Stone Circles, Oval Settings and Henges in South-west Wales and Beyond

Abstract

Topographical and geophysical surveys carried out in August 2002 at three monuments in the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire are reported: Bedd Arthur, Gors Fawr and Meini Gwyr. Previously unrecorded features were revealed at all three sites, most spectacularly at Meini Gwyr which, from the evidence of geophysical survey, appears to be a multi-phase monument that includes a double pit-circle, hengi-form monument and embanked enclosure with an internal stone circle. Comparisons are made with plans prepared by Flinders Petrie in 1926, published here for the first time. A viewshed analysis of the surveyed sites and others of similar kind in the area allows an appreciation of landscape setting and intervisibility. It is suggested that the stone circles are sited in relation to upland stone sources. All the monuments considered here are compared with contemporary structures recorded elsewhere in the British Isles. It is concluded that while the stone circles and oval setting fit comfortably within a distribution pattern that extends across most of the British Isles, the later phases of Meini Gwyr at least belong to a more localized tradition of monument building focused on the Irish Sea region.