December 19, 1907J 



NA TURE 



151 



avenue, though the intervening distance of 49 feet 

 (6 feet more than the width of the eastern avenue at 

 Abury) may appear an unusual breadth for one, the 

 stones of which do not exceed 3 feet to 35 feet in 

 height. I may also state that other stones appear 

 here and there, on both sides of the grass road, beyond 

 the limits of the portion of the avenue marked by the 

 five stones, which may be a continuation of the same 

 double line to the east and west. They would not, 

 however, be sufficiently conspicuous to suggest the 

 existence of an avenue, if the five stones had not been 

 present to prove it. .Many also stand at the extreme 

 end, to the south-east, where the first earns are met 

 with on this part of the hill." 



Next follows a statement which shows what a keen 

 and practised observer Sir Gardner was. Had I 

 known of it earlier it would have saved me much 

 trouble. 



" I need scarcely observe that it is by no means 

 necessary that the avenue should lead direct to 

 Arthur's Stone, and it is more usual to find a cromlech 

 at one side of, and at a short distance from, it; that 

 near Merivale Bridge, on Dartmoor, stands about 

 50 feet to the south of the avenue, and the Dolmens in 

 Brittany are, in like manner, placed outside the 

 avenue. A earn also stands about 80 feet south 

 of the same avenue near Merivale Bridge ; but 

 about 560 feet west of the cromlech, in the 

 centre of the avenue, is a concentric earn, of 

 which the diameter is about three times the breadth 

 of the avenue. The position of Arthur's Stone with 

 respect to the avenue is, therefore, similar to that of 

 some other cromlechs in this countrv and in Brittany, 

 but while we see that the avenues of Merivale Bridge, 

 and in some other places on Dartmoor, terminate in 

 an upright stone, a earn, a concentric aisle, or some 

 other sepulchral monument, we are unable to ascer- 

 tain how the two ends of the Cefn Bryn avenue were 

 closed or to what they led." 



The avenue, whicli was perfectly obvious, lay on 

 our way to the cromlech, so I measured it first. The 

 azimuth (magnetic) to the south-east was S. 136° E., 

 height of horizon 1° 30'. In the north-west direction 

 the elevation of the horizon was 0°. 



The cromlech from its state of wreckage was much 

 more difficult to measure. The length of the quoit 

 is roughly north-west and south-east, and the long 

 faces are not parallel, and, indeed, a large mass has 

 been detached, but the north-west side is pretty plane. 

 I measured its direction as N. 82° E., and on examin- 

 ing the supporters as well as one was able, the opening 

 of the cromlech appeared to lie in that direction. I 

 have no note of the height of the horizon, but Mr. 

 Griffith tells me that it is 'hilly, let us assume 1°. 



Now what do these azimuths mean ? I can answer 

 this question best by giving the following table, 

 which shows without any possibility of doubt that these 

 Gower monuments, like those in Cornwall, deal with 

 the May-year sunrises, the avenue with the rise in 

 November, and the cromlech with the rise in Mav. 



Gov.<er, lat. 51° 37' N., variation 18° IT. May-year 

 values, theoretical. 



NO. 1990, VOL. y7] 



To compare theory with the actual magnetic observ- 

 ations we hav'e : — 



Avenue, November sunrise 

 Cromlech, May s 



Need I say that these results of the first measure- 

 ments made in Wales are very encouraging, and, 

 more than that, helpful, because they show that the 

 Cornish experience can be fully utilised, as we are 

 dealing with no new thing. 



Another cromlech we visited is one of great interest. 

 I suppose its quoit is the largest in Britain. The 

 north side is entirely closed by a large supporter ; the 

 south entirely open along its top; in the east and west 

 ends there are openings. This large rectangular crom- 

 lech is situated in the parish of St. Nicholas in Duffryn 

 Golych or Goluch (The \'ale of Worship), near Car- 

 diff. It is called by the natives Castell Corrig 

 (Dwarf's Castle), a name which suggests belief in the 

 presence of fairies there. 



It seemed at first probable that this monument 

 might have a high south-east alignment. Mr. Griffith 

 noted the openings in the east and west supporters, 

 and found the eastern azimuth of the north supporting 

 slab to be N. 76° E. (true), with a height of horizon 

 of 2°. This particular wall need not necessarily be 

 parallel to the outlook of the cromlech, which for the 

 May sunrise should be, as the previous table shows, 

 N. 65° E. It is too early, therefore, to claim it as 

 oriented, like Arthur's Stone, to that sunrise; we may 

 be dealing with the Pleiades, but to settle matters 

 some excavations and further measures are required, 

 and I am glad to learn that the Cardiff Naturalists' 

 Society has made arrangements with Mr. Cory, on 

 whose estate the cromlech stands, for the necessary 

 excavations in the spring of next vear. 



A few yards to the west of the large cromlech there 

 are the remains of another not nearly in such a good 

 state of preservation, but one side support is fairly in 

 position, and, as I shall show later on, we are justified 

 of taking this in the absence of more precise inform- 

 ation. 



The azimuth of this stone towards the E. is S. Ki° 

 E. 



Evidently, then, we are not dealing with the May- 

 year. Is it a solstitial cromlech? I give, as before, the 

 theoretical azimuths. 



Solstice azimuths in lat. 51° 30' for 2' of the disc show- 

 ing above a sea-horizon, refraction being taken 

 into account. 



Summer solstice 

 Winter ,, 



N. 48= 42' E. or W. 

 S. 51° 35' E. or W. 



We see that the azimuth tallies exactly, so we must 

 accept it as a cromlech directed to the winter solstice 

 sunrise. 



With regard to another cromlech, St. Lythan's, in 

 the same neighbourhood, known locally as Gwal y 

 Vilast, " the lair of the greyhound bitch," the azi- 

 muth of the north stone, S. 88° E., shows it to have 

 been oriented to the equinoctial sunrises in March and 

 September. The cromlech opens to the east. 



On a previous visit Mr. Griffith found outside the 

 cromlech chamber a red sandstone pebble used both as 

 a pounder and a rubber or burnisher. It may have 

 been taken out of the chamber when the latter was 

 uncovered or cleared out. It was right on top of the 

 cairn shell, in which the chamber was once embedded. 



I have now referred to all the sun-temples we found 

 in our two days' inquiries. Both Mr. Griffith and 



