Scheduled MonumentsWalesGwern Einion Burial Chamber
Neolithic · Chambered Tomb

Gwern Einion Burial Chamber

Meirionnydd, Wales
Cadw SAM ME011
Period
Neolithic
Site type
Chambered Tomb
Broad class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Nation
Wales
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Gwern Einion Burial Chamber is a Neolithic chambered tomb located in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument under Cadw reference ME011. The monument belongs to the tradition of megalithic communal burial structures that characterise the Neolithic period across Britain and Ireland, typically constructed between 4000 and 3000 BC. These chambered tombs served as focal points for early farming communities, marking territorial claims and consolidating social identity through collective ritual burial practice.

The site rests upon Lower Cambrian rocks—a foundation of sandstone and conglomerate interbedded together, formed during the Early Cambrian period over 500 million years ago. This underlying geology of consolidated sedimentary stone would have provided both suitable quarried material and stable ground for the monument's construction. The choice of location reflects how Neolithic communities worked with local geology, selecting sites where bedrock could support substantial stone structures.

Gwern Einion represents an important survival of Wales's Neolithic heritage, preserving evidence of early settled communities and their burial customs. The monument's protected status ensures the preservation of its physical structure and the archaeological record contained within and around it, contributing to our understanding of prehistoric Welsh society and the broader phenomenon of megalithic architecture across north-western Europe.

Gwern Einion Burial Chamber is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference ME011. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Gwern Einion Burial Chamber?

Gwern Einion Burial Chamber is a Neolithic chambered tomb located in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument under Cadw reference ME011.

What period does Gwern Einion Burial Chamber date from?

Gwern Einion Burial Chamber dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a chambered tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Gwern Einion Burial Chamber?

Gwern Einion 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 ME011.

What other scheduled monuments are near Gwern Einion Burial Chamber?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Ceunant Egryn Enclosed Settlement (8.2 km), Carneddau Hengwm Long Cairns (8.5 km), Enclosed Hut Circle Settlement and Long huts E of Egryn Abbey (8.5 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Gwern Einion Burial Chamber

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Gwern Einion Burial Chamber's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Gwern Einion Burial Chamber

Gwern Einion Burial Chamber stands on Lower Cambrian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Cambrian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.