Tregiffian Burial Chamber

Penwith, United Kingdom

The Tregiffian Burial Chamber is a Neolithic or early Bronze Age chambered tomb. It is a rare form of a passage grave, known as an Entrance grave. It has an entrance passage, lined with stone slabs, which leads into a central chamber. This type of tomb is also found in the neighbouring Isles of Scilly.

The large stone grave, half of which was covered by a road in 1846, was, unlike Cornish quoits, for the most part covered with soil, with only the entrance exposed. From the edge of the site a passage, covered by four 3 m long stones, led to the 4-metre deep grave chamber. In front of the chamber, a cross-lying ornate stone, with cup-and-ring markings, formed a barrier. The original stone is in Truro, in the Royal Cornwall Museum, the local stone is a replica. Inside the tomb there was the chamber grave, which consisted of upright stones and a cover slab. Tregiffian probably formed a holy place with the Merry Maidens and other sites.

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Penwith, United Kingdom
See all sites in Penwith

Details

Founded: 2500-1500 BCE
Category: Cemeteries, mausoleums and burial places in United Kingdom

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Kev Warburton (5 months ago)
A fantastic piece of our prehistoric heritage just sitting at the side of the road. Stop and have a look, it really is worth it. (Rather annoyingly, didn't realise that the merry maidens were so close, so left without seeing them - learn from my mistake!)
Pete / Hel (6 months ago)
The large stone grave, half of which was covered by a road in 1846, was, unlike Cornish quoits, for the most part covered with soil, with only the entrance exposed. From the edge of the site a passage, covered by four 3 m long stones, led to the 4-metre deep grave chamber. In front of the chamber, a cross-lying ornate stone, with cup-and-ring markings, formed a barrier. The original stone is in Truro, in the Royal Cornwall Museum, the local stone is a replica. Inside the tomb there was the chamber grave, which consisted of upright stones and a cover slab. Tregiffian probably formed a holy place with the Merry Maidens and other sites. Worth a look, but not a lot left.
torr macfarlane (11 months ago)
Fabulous site. Well maintained. Information board. Easy parking. Great
Kevin Wilkinson (2 years ago)
I found this fascinating. It sits by the side of a road that I have driven many times but I never knew it was there! A shrt walk from the Merry Maidens it's so interesting. Basically around 4000 years ago they creamated people here and it's still there. Really enjoyed visiting
professorclee1 (3 years ago)
The best Neolithic or Bronze Age sites are the ones directly by the side of the road, not requiring a mile uphill through brambles. Good energy here, and interesting to look at. We were the only ones here on a weekday afternoon. See the Merry Maidens a short walk up the road.
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