Llanddyfnan Standing Stone

This is probably the easiest standing stone to find on Anglesey, as it is readily visible from the road between Pentraeth and Talwrn, standing in a field near the church and farmhouse. It is also just across the road from the Stone Science museum.

Like most around Anglesey, it is a simple, single stone, about four times high as wide. This one is 2.6m high and 0.6m wide. Early in the 20th century it stood at an alarming angle, but was set upright again sometime in the 1970s or 1980s. According to the prominent Anglesey geologist Edward Greenly it is composed of mica schist or gneiss, and is not local stone, but probably came some distance, as the rock in this area is mainly limestone.

It is interesting that this stone stands just 750m from two Bronze Age barrows, or tumuli (shown in the Ordnance Survey map and second aerial view below). These have been excavated, revealing a number of human remains in carved pottery burial urns. Along with these were various pieces of bronze, knife blades, and an axe. It is more interesting that traces of what might be three more barrows were noted in the 1930s. The five barrows together form a linear pattern running towards the standing stone. However, there is no way of knowing if they are connected in either time or purpose. There is now no trace of the three, and the two excavated barrows are only noticeable from aerial photos.

Return to Prehistoric monuments of Anglesey

Location map

Tumulus (barrow mound) to the east of Llanddyfnan Standing Stone.

Aerial image

Tumulus (barrow mound) to the east of Llanddyfnan Standing Stone.

See a map of the locations of prehistoric monuments mentioned on this site.