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Wales
Capel GarmonChambered Cairn
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| Visited this site last summer whilst spending a few days in Bala. This is a lovely place to visit on a warm summers day. The chamber itself was larger than I expected and in better condition. It was a nice experience to sit under the capstone and admire the dry stone walling. While we were there the local farmer was using two sheep dogs to round his flock up - something we all enjoyed watching. |
Posted by CARL 7th May 2010ce |
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Seeing as we started the day with a big burial chamber it felt right to end it with one too, from one side of Snowdonia to the other. I can see why the farmer doesnt really like having folk over to gawp at the stones, there's nowhere good to park and your made to feel like your intruding (which we are), but this is such an important site some money should be spent on parking, up by the road maybe. Not quite the winter wonderland, more of a toenumbingarseendoftheyearland, but even in the snow and excepting the stick carrying farm dog, this is still a good place to be. The big capstone, the passage and side passage, with standing stones in the walls. Magnificent. Not bad |
Posted by postman19th December 2009ce |
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Another effective method the arresting Kate employed to seduce me. She brought me here on a glorious blue, russet, and gold autumn day, and blew me away. This place is so beautiful, peaceful and completely breathtaking. When Jane, Moth and I visited, a misty, slightly overcast sky greeted us, and lifted as we left – typically. Nonetheless, a superb view of Snowdonia was afforded which demonstrated beautifully why the ancestors chose this site. As ever, the placing of a Severn-Cotswold long barrow in the heart of North Wales fascinated me. Who were the builders? Were they a group of people who moved up from the south? Were they a tribe who had taken on different belief systems to the others prevalent in the vicinity? Were they traders? There are no such barrows anywhere else up here, so I assume this must be the case. Or could it have been the last one to have been built before that set of beliefs changed? Or is the only one that has survived? Whatever the reasons, this is a fabulous structure, definitely worth a visit. The remaining capstone (on the western chamber), is awesome, and it is easy to imagine how the thing must have looked when originally built. The post and panel work inside the chambers is a joy to behold, and even though it has been extensively restored, remains of the original dry walling can be seen in the lower courses of the eastern chamber. 5,000 year old dry walling. Cool. We enjoyed a good half hour here, joined briefly by two other visitors, and watched by many fluffy sheep. This post appears as part of the weblog entry Three Go Mad In Conwy: Part I
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Posted by treaclechops8th April 2005ce |
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Crikey! Didn't expect to come face-to-face with a typical Cotswold-Severn tomb in North Wales. The lovely horned forecourt and shape of the entire structure is marked out with little kerbstones placed there following an excavation in 1925. The main passageways are open to the elements now, save for one large capstone flaking like tasty French patisserie. The interior of the open passageway has large pointy uprights used as walling materials with drystone walling in between. The construction reminded me of Orcadian stalled cairns. Though much of the cairn material is gone, there is enough left to indicate the vast height and bulk of this place. The rolling irregular contours of the grass on the monument undulate and flow in the same way as they do on Hetty Peglar's Tump. Gorgeous. This is an 'A-list' site in the most beautiful valley overlooked by a corking gorsedd stone. What a shame the wretched information boards are sited too high and the large metal kissing gate is just a bit too close to the monument. This post appears as part of the weblog entry Conwy crusade: three burial chambers and a stone row
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Posted by Jane27th March 2005ce Edited 28th March 2005ce |
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Visited 25th May 2003: After a kiddies party near Conwy I dragged everyone off to see some sites. First stop was Capel Garmon, which I last visited 20 years ago with my parents! The chamber is heavily reconstructed, or so it appeared to me. We were all a bit tired and irritable, so it was difficult to relax and enjoy the site. Not much 'zing' was found here. The surrounding landscape is fantastic though, with excellent views of the mountains. I'd quite like to come here again on my own, without fractious kiddies, and see whether there's any 'zing' here to be had. I had intended to recreate the 1983 photos with Lou, Will and Alfie in them, but my attempts were too crap to post. Another thing I stuffed up was forgetting to check the location of the Gorsedd before heading out to the site. As a result I totally failed to take a look. PS. Broen - I suspect that the farmer knew exactly where this site was when he directed you elsewhere. I didn't get the feeling that he's keen on people visiting the site (crappy gates, mad sheep dogs etc.) |
Posted by Kammer18th June 2003ce Edited 4th August 2003ce |
| On my first journey here the farmer was totally ignorant of this chamber in his back garden pointing us down the road instead. |
Posted by broen5th February 2003ce Edited 6th February 2003ce |
| Nestled in a very private spot, Capel Garmon has a beautiful air of tranquility. The hum of farm equipment in the distance doesn't detract from this place. The Gorsedd stone, as described in TMA, is just one part of a complex of hidden spots which must all have had there part within this sacred landscape. |
Posted by IronMan25th March 2002ce |
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Just 1 mile south of Capel Garmon, a chambered long barrow lies in the most breathtaking scenery. a few hundred metres from Ty'n-y-Coed Farm lies a 90 foot chambered long barrow, sadly open to the harsh elements this area experiences. A massive 14 foot capstone is the only reminants of the roof that remains, and this covers a false entrance, where in recent times it was used as a stable. A smaller and probably the original entrance lies to the southerly point of the barrow, a number of large stones line the walls of the main burial chamber, with a small chamber, formed by three smaller upright stones, strutting out into the main chamber. Although not as impressive as Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesea, this chamber is still well worth a visit. Map reference SH818543 |
Posted by mort1st June 2000ce Edited 6th February 2003ce |
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A folklorish snippet about the site's name and some other information:The locality consists of a series of small plains or glades, chiefly turbary, interspersed with rocky hillocks covered with oak, presenting scenes of singular variety and beauty; while the panorama of the Caernarvonshire hills, which this spot exhibits, can scarcely be surpassed in magnificence.From 'Carnedd enclosing a cromlech at Chapel Garmon' in the first volume of the Cambrian Journal (1857). Some years ago the compartment under the stone was converted into a stable, by clearing out the side of the carnedd to the west, throwing down the end-stone, and fitting in a framed window. A door was also provided, and a stone manger. All these have since been removed.From 'The Conway in the Stereoscope' by James Bridge Davidson (1860). Sadly there isn't a stereoscope photo of the site, in the book, though there are of various other scenes. |
Posted by Rhiannon30th January 2010ce Edited 31st January 2010ce |
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Capel Garmon means (unsurprisingly) 'chapel of Garmon' in Welsh. As yet I've not been able to establish who Garmon was, so perhaps someone out there can tell me. If you want to hear the name being pronounced in an authentic (north Welsh) accent, there's a WAV file available on the Betws-y-Coed Web site: http://www.croeso-betws.org.uk/sounds/place/capgarm.wav |
Posted by Kammer 20th November 2002ce Edited 10th June 2004ce |
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George Eastman House ArchiveAn old photo of Capel Garmon by Alvin Langdon Coburn. There's a second and third photo of the tomb by Coburn on the same web site. The date of these photos isn't clear but, the tomb was excavated in 1927, so that gives us a clue (so long as it wasn't restored before that). In the photos the site is neatly fenced off for public access, so it's probably not been recently excavated. Coburn died in 1966, so the photos may well have been taken between 1930 and 1966. |
Posted by Kammer 10th June 2004ce Edited 10th June 2004ce |
Megalithics: Capel GarmonThis page contains a photo and a description of the cairn, and it links to more pages containing loads more photos and interactive panoramas of the site. The panoramas are really good fun! |
Posted by Kammer 20th November 2002ce Edited 10th June 2004ce |
Megalithic Walks: Capel GarmonThe walk to this site from the road is only a quarter of a mile, so it's not exactly an arduous pilgrimage. This page directions to the cairn (first by car, then on foot), a description of the site and lots of photos. |
Posted by Kammer 20th November 2002ce |
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