Pant-y-Saer
Neolithic Chambered Tomb
West of Benllech, Anglesey, Wales  OS Map Ref SH50978239
OS Maps - Landranger 114 (Anglesey), Explorer 263 (Anglesey East)


Pant-y-Saer view of the front and interior of the chamber.
Pant-y-Saer view of the western facing front and interior of the chamber.
The capstone of this chambered tomb is impressively large - about 3 metres square and over half a metre thick but it is tilted eastwards partly resting on rubble at the rear of the chamber and partly propped up by a pair of large side slabs that stand to the north and south. Both of these slabs have quite rounded tops so either the capstone was originally placed at an angle or was balanced precariously and then slipped backwards.

The chamber measures about 2 metres square and was cut into the bedrock, when it was excavated between 1930-1932 the remains of fifty-four men, women and children were recovered as well as flint arrowheads and Neolithic pottery although later beaker remains and a secondary burial beneath a stone cist suggest the tomb was still accessible into the early Bronze Age.

Pant-y-Saer still retains traces of the mound or cairn that once covered the chamber (clearly visible to the right in the lower picture). In its original form this was about 12 metres by 9 metres with a forecourt to the north and edged with drystone walling but at a later date the mound was extended to 18 metres by 15 metres at which point the forecourt was blocked and the chamber sealed. This enlargement could be contemporary with the later Bronze Age activity at the site.

Pant-y-Saer stands about 800 metres northwest of the chambered tomb of Glyn.
Pant-y-Saer - rear of the chamber
Pant-y-Saer - rear of the chamber showing the angled capstone and traces of the the cairn mound.

Back to Map | Home | Full Glossary | Links | Email: chriscollyer@stone-circles.org.uk