King Arthur's Stone Dolmen — Attraction in Wales

Amazing to see a remnant of the last Ice Age and a Neolithic tomb, set within an internationally important area for wildlife. Worth visiting for the spectacular views across the Loughor Estuary. Arthur's Stone is a 25-ton glacial boulder, deposited in the last Ice Age by the retreating ice sheet; this is known as an erratic. Around 5000 years ago in the New Stone Age Neolithic people excavated under the boulder and propped it up to create a double-chambered tomb with the boulder acting as the capstone. Many myths and legends surround the stone. The best known is that whilst in Carmarthenshire, King Arthur found a pebble in his shoe and threw it over the Loughor Estuary where it landed on Cefn Bryn Common, having grown in size from being touched by the hand of the King. Cefn Bryn Common is designated a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the habitats and species it supports. On your walk up to Arthur's Stone look out for flowering plants. In spring to mid-summer you can see the carnivorous plant sundew. In summer and autumn flowering gorse, heather and crossed leaved heath form swathes of yellow and purple. On a summer evening you might even be lucky enough to spot a southern damselfly, Cefn Bryn is one of only a handful of locations for the species in...

Amazing, powerful site... Reputedly, the capstone placement was one of the three herculean tasks of Britain, documented in the Welsh Triads.

Rich in history and folklore; some say Saint David split the stone to prove to the pagans it was not sacred, summoned a spring, and converted many heathens...

There are many tales of maidens performing rituals at midnight, giving offerings and testing the loyalty of their future husbands...

Some say the stone was simply cracked by local stone masons requiring a mill stone but was found unsuitable, but much more exciting is a link to the Celtic Goddess Ceridwen and possibly even to 'the great flood'.

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I must admit to being slightly underwhelmed by King Arthur’s Stone itself. At an estimated mass of 25 tons, I expected this glacial boulder to be larger than it is. The most fascinating thing to me, however, is that the ground under the stone was excavated to create a burial chamber, and other stones were then inserted to provide support. It therefore became the capstone of a Neolithic tomb, dating from 4400 BC.

I like the fact that the site isn’t marketed as a tourist attraction. The nearby car park is free of charge (but beware, as it’s deeply rutted with large potholes) and it’s only a few minutes’ walk (over fairly easy terrain) to the stone/tomb.

The views across the estuary are lovely and the Gower ponies, grazing by the car park, are an...