Carn Menyn
Encyclopedia
Carn Menyn is a grouping of craggy rock outcrops or tors in the Preseli Hills
in the Welsh
county of Pembrokeshire
.
The name means "Butter Rock". It is sometimes called Carn Meini ("Rock of Stones"), but this is a modern corruption of the original name. It sits on top of the Preseli ridge, close to the stone setting of Bedd Arthur
and is believed by some to have been the main source for the bluestone
s used at Stonehenge
. It consists of an outcrop of white spotted dolerite similar to that of other tors in the area, and several other prehistoric sites have been identified nearby. The mountain-top setting provides commanding views over the Gower Peninsula
and across Cardigan Bay
to the Llŷn Peninsula
.
Pembrokeshire had been considered the source of the bluestones since Sir Andrew Ramsey first suggested it as a contender in the mid-nineteenth century. In the early 1920s HH Thomas was able to resolve this to the Preseli Hills and in 2005 work led by Timothy Darvill and Geoff Wainwright suggested Carn Menyn as the primary quarry. This is disputed by others, and Williams-Thorpe and others from the Open University have suggested that the Stonehenge bluestones came from many different places, with Carngoedog the most likely source for the spotted dolerites.
Survey work between 2002 and 2004 by the Strumble-Preseli Ancient Communities and Environment Study (SPACES) recorded an enclosure on the upper part of the outcrop consisting of a steep-sided promontory with a bank of stones across its neck. Although only around 3,500 square metres in area the enclosure contains several dolerite outcrops, each naturally fractured into shapes that could be formed into columns. Semi-worked megaliths lay scattered around apparently having been simply levered out from the larger outcrops. It is debatable whether these "semi-worked megaliths" are prehistoric or recent, since this area has been used by the farming community for at least 300 years for the collection of stone gateposts, lintels and building slabs.
Geochemical analysis has shown that some of the bluestones from the inner horseshoe at Stonehenge probably came from Carn Menyn, Carngoedog, Carnbreseb, Cerrigmarchogion and other sites in the Preseli Hills, while rhyolite fragments may have come from Carnalw and further afield.
Evidence for prehistoric and later exploitation of the stone at Carn Menyn has been found despite the site's remoteness. Two nearby chapels and many houses in the area were built from Carn Menyn stone. However, this stone was not used preferentially in megalithic or ritual structures—stone from all of the outcrops or tors on Mynydd Preseli has been used in buildings and field boundaries, so long as access by horse-drawn sleds and carts was possible.
In April 2005 an excavation at the site clarified the extent of the enclosure but did not retrieve any cultural material. The same year, the then Archdruid of the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards, Dr Robyn Lewis, wrote to the Daily Telegraph demanding that the Bluestones be returned from Stonehenge to the Preseli Hills. This was also the subject of a stage play called Bringing Back the Bluestones
.
Olwen Williams-Thorpe and others in Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 25(1). pp 29–46 (2006)
Preseli Hills
The Preseli Hills or Preseli Mountains are a range of hills in north Pembrokeshire, West Wales...
in the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
county of Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
.
The name means "Butter Rock". It is sometimes called Carn Meini ("Rock of Stones"), but this is a modern corruption of the original name. It sits on top of the Preseli ridge, close to the stone setting of Bedd Arthur
Bedd Arthur
Bedd Arthur or Arthur's Grave is a possible prehistoric hengiform monument megalithic site in the Preseli Hills in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire....
and is believed by some to have been the main source for the bluestone
Bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:*a feldspathic sandstone in the U.S. and Canada;*limestone in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S...
s used at Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
. It consists of an outcrop of white spotted dolerite similar to that of other tors in the area, and several other prehistoric sites have been identified nearby. The mountain-top setting provides commanding views over the Gower Peninsula
Gower Peninsula
Gower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...
and across Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales....
to the Llŷn Peninsula
Llŷn Peninsula
The Llŷn Peninsula extends into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the modern county and historic region of Gwynedd. The name is thought to be of Irish origin, and to have the same root Laigin in Irish as the word Leinster...
.
Pembrokeshire had been considered the source of the bluestones since Sir Andrew Ramsey first suggested it as a contender in the mid-nineteenth century. In the early 1920s HH Thomas was able to resolve this to the Preseli Hills and in 2005 work led by Timothy Darvill and Geoff Wainwright suggested Carn Menyn as the primary quarry. This is disputed by others, and Williams-Thorpe and others from the Open University have suggested that the Stonehenge bluestones came from many different places, with Carngoedog the most likely source for the spotted dolerites.
Survey work between 2002 and 2004 by the Strumble-Preseli Ancient Communities and Environment Study (SPACES) recorded an enclosure on the upper part of the outcrop consisting of a steep-sided promontory with a bank of stones across its neck. Although only around 3,500 square metres in area the enclosure contains several dolerite outcrops, each naturally fractured into shapes that could be formed into columns. Semi-worked megaliths lay scattered around apparently having been simply levered out from the larger outcrops. It is debatable whether these "semi-worked megaliths" are prehistoric or recent, since this area has been used by the farming community for at least 300 years for the collection of stone gateposts, lintels and building slabs.
Geochemical analysis has shown that some of the bluestones from the inner horseshoe at Stonehenge probably came from Carn Menyn, Carngoedog, Carnbreseb, Cerrigmarchogion and other sites in the Preseli Hills, while rhyolite fragments may have come from Carnalw and further afield.
Evidence for prehistoric and later exploitation of the stone at Carn Menyn has been found despite the site's remoteness. Two nearby chapels and many houses in the area were built from Carn Menyn stone. However, this stone was not used preferentially in megalithic or ritual structures—stone from all of the outcrops or tors on Mynydd Preseli has been used in buildings and field boundaries, so long as access by horse-drawn sleds and carts was possible.
In April 2005 an excavation at the site clarified the extent of the enclosure but did not retrieve any cultural material. The same year, the then Archdruid of the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards, Dr Robyn Lewis, wrote to the Daily Telegraph demanding that the Bluestones be returned from Stonehenge to the Preseli Hills. This was also the subject of a stage play called Bringing Back the Bluestones
Bringing Back the Bluestones
Bringing Back the Bluestones is a stage play by Derek Webb about a group from Pembrokeshire, called CarregLas, campaigning to have the Stonehenge bluestones returned to Wales.-History:...
.
Sources
- Darvill, TTim DarvillTimothy Darvill is an English archaeologist and author, best known for his publications on prehistoric Britain and his excavations in England, Wales, and the Isle of Man. He is Professor of Archaeology in the School of Applied Sciences at Bournemouth University in England. Timothy Darvill is...
and Wainwright, GGeoffrey WainwrightGeoffrey Wainwright is a British Methodist theologian.Born in Monk Bretton, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, in 1939, Geoffrey Wainwright is an ordained minister of the British Methodist Church. He received his university education in Cambridge, Geneva and Rome. He holds the Dr. Théol. degree from...
, Exploring Preseli in British Archaeology 83, July–August 2005, p29.
Olwen Williams-Thorpe and others in Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 25(1). pp 29–46 (2006)