The Neolithic Dolmen of St Lythans

In the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, lies the St Lythans burial chamber. This megalithic dolmen was built around 4000 BC as part of a chambered long barrow during the mid-Neolithic period. The site stands in a field of pasture land known as Maesyfelin (The Mill Field) to the south of St Lythans Road, located about half a mile to the west of the hamlet of St Lythans.

The chamber is a Severn-Cotswold type structure consisting of a cove of three upright mudstone stones supporting a large, flat capstone. The capstone measures 4 metres long, 3 metres wide, and 0.7 metres thick, sloping downwards from southeast to northwest. The insides of the two facing, rectangular uprights have been smoothed off, and there is a port-hole at the top of the triangular rear stone. The burial chamber has a minimum internal height of 1.8 metres and is in an east/west alignment with the entrance facing east.

Originally, the chamber would likely have been covered by a mound of earth and smaller stones, though this has been eroded or removed over time, leaving a lower barrow. The site is accessible via a kissing gate and is situated about one mile south of the Tinkinswood burial chamber. Locals have associated the site with various names, including Gwâl y Filiast (The Greyhound Bitch's Kennel) and the Accursed Field, though it dates from a time much older than these legends.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons