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SH 51995 69730 (GPS 25min main chamber) | |
Visited April 2002 |
PLEASE NOTE Plas Newydd is on a private estate and public access is not normally allowed. Our sincere thanks to the estate manager for letting us visit this wonderful monument.
Plas Newydd is yet another impressive
Anglesey tomb that defies classification. There are two chambers, each with a
separate capstone, on a NE-SW axis. The northern chamber is the largest, the
side stones have been lost, and its capstone is now supported by four stones at
the northern end and two at the southern end. The capstone slopes up towards the
NE which usually indicates the position of an entrance, but the row of surviving
orthostats at the NE are not in a configuration typical of Portal Dolmen
"entrances".
The southern tomb is much smaller,
its chamber is tiny, barely large enough to hold one adult, unfortunately this
has not deterred graffiti enthusiasts who have decorated the interior with red
paint. It has been suggested that the southern chamber may have been a side
chamber or entrance passage for the northern chamber, but this is unlikely as
one of the two stones supporting the "back" of the larger chamber's
capstone effectively blocks any access between the chambers. There are several
stones protruding through the turf around the monument, but we could not make
out any traces of the remains of a covering cairn.
It is likely that the monument has suffered some disturbance in the eighteenth century when the area was landscaped during the construction of surrounding estate. Even in its present ruined condition, Plas Newydd is still a very attractive and imposing monument.