Verified51.5665° N · 1.5958° W · 170 m
Wayland's Smithy
Wayland Smith's Cave
Early to Middle Neolithic·Cotswold-Severn·🇬🇧 Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
About
About Wayland's Smithy
Two-phase Neolithic chambered long barrow on the Berkshire Downs near Uffington White Horse. Early oval barrow c.3590 BCE overlain by 56 m trapezoidal barrow with sarsen transepted passage grave facing south. Folklore associates it with Wayland the Saxon smith. Excavated 1920 and 1962-63, yielding 14 burials.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why second barrow incorporates first alignment
Theories
- 01Ancestor continuity over 200 years
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. 3590 BCE (Phase I); c. 3460 BCE (Phase II)
- Period
- Early to Middle Neolithic
- Culture
- Cotswold-Severn
- Purpose
- Collective mortuary monument
- Abandoned
- Late Neolithic
- Rediscovered
- 1738 antiquarian; excavated 1920, 1963
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 3590 BCE (Phase I); c. 3460 BCE (Phase II)
Initial construction
c. 1046 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
51.5665° N · 1.5958° W · 170 m · 1 mapped feature
Southern Facade
facadeCruciform sarsen facade facing south
51.5665° N · 1.5958° W
Gallery