Among the Stones - A prehistoric week in Pembrokeshire

[Son of the King]

Its taken several months but I've finally finished documenting my trip to Pembrokeshire in July. I'd seen that some people here had written travelogues from their trips when I was catching up on the things I'd missed in my absence, and was inspired to try my own hand at it.

Among the Stones

It wasn't actually meant to be a trip about archaeology. We just wanted a nice holiday, and we last-minute booked a nice looking holiday cottage on a farm a couple of miles south west of Cardigan. I'd stayed in the area before, over 20 years ago now, and I have never forgotten the impact that Castell Henllys - a somewhat reconstructed Iron Age hillfort, with roundhouses built in their exact original foundations - had on pre-teenage me. I've always said that I need to go there with Lady Grey sometime, and a reasonably priced cottage available at the last minute seemed like a great chance to do just that. Maybe it was meant to be a bit about archaeology.

Saturday

The trip down from Manchester (with only a minor detour) took us through an area of Wales I know from even earlier in my childhood; Machynlleth. One of the first gifts I gave to Lady Grey was a dragon incense burner from a small collection of independent traders called Corris Craft Centre, and our trip really began with a stop here to see the place in person for the first time (or for me, the first time in something around 20 years).

Things were a bit modernised since I last saw the place, but overall it was exactly as I remembered. Only one of the workshops I remembered no longer exists; sadly it was the one that sold swords. Having seen the dragons in person we decided to contemplate which we wanted to buy and pick it up on the way home, to avoid any chance of damage on the round trip to Pembrokeshire. There's also a show cave here; an old slate mine now called King Arthur's Labyrinth. We didn't have time to go in here on this trip unfortunately.

Near to Corris Craft Centre are a couple of other places iconic in my childhood memories; we used to go camping a couple of miles from here. I was saddened to learn that the Centre for Alternative Technology (or "The Parked Trains" as I called it as a 3 year old, on account of its funicular railway at the entrance) is now (hopefully temporarily) closed to the public, having not managed to properly weather the pandemic. This was a really cool learning and exhibit space about renewable energy and sustainability. It still is from the look of things, but only open in a very limited set of circumstances.

The other nearby attraction I remember is the Talyllyn Railway. We didn't have time to go there on this trip, but this narrow gauge railway claims to be the first preserved railway in the world, with the Preservation Society being founded in 1951, 96 years after the original line opened. This railway is also the inspiration of the Skarloey Railway from the Rev. W Awdry's railway stories.

Continuing the trip, we traveled to the coast at Aberystwyth and from there the whole way down Cardigan Bay. We found the cottage and settled in, and made some vague plans for what we wanted to do with our week.

Sunday

Starting the holiday with a nice restful day, we went to Tesco, watched the Silverstone Grand Prix, and visited the ducks in the garden. I think I also spent some time writing an entry for Thurazur's journal and playing around with the Exilian website redesign ideas on this day.

Monday


Castell Henllys through the bushes

It was Monday when we went to Castell Henllys. These days there's a nice cafe in the visitor centre here; we partook of some tasty lunch there before heading up to the hillfort. The actual hillfort was quite similar to the version in my head from 20 years ago. Three large reconstructed roundhouses greet you, along with a smaller roundhouse and a raised grain store. These reconstructions are built in their original locations and based on the archaeological investigations that have taken place on the site, along with some speculation and experimental archaeology.

There was a good demonstration/guided tour here which provided an overview of the history of Castell Henllys as well as broader context about the Bronze and Iron Age in Wales in general.

Leaving Castell Henllys we noticed that a sign showing other nearby prehistoric monuments in the area. There was a marker for Pentre Ifan, a dolmen (or cromlech) we'd been thinking of visiting already. A dolmen is a type of Neolithic chambered tomb, consisting of a single burial chamber constructed from vertical standing megaliths holding up a large capstone. These large stone structures are thought to have been surrounded by and buried in a mound or cairn originally, but often are found freestanding now, with the mounds having been long lost.

Pentre Ifan

Since it was only a short drive from Castell Henllys we decided to tack a visit there onto our day. A few miles of single-track road with hedges close-in on both sides later, we pulled into the layby parking and walked along the very short path to Pentre Ifan.

The monument itself is pretty spectacular, with the capstone seeming to almost float above the vertical megaliths which hold it up. There's actually some debate about whether Pentre Ifan ever had an actual mound around it, with more recent thinking tending towards the idea that it was always free standing and intended to be viewed as it currently is. The floating effect being compounded by some of the megaliths not actually touching the capstone certainly seems to encourage that interpretation. The lack of any human remains found in investigations of the supposed "burial chamber" also seems to point in this direction.

Aside from the monument itself, the position of it is extremely striking. The views over the valley are excellent, especially out towards the coast. In the other direction, a hill topped by craggy outcrops overlooks the site, with the Preseli Hills as a further backdrop. This was a really evocative place, and I'm sure was a spectacular landmark for our ancestors thousands of years past whatever its use.

Crugiau Cemmaes barrow

Whilst looking at the map at Castell Henllys we also noticed a marker extremely close to where we were staying, named Crugiau Cemmaes. On further research, this turned out to be a group of Bronze Age barrows only a couple of minutes walk away. It was at this point that the holiday began to turn into a prehistoric monuments tour.

We walked up to the barrows, which are situated on roughly the highest point of that side of the same valley. According to documents, there are four burial mounds here, but only two are easily distinguished, with a third possible to make out amongst the hedges looking away from the main group. After doing further research after the holiday, I'm pretty sure the fourth has mostly been plowed flat.

Interestingly an investigation into these barrows was recorded to have taken place sometime around 1695, wherein a local Mr. Lloyd dug into one and recovered several artifacts^[1].

Tuesday

The next day was spent visiting Cardigan, wandering the shops, eating ice cream, and having a lovely meal in a restaurant called Copper Pot. In 1176 Cardigan Castle was the location of the earliest recorded precursor of the modern National Eisteddfod (a festival of Welsh culture). In it's early modern heyday Cardigan was a thriving port exporting slate and other goods, and by some distance the largest port in South Wales.

Wednesday


St. Davids Cathedral

On Wednesday we travelled a little further afield, heading to St. Davids at the tip of Pembrokeshire. This cathedral city is the smallest city by population and urban area in the British Isles.

St. Davids Bishop's Palace

Whilst we didn't visit any prehistoric monuments here due to time getting too short - there is a promontory fort on the nearby coast which we could see from our fish and chips eating spot, and another Neolithic burial chamber close by that we unfortunately couldn't see from the same spot - we did visit a few more recent historic sites.

The late 12th century cathedral itself is pretty spectacular, and its unusual rural setting helps it to stand out amongst the cathedrals I've visited.

Across the road from the cathedral is the ruined Bishop's Palace, which was largely built in the 14th century by then Bishop Henry de Gower. Some parts of the building pre-date de Gower however, and before the palace this was the site of a 6th century monastery.

Thursday


Gors Fawr Stone Circle

The following day was packed full of more historic wanderings. We started with a trip to the ruined Cilgerran Castle. This 13th century castle sits atop a dramatic cliff above the River Teifi. There was originally a castle here from around 1110, ownership of which flipped between Welsh leaders and Norman marcher lords several times over the next century or so. After each siege and capture the castle was repaired, improved, or in some cases flattened and rebuilt. It was captured for the final time by William Marshal in 1223, who was responsible for the current structure. By 1400 however, the castle had already gone to ruin and been deserted.

Nevern Standing Stone

Next was a stop in Nevern, a small village close to our cottage which has an interesting old churchyard that we'd noticed when driving past on Monday. There's a "Bleeding Yew" here, a yew tree with seemingly blood-red sap. When we were there, there was indeed a bit of red sap leaking out, but it seemed to be encouraged by tapping. I also don't know enough about yew trees to judge whether or not this red sap is particularly unusual.

Also in this churchyard is a Celtic cross with some interesting carving, along with a standing stone with inscriptions in Latin and Ogham.

Also in Nevern is Nevern Castle. Initial research suggested this was a smallish lump in a field, but we thought it worth a quick investigation whilst we were there. As it turned out, I had very much underestimated everything to do with this. Whilst there are pretty much no extant actual ruins as at Cilgerran, this castle was significantly more than a small mound, with a very impressive defensive ditch and rampart still clearly present. It also turned out to sit at the top of a very steep road, and the planned route back down to make the walk circular went right off a cliff.

Two medieval castles in, it was time to travel a bit further back in time. For the whole week we'd been looking out of the conservatory window towards the Preseli Hills, and looking back was a row of three Bronze Age burial cairns silhouetted on the summit of the eastern end of the range. Surrounding these cairns is Foel Drygarn, a later Iron Age hillfort which seems to have respected the cairns in its layout. This hillfort was on our list of places to visit in the first place, along with Castell Henllys and Pentre Ifan, so with a decent bit of daylight left and not yet hungry, it seemed like a good time to do it.

Looking along the Preseli Hills from Foel Drygarn

A few miles down the road from the layby for Foel Drygarn is Gors Fawr Stone Circle, a pleasant circle of small stones in the shadow of the Preseli Hills. This is literally in a field next to the road, and easily accessible. Though lacking the grandeur and spectacular views of Pentre Ifan to a modern eye, this was still a nice spot with some good atmosphere and a nice warmup for the visit to Foel Drygarn.

It was about halfway up the hill, with the sun blasting down into our eyes, that we realised we should've brought some water and more substantial food than a small packet of sour zombies. We plodded onwards; I was particularly enjoying the kind of Weathertop vibes that the whole place was giving, with the rocky outcrops on the southern flank of the hill.

Eventually we clambered over the remains of the rampart of the hillfort, and walked through the hut circles up to the three burial cairns before stopping to take in the view. There are at least 227 hut circles up here, though they weren't all in use simultaneously. Sitting on the cairn, it was easy to imagine how things must've looked thousands of years ago in the same spot.

Half a bag of zombies later, with the sun low in the sky, we decided we should head down and get some proper food. We made our walk circular by heading out of what was clearly an original entranceway in the earthworks, following a path down beneath the crags on the southern side of the hill and looping back around to where we had come from. I briefly considered trying to find another nearby monument, another dolmen (albeit in significantly worse shape than Pentre Ifan) which was just a couple of fields away, but the coming dusk, large cows, lack of actual footpath, and growing hunger all conspired to stop us.

Friday


Poppit Sands

Today was ludicrously hot. We went to the beach and swam in the sea, making friends with a number of exotic-looking jellyfish which turned out to be Compass Jellies. Thankfully we avoided any stings. Other than the beach, we spent today cleaning up and tidying in preparation to leave in the morning. We finished the day with another walk up to Crugiau Cemmaes, which was a beautiful place to watch the sunset and contemplate.

Saturday

The final day of our trip began with more cleaning and packing. This was even hotter than the previous day, so we were dreading leaving the lovely air conditioned bedroom in the cottage. Around the specified checkout time we chatted with the owner as she was cleaning the twin cottage next door and were delighted when she told us there was no real rush to leave.

When we eventually did depart, we headed straight back the way we'd come a week before. Somewhere between Cardigan and our lunch (and dragon pick-up) stop at Corris Craft Centre I started to believe the garage who'd said that my car's AC was broken a few weeks before as we slowly baked. Lunch at Corris was excellent, I'd highly recommend it to anyone passing through the area. Obviously I ate a jacket potato on the warmest day of the year, though the subsequent ice cream made up for the additional warmth. The rest of the journey was uneventful, bringing an end to a wonderful trip on which I found some of my favourite ever views and reignited my interest in prehistoric Britain. Every trip longer than a day since has involved a visit to at least one prehistoric monument.


[1]: "Camden's Britannia newly translated into English, with large additions and improvements ; publish'd by Edmund Gibson ..." In the digital collection Early English Books Online 2. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/B18452.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed November 2, 2025.

[Jubal]

I enjoyed this Lovely photography and Pentre Ifan does indeed look extremely impressive!

It also strikes me that I've never really looked up prehistoric standing stones and similar in Austria - I assume this country must have its equivalents but I don't know what they are.

[Son of the King]

Thank you! I'd definitely recommend a stop at Pentre Ifan to anyone who's ever in the area, its really impressive in person and honestly worth it for the view down to the coast even for someone with barely any interest in seeing megalithic monuments.

I'd be interested to hear about anything similar you find in Austria if you ever get to looking it up; I also don't really know much about standing stones and stone circles and the like on the continent. I think a lot of that kind of practice is concentrated on the Atlantic coasts, in places like Brittany and Portugal, but I assume there's also some similar and maybe related practices further inland.

Another interesting spot that I forgot to mention in the main post was the "Blue Lagoon" at Abereiddy, which is a flooded old slate quarry on the coast down towards St. Davids. We were watching people diving in and swimming about in it as the sun was setting on the Wednesday, it seemed like a fun place to visit if horrifying jumps into deep water are your thing. The slate gives the water here a slightly weird blue colour which is neat, and the nearby beach which doubles as a car park is unusual for its dark/black sand (though its also a little rocky, making it not the best type of beach).