Gors Fawr Stone Circle — Mynachlog-ddu
Gors Fawr circle · SN134294 · Preseli Gors Fawr
Late Neolithic (c.3000–2500 BCE)·Welsh Late Neolithic (Preseli Groove)·🇬🇧 Wales, Pembrokeshire, Preseli Hills, Mynachlog-ddu moor, United Kingdom
About
About Gors Fawr Stone Circle — Mynachlog-ddu
Gors Fawr (Late Neolithic c.3000–2500 BCE) is a 22-m perfect circle of 16 Preseli dolerite pillars, 0.6–1.8 m high, on moorland at Mynachlog-ddu beneath the Preseli ridge that sourced Stonehenge bluestones. Centrally pitted with possible recumbent? Excavation 1950 found charcoal and pitchstone. The circle's outlier pair 140 m northeast aligns across the circle to the Carn Menyn bluestone source ridge, demonstrating Preseli–Stonehenge direct quarrying cosmology.
Why it mattersPreseli source-area circle linking Stonehenge bluestone provenance to ritual landscape.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Was Gors Fawr a bluestone quarry training circle?
Theories
- 01Prototype for Stonehenge bluestone circle 43; Preseli community ritual focus prior to Stonehenge transport
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2800 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic (c.3000–2500 BCE)
- Culture
- Welsh Late Neolithic (Preseli Groove)
- Builders
- Welsh Late Neolithic
- Purpose
- Moorland ritual circle with Preseli stone source alignment
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.2800 BCE
Dolerite circle erected on Preseli moor
c.2500 BCE
Possible outlier addition coinciding with Stonehenge Bluestone phase
1950
A. Fox excavates central pit, pitchstone finds
1971
Cadw scheduling; Preseli–Stonehenge link studied
On the ground
Structures & features
51.9316° N · 4.7146° W · 210 m · 2 mapped features
- Gors Fawr Circle — 16 Doleritesstone circle22-m ring of 16 spotted dolerite pillars graded tallest south, inner hollow maybe for recumbent51.9316° N · 4.7147° W
- Gors Fawr Outlier Pairstanding stoneTwo dolerite pillars 140 m northeast of circle aligning through centre to Carn Menyn ridge51.9328° N · 4.7138° W
Gallery