., p. 241 T. P., ii, p. 236 S. L., ii, p. 3 C. B. (Gough), ii, p. 568 J. E. G., fig. W. B., p. 202 A. C., 1854, p. 205 Cam. Reg., ii, p. 288 1860, p. 367 R. W., p. 297 „ 1870, p. 51, fig. T. E., p. 370 1880, p. 81, fig. J. S., p. 20, fig. 1895, p. 157 E. P., p. 77 A. J., 1871, p. 92, fig. and 102 E., p. 282

It has been marked on all Ordnance Surveys. The capstone-which is 12 ft. 9 ins. in length and 5 ft. 3 ins. in width-and one support, are of Ordovician pebbly sand- stone. The second support is granite and the third dolerite. The fourth upright has vanished. It is very difficult to find the orientation of this dolmen. Sir Norman Lockyer at first believed that it was to the sunrise at the Winter Solstice, but he thinks it quite possible that an alignment (Az. N. 53° E.), to the Summer Solstice sunrise may be the correct one; "no other astronomical alignment", he says, than a solstitial one "is suggested by the arrangement of the stones". The monument is on the property of J. Rice Roberts, Esq. T. P, ii, p. 238 J. E. G., fig. W. B., p. 203 A. C., 1855, p. 25 Cam. Reg., ii, p. 288 1864, p. 44, fig. J. S., p. 46, fig. 1870, p. 58 A. Ld., p. 248 A. J., 1846, p. 42, fig. S. L,ii,p. 116 1871, p. 106

Two dolmens formerly stood at Trefor [Map], in the parish of Llansadwrn, and one mile N.N.W. of the Church.

Pennant makes the following statement:¹ "At Trefawr passed by a great and rude cromlech with the ruins of others adjacent". These remarks are repeated by Gough.

Skinner describes² the one which was standing at the time of his visit as "a very perfect cromlech, the upper stone measuring above 3 yds. across, supported by two uprights, the larger 6 ft. high, the other not above 4 ft. 6 ins., which cause the capstone to recline in a slanting direction. Another long stone now lying on the ground appears to have been formerly used as a supporter. Near at hand are also three or four flat stones lying promiscuously". These stones had originally formed the second dolmen. Miss Llwyd gives the following account³ from her father's MSS. "On a tenement called Trefawr, in this parish (Llansadwrn), there are two cromlechau one is a large stone mounted high upon four pillars, its incli- nation westward; in length it is 9 ft., and 6 ft. in breadth. Near it and upon the same carnedd, is another supported by only two stones, with a great inclination northward". The date when both dolmens were to be seen standing is unfortunately not given, but a footnote states that one fell down in 1825.

Note 1. T. P., ii, p. 254.

Note 2. J. S., p. 86.

Note 3. A. Ld., p. 287.

It therefore appears that originally there were two dolmens here. The western one had four tall supporters or uprights and the eastern one two, but before Pennant's visit in 1770, the western one had fallen, and in 1825, the second also collapsed or was demolished.

Longueville Jones, in the Arch. Camb. of 1854², states that "they were thrown down by the tenant because they were superstitious". (For "they were" read "he was".) As a period of fifty-five years elapsed between the falling of the two monuments this statement is probably incorrect; perhaps Mr. Jones only refers to the second one which was destroyed or fell in 1825. The site is marked "cromlech" on all Ordnance Surveys. The stones are composed of mica schist and diabase. (E. G.). Of the dolmen demolished in 1825 only one supporter remains erect and any attempt at orientation is impossible. This one stone stands north and south. An alignment from the fallen western dolmen to the standing supporter of the eastern one, which is approximately a line from the centre of one dolmen to the centre of the other, gives 1370 Mag. (Az. S. 61° E.), or the November sunrise, but this may be fortuitous. The owner of these remains is Miss Thomas, of Beaumaris. T. P., ii, p. 254 A. Ld., pp. 243 and 297 C. B. (Gough), ii, p. 569 S. L., ii, p. 93 W. B., p. 203 J. E. G., fig. Cam. Reg., ii, p. 288 A. C., 1854, p. 205 R. W., p. 299 21 9 1870, p. 58 J. S., p. 86, fig. A. J., 1871, p. 105

Note 2. p. 205.

The mean values of the two side supporters is 135° Mag. (Az. S. 63° E.), which gives the November sunrise on the 3rd of that month.

Lord Boston railed in this monument last year (1910) and he has now placed it under the care of the Com- missioners for the Protection of Ancient Monuments. H. R., p. 93, fig. S. L., ii, p. 66 C. B. (Gibson), ii, p. 61 J. E. G., fig. C. B. (Gough), ii, p. 567 A. C., 1854, p. 206 W. B., p. 203 11 1860, p. 367 Cam. Reg., ii, p. 288 71 1869, p. 263, fig. J. S., p. 15, fig. 1870, p. 58 E., p. 285 1873, p. 24, fig. A. Ld., p. 287 1908, p. 71