EII022 - Bryn Celli-Ddu

Write-up by Eerie Investigations, 27th January 2006.

Bryn-Celli-Ddu Chambered Cairn
Anglesey, Gwynedd

Background Information.

Location: About 4 Miles South-west of Menai Bridge, reached along a farm track near Llandaniel Fab.

There are several intriguing features at this burial site, the first being its location directly on top of a former henge. Also intriguing are the suggestions of rituals performed here: The small three sided structure outside the entrance where an ox had been sacrificed; and the pit in the centre of the mound, behind the burial chamber, where a burned human ear-bone was found. The carved stone now standing in the pit is a replica of the stone which was found nearby, the original being in the National Museum of Wales. It carries a strange meander design, possibly symbolising the journey of the soul, or acting as a protection for the soul on its journey. The burial chamber itself is no less interesting, being constructed of very large slabs of stone. The 27-foot passage contains a low stone bench where offerings may have been left, and inside the chamber is an enigmatic 4-foot standing stone, smooth and rounded. Fragments of bone, burnt and unburnt were found inside the tomb.

'Bryn-Celli-Ddu' means 'the hill in the dark grove', which hints of the Druids who worshipped in groves of trees and whose last stronghold was this island of Anglesey. Perhaps the spirits once believed to live at Bryn-Celli-Ddu were the spirits of those last druids, who died cruelly at the hands of the Romans.

It was a cold November morning in the year 2003. My companions and I parked the car in a nearby dirt track, climbed over a call, and made our way down to the farm track which was flooded from the downpour the night before. As we squelched our way through the mud and water, we could see the mound.

We first walked around the edge of the mound, and then the three of us decided to venture into the chamber, I was the last one to enter the passage way to the burial chamber. I remember having to stoop quite low, as the top of the passage was quite low, it felt very cold and damp in the chamber. Once we had walked down the passage way we came to a iron gate which was easy to open, we were now in the burial chamber.

There you could see in all it's glory the 4 -foot standing stone. One of my companions had decided to take some photographs of the stone, I stood with my back against the cold stone wall. I sensed all was not well, and started to feel uneasy. It was very eerie being in the burial chamber, it was as if I had a little voice in my head telling me to get out of there. I started to feel as if the walls were closing in on me, I just wanted to get out of the burial chamber and I told my companions that I was leaving and would wait for them outside.

My legs felt heavy, but I put that down to the cold. I got to the iron gate and found I could not open the gate, it felt like it was being held, and would not budge at all. I pushed harder and harder against the gate and after what felt like the longest few minutes of my life, it finally opened. I could not get out of the passageway quick enough, I just did not want to look back! A few seconds later my companions both joined me, they too felt as if the walls were closing in on them and that being in the burial chamber was not the safest place to be.

I am not claustrophobic and to this day I cannot explain why I felt so strange.

What I do know is that this was one place I will not be revisiting....