Tinkinswood Burial Chamber

Now I’m as much a fan of pre-​historic burial chambers as the next person, so I was interested to go to Tinkinswood Burial site just outside Cardiff.
It’s not far from St Nicholas and I thought it well worth a visit.
I have been to the Pentre Ifan site in Cardiganshire West Wales and was awe inspired by the size and beauty of the structure. It’s difficult to describe how the experience can affect you. Ancient people have worked together to construct something that has stood the test of time and probably looks pretty similar to how it looked when first constructed. Pentre Ifan was on the brow of a hill with amazing views all around so the location was chosen carefully.
I’m happy to say Tinkinswood didn’t disappoint. Tinkinswood was a bigger structure than Pentre Ifan and very impressive. If you get the chance go and see a piece of history.

Also known as Castell Carreg, Llech-​y-​Filiast and Maes-​y-​Filiast, this amazing megalithic burial chamber was built around 6,000 years ago during the Neolithic period in the Vale of Glamorgan, near Cardiff. It’s well worth a visit for anyone studying or interested in archaeology or ancient history — and just a short distance away you can also visit another burial site at St Lythans.
The Tinkinswood burial chamber is called a ‘dolmen’, which was the most common megalithic structure in Europe at the time. This one has a large capstone on top weighing around 36 tonnes with smaller, upright stones supporting it. Experts believe that about 200 people would have been needed to lift the big stone into its position on top of the smaller ones!
Measuring 7.4 metres x by 4.2 metres, it is believed to be the largest of its type in Britain and possibly in Europe. It would have once been covered by a large mound of soil, but this has eroded over time to reveal a far smaller mound just behind the structure.
For those of you with an OS map of this area, the grid reference for the burial chamber is ST092733.