Llech-Y-Tripedd
Neolithic Chambered Tomb
Southwest of Moylgrove, Dyfed, Wales  OS Map Ref SN10054319
OS Maps - Landranger 145 (Cardigan & Mynydd Preseli), Explorer OL35 (North Pembrokeshire)


Llech Y Tripedd Chambered Tomb
This delicately balanced portal dolmen stands in the corner of a quiet field close to a track that leads uphill from Penlan and less than a mile southeast from the waters of Cardigan Bay.

Three uprights support a heavy triangular capstone that measures nearly 3 metres in length, about 2.5 metres at its widest point and nearly a metre thick while just to one side of the chamber is a fallen stone that was reported as standing as late as the 17th century. If there was ever a covering mound over this tomb any trace of it has now gone although there are several small rocks beneath the capstone which could be contemporary with the monument or simply the result of field clearance.

Llech-y-Tripedd is one of three similar monuments that form a triangle to the north of the Preseli mountains which are visible as a fine backdrop on the southern horizon, the other two being Carreg Coetan Arthur and Pentre Ifan and it seems that all three may be linked with Carn Ingli,
a prominent hill to the northwest of the range. Indeed it has been suggested that the capstone of Llech-y-Tripedd bears a striking resemblance to the peak of Carn Ingli so was this a case of the prehistoric builders of the site trying to mirror the shape of a hill they regarded as having symbolic importance and perhaps draw the power of the distant hill into the chambered tomb? The hill is also referenced in a local legend that claims that the stones of the dolmen were thrown from Carn Ingli by St. Samson, is this a recent explanation of the monument or the retelling of a distant folk memory?

There seems to be several spellings and translations of Llech-y-Tripedd, I've seen it referred to as Llech-y-Drybedd or Llech-y-Trybedd with translations relating to either three legs or three hares.

Date: Neolithic
Llech Y Tripedd Chambered Tomb
Llech-Y-Tripedd. The fallen upright is the prostrate stone to the left of centre.
Llech-y-Tripedd
From this angle the capstone looks remarkably smooth sided and flat topped.

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