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Bedd yr Afanc Burial Chamber is a prehistoric chambered tomb located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference PE122. The monument stands on bedrock formed from Llanvirn rocks of the Whiterock period, composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. This geological foundation is typical of upland Welsh terrain and would have presented substantial challenges to the Neolithic communities who constructed the tomb.
The chamber belongs to the tradition of megalithic burial monuments that characterised Neolithic Wales, constructed by communities dependent on farming and stock-rearing. Such monuments served as communal burial places and represented significant investment of labour and resources by the societies that built them. The use of locally available stone as building material would have been essential, worked from the surrounding bedrock and glacial deposits.
The monument's Welsh name references the afanc, a creature of Welsh mythology, reflecting the deep cultural significance places accumulated over millennia. Like other chambered tombs across Wales, Bedd yr Afanc preserves archaeological evidence of Neolithic burial practice and settlement patterns. Its survival and protection enable continued study of prehistoric Welsh communities and their monumental achievements.
Bedd yr Afanc Burial Chamber is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference PE122. View the official record →
Bedd yr Afanc Burial Chamber is a prehistoric chambered tomb located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference PE122.
Bedd yr Afanc Burial Chamber dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a chambered tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Bedd yr Afanc Burial Chamber is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is PE122.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Castell Vorlan (8.2 km), Pencraig-Fawr Camp (8.3 km), Tumulus N of Goodwins Row, Efailwen (8.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Bedd yr Afanc Burial Chamber's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Bedd yr Afanc Burial Chamber stands on Llanvirn Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Whiterock. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.