Carn Meini

Also known as:
Carn Menyn
Nearest town:
Cardigan (14km N)
OS reference:
SN145325
OS sheet:
145
Latitude:
51° 57' 34.2 N
Longitude:
4° 42' 0.56 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by thesweetcheat

Looking south from Carn Menyn. Gors Fawr stone circle is down there somewhere.

Image credit: A. Brookes (26.4.2022)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Apr 11, 2023
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by GLADMAN

The Mam C surveys the enigmatic landscape of carn Meini......

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Mar 16, 2016
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by GLADMAN

Like Dartmoor. Only with added metaphysicality.... if such a thing is possible.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Mar 1, 2016
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by GLADMAN

Utilising her female micro vision the Mam C spotted this (presumably) freshly sheared stone in situ. Two (apparent professors) were on-line that evening arguing that bluestones aren’t actually blue... Muppets.

Image credit: The Mam Cymru
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Feb 29, 2016
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by GLADMAN

Looking down from the rather precarious summit crags.... spotted dolerite all around.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Feb 29, 2016
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by GLADMAN

The Mothership was here; we thought our geese were cooked....

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Feb 29, 2016
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by moss

Rocks scattered, some look like pre-long barrows

Image credit: moss
moss
moss Nov 19, 2013
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by moss

feldspar; enlarged photo of one of the stones found on an outcrop near to Carn Meini.

moss
moss Dec 8, 2007
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by moss

The modern bluestone lifted by helicopter in 1986. A fragment of bluestone picked up on the path, is a beautiful grey blue colour, it is smooth and very tactile in its fresh state, almost slate-like.

moss
moss Feb 28, 2007
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by moss

Carn Meini seen from the distance. An evocative prehistoric landscape, stone river winding its way at the bottom.

moss
moss Dec 20, 2006
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by Kammer

Taken 15th April 2003: I’m 99% certain that this is not a burial chamber. It may be a natural rock formation or a modern attempt at creating something dolmen-like.

I came across it in amongst the lunar landscape of Carn Meini, and it took me by surprise. Possibly inspirational stuff for our prehistoric ancestors?

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer May 8, 2003
Image of Carn Meini (Rocky Outcrop) by Kammer

Taken 15th April 2003: A slightly shonky photo of Carn Meini from the north east (I think), with William posing cheesily in the foreground.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer May 8, 2003

Articles

Carn Meini

Stonehenge tourist bosses demand visitors stop chipping stones and selling them on eBay

moss
moss Feb 19, 2016

“To take fragments from Carn Menyn is to violate a part of our heritage which has been valued for over 4,000 years” Geoffrey Wainwright

A quarry which scientists have recently identified as being the source of Stonehenge’s famous rocks is being plundered at a “terrifying rate” by thieves selling them on eBay for £8, tourism bosses say.
Preseli bluestone can only be found on the Preseli Hills which runs the spine of Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
The stones were cut from rock and transported 160 miles to Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain to form the iconic circle around 5,000 years ago still stands today.

telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12164042/Stonehenge-tourist-bosses-demand-visitors-stop-chipping-stones-and-selling-them-on-eBay.html

Carn Meini

Another piece in Stonehenge rock source puzzle

scubi63
scubi63 Nov 20, 2013

Research to be published this month may bring us a step closer to understanding how bluestones from Pembrokeshire ended up at Stonehenge.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-25004282

(I wasn’t sure whether this should go under Stonehenge or not)

Carn Meini

Tomb found at Stonehenge quarry site

moss
moss Sep 1, 2011

Interesting find in the controversy as to whether the bluestones were glacially transported or came by human endeavour to Stonehenge.....

The remains of the original builders of Stonehenge could have been unearthed by an excavation at a site in Wales.

The Carn Menyn site in the Preseli Hills is where the initial bluestones used to construct the first stone phase of the henge were quarried in 2300BC.

Organic material from a tomb there will be radiocarbon dated.

Archaeologists believe this could prove a more conclusive link between the site and Stonehenge.

The remains of a ceremonial monument were found with a bank and ditch that appear to have a pair of standing stones embedded.

The bluestones at the earliest phase of Stonehenge – also set in pairs – give a direct architectural link from the iconic site to this newly discovered henge-like monument in Wales.


The tomb, which is a passage cairn – a style typical of Neolithic burial monument – was placed over this henge.

The link between the Welsh site and Stonehenge was first suggested by the geologist Herbert Thomas in 1923.

This was confirmed in 2008 when permission was granted to excavate inside the stone circle for the first time in about 50 years.

The bluestones had been transported from the hills over 150 miles to the plain in Wiltshire to create Stonehenge, the best known of all Britain’s prehistoric monuments.

Two of the leading experts on Stonehenge, Prof Geoff Wainwright and Prof Timothy Darvill, have been leading the project.

They are now excavating at the site of a robbed out Neolithic tomb, built right next to the original quarry.

They knew that the tomb had been disturbed previously, so rather than excavate inside, they placed their small trench along its outer edge.

Prof Darvill said: “It’s a little piece of keyhole surgery into an important monument, but it has actually lived up to our expectations perfectly.”

There are many springs in the area, which may be have been associated with ritual healing in prehistoric times, and also the reason why these particular stones were quarried for another monument so far away.

Prof Wainwright said: “The important thing is that we have a ceremonial monument here that is earlier than the passage grave.

“We have obviously got a very important person who may have been responsible for the impetus for these stones to be transported.

“It can be compared directly with the first Stonehenge, so for the first time we have a direct link between Carn Menyn – where the bluestones came from – and Stonehenge, in the form of this ceremonial monument.”

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14733535

Carn Meini

Kammer
Kammer May 8, 2003

Visited 15th April 2003: We had quite a bit of difficulty figuring out which rocky outcrop was which, but in the end I think we got to Carn Meini. It’s an enormous mass of stones, all higgledy piggledy. You look into it and see standing stones and burial chambers all over the place, but they’re not real, just natural coincidences that look extremely similar to the real thing.

We had a snack at Carn Meini, then William insisted on climbing to the highest bit he could see. Children know no fear! This place would be a good stopping off point for slightly older kids because they could roam around and explore (without stressing their parents out too much).

I’ve got one more photo of Carn Meini to post up, but I’ll be putting that under the Carn Menyn Chambered Cairn part of the site.

Folklore

Carn Meini
Rocky Outcrop
R
RiotGibbon Aug 20, 2001

It’s said that this is where the Stonehenge bluestones come from... maybe... not sure if this is true, but it’s certainly the same type of rock, on a major footpath, and *very* strange up there.

Miscellaneous

Carn Meini
Rocky Outcrop
Kammer
Kammer Jun 24, 2004

In the book Saints and Stones (ISBN 1-84323-124-7) Davies and Eastham explain the meaning of the alternative name for Carn Meini, Carn Menyn which translates as ‘The cairn of butter’:

...possibly a reference to the rich pasture land in the area.

Link

Carn Meini
Rocky Outcrop
Kammer
Kammer Dec 3, 2004
Trefach Campsite: Panorama

This page is from the Trefach Campsite web site and contains amongst other things a panorama of the view from Carn Meini (the page calls it Caermeini or Carn-Meynen depending on the mood of the author!).

This is by no means an excellent example of a panorama, but it’s the only one of Carn Meini I’m aware of. Java support is necessary if you want to see the view.

Topics

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Professor Geoffrey Wainwright 6
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Sites within 20km of Carn Meini

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