THE GREAT CAIRN AT TINKINSWOOD

This is an outline of my findings on the location of the Tinkinswood Burial Cairn in narrative summary form. To follow the story click ‘NEXT’ at the foot of each page. For more detail including map references, click on the appropriate ‘MORE DETAIL’ links.

Roughly equidistant between Cardiff, Barry and Cowbridge, just outside the village of St. Nicholas, in the Vale of Glamorgan lies one of Wales’ foremost megalithic wonders. Now in the care of CADW – the government agency charged with preserving historic monuments - the Tinkinswood Burial Cairn is a large chambered ‘Long Cairn’ thought to have been built some 6,000 years ago. The giant capstone weighs an estimated 40 tons and is supported by large upright stones. Near the burial chamber are other standing stones and the remains of what appear to be two ‘avenues’ lead to and from the site. For more details of the Tinkinswood site, click on the link below.

But the real wonder of Tinkinswood is its precise and exact location. Its relation to prominent geographical features is both strange and intricate. Its siting alone qualifies it to be one of the foremost Neolithic sites in Europe.