Exploring the Neolithic Heart of Anglesey: Bryn Celli Ddu’s Sacred Landscape

The Sacred Bluestone Gorsedd at Bryn Celli Ddu: A Stone Giant Staring at the Stars

Unearthing the Sacred, The Psychogeography of Place

This is not merely an essay—it is a pilgrimage through stone and story, a weaving of archaeology and atmosphere, data and dream. Unearthing the Sacred traces the contours of Bryn Celli Ddu and its surrounding landscape, not only through excavation and analysis, but through the felt rhythms of place. Here, the land is not backdrop but protagonist. Its stones shimmer with memory; its silence speaks.

What follows is a short introduction to the layered exploration of sacred geography, psychogeography, and phenomenological insight—an invitation to walk with attention, to listen with more than ears, and to meet the ancient past as a living presence. The following essays will go into much more depth using the sacred landscape of Anglesey as a template.

Summer Solstice Sun in the Chamber of Bryn Celli Ddu

Welcome to Stone Temple Gardening, where we dig deep to cultivate new understandings of the ancient past!

Unearthing the Sacred marks the opening of what was meant to be the final chapter in my Bryn Celli Ddu Solstice “Trilogy,” a personal journey through the sacred landscape of Anglesey, North Wales. I had promised you, dear reader, that this would be the concluding post. But as often happens with stories rooted in mystery and place, it grew in the telling—spilling generously beyond 6,000 words.

My analytics, ever the pragmatic gatekeepers, have gently insisted this is far too long for a single offering. So, in the spirit of clarity (and mercy), I’ve divided the final chapter into four more digestible parts. Thus, the trilogy becomes a sextet.

I trust you’ll forgive this expansion of scope. After all, Bryn Celli Ddu is no ordinary site—and its strange phenomena deserve nothing less than a full and unhurried unfolding. Though this sacred mound is our compass, the path we trace here is more than singular: it sketches a way of seeing, a method of listening, that may guide us through other ancient landscapes where stone and spirit still speak.

Here, I introduce the Neolithic heart of Bryn Celli Ddu and the phenomenological approach that reveals its timeless power. By blending archaeology with sensory experience, we ask: why do these stones still resonate?

Dr. Mike Woods Stands Upon A Lost Standing Stone at Tyddn Bach, Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglsey: See Part Two Here.

Introduction

And so we begin—not with a spade, but with a gaze.

The land does not just await excavation; it reveals itself as memory made visible, a palimpsest of presence and intention. These ancient monuments were never mere constructions in space—they were also culturally encoded expressions of a worldview, inscribed with vision, belief, and belonging. As Paul Devereux argues, these sacred topographies are not merely dead relics of long lost ritual—they are expressions of a deeper continuing dialogue between consciousness and place. In his work on sacred places of antiquity, Devereux suggests that ancient builders were not just practically minded, but also attuned to subtle mythic energies and experiential qualities of the land itself, constructing monuments not just for ceremony, but to meorialise and map the cultural narratives of tribal mythology. To encode the numinous fabric into the landscape itself (Devereux, 2000). Their vision was not confined to the physical; it extended into the metaphysical, where memory, myth, and material coalesced.

For the modern experiencer of these places, Devereux’s perspective encourages a radical reorientation—not merely to observe, but to attune. To stand within a Neolithic monument is not just to witness history, but to enter into a relational field where landscape, story, and spirit converge. It invites us to adopt an animistic mindset: one in which stones are not inert, but storied; where alignments are not just astronomical, but intentional acts of communion.

This shift is vital. Animism, as understood in both anthropological and contemporary frameworks, posits that the world is alive with agency—that mountains, rivers, and megaliths are not passive backdrops, but participants in a shared cosmology. By attempting to see through Neolithic eyes, we begin to dissolve the boundary between observer and place. We move from analysis to empathy, from distance to dialogue. In doing so, we not only honour the worldview of ancient builders, but also recover a mode of perception that fosters ecological intimacy and spiritual resonance in our own time. I hope, in the following essays, to explore this worldview using Anglesey as my modle.

Let us walk now into the sacred heart of the past, where stone and story entwine, and the landscape listens as much as it speaks.

The Sacred Landscape of Anglesey 

The Isle of Anglesey in North Wales is a landscape steeped in deep time. From Mesolithic camps to Iron Age hillforts, its stones and fields and rivers still echo with the rituals that once bound ancient communities to both earth and sky. At the heart of this sacred terrain lies the site of Bryn Celli Ddu, The Mound in the Dark Hazel Grove — a Neolithic henge and stone circle later transformed into a Bronze Age passage tomb. Around it stretches a wider ceremonial landscape of ancient sacred ground, later sanctified by burials, lost mounds, concealed stone circles and solitary standing stones. Its rare blueschist rocks were quarried from the natural temple of the Gorsedd stone outcrop that squats at the physical and spiritual centre of the landscape, veined with sparkling rose-quartz like frozen lightning and sanctified by ancient rock-art. Here, the stones shimmer not only with sunlight, but with meaning — material, symbolic, and spiritual.

Solstice Sun in the Chamber of Bryn Celli Ddu

Beneath the surface of this mythic terrain lies a trilogy of encounters—moments where light, stone, and spirit converge. These are not chapters in isolation, but steps in a spiral, each drawing us deeper into the mystery of Bryn Celli Ddu.

My latest sextet of essays are not standalone reflections. They build upon four earlier posts that delve into the archaeology of the tomb and its surroundings, its geographical context, the interplay of sound and light, and the archaeoastronomical alignments of Bryn Celli Ddu—all originally composed from a distance, through memory, texts and research. This second series, emerges from a direct encounter: my midsummer visit to Bryn Celli Ddu and its surrounding landscape in July 2025. Links to all these previous posts are at the end of this essay.

The Entrance to Bryn Celli Ddu

Listening to the Land: A Phenomenology of Landscape

The Gorsedd at Bryn Celli Ddu

Reader warning! Theory section!

The approach I am using here is called phenomenology, and when applied to archaeology, it shifts the lens from objectivity to lived experience. It asks how ancient people perceived and moved through their landscapes—not just what they built or dropped or buried, but how they felt, responded, and made meaning of their world. Drawing on the work of Christopher Tilley, Terence Meaden and Paul Devereux, this approach foregrounds sensory engagement, aministic, mythic cultural resonance, and embodied presence. It invites us to see the play of light on quartz, to hear the echo off a dolmen’s flank, to notice the way certain forms rise into view when we look with an animistic eye, and an open mind.

Archaeology seeks its truths in soil and stone—through careful excavation, calibrated dating, and the precise parsing of layers. Yet, as Tilley proposes in A Phenomenology of Landscape (1994), the past is not merely unearthed—it is encountered. The stratigraphy of excavated archaeology may offer structure, but it cannot contain the full cultural pulse of landscape and sky.

To raise one's eyes from the ground and walk the land is to enter another register of knowing: the slow undulation of terrain beneath your feet, the shifting choreography of shadow and light across stone, sound of running waters, the hush between gusts where wind and the shapes of silence. These are not residues a trowel can reveal, yet they may be the very forces that scuplted the psychogeography of ancient lives.

Terence Meaden’s work on megalithic monuments such as Stonehenge, Avebury, and Drombeg Stone Circle is embraces this methodology, offering a unique synthesis of archaeoastronomy, symbolic interpretation, and phenomenological insight. Drawing on the ancient concept of hieros gamos—the sacred marriage between sky god and earth goddess—Meaden argues that these sites were constructed as ritual theatres of fertility, where seasonal solar alignments enacted cosmological dramas central to Neolithic belief systems. His interpretation is grounded in both classical history, empirical observation of solar phenomena and a symbolic reading of stone placement, shadow play, and landscape orientation. For instance, at Stonehenge, Meaden identifies a midsummer phallic shadow cast by the Heel Stone that touches a central “Goddess” stone, dramatizing divine union. He has also discovered proof of Stonehenge's status as a solar temple I have written about the background to the debate over Stonehenge's staus here. (a blog and video on this new proof is forthcoming, watch this space!). This experiential and symbolic approach aligns with phenomenological archaeology by emphasizing how ancient peoples may have embodied cosmological narratives through sensory engagement with place (Meaden, 1992, 2016, 2017). In this way, phenomenology does not replace traditional archaeology—it complements it. It offers a way to listen to the land, to feel its textures and rhythms, and to understand why places like Bryn Celli Ddu continue to speak—not as relics, but as living presences across time.

Critics of phenomenological archaeology, such as Colin Renfrew (2000), argue that its emphasis on lived experience risks subjectivity and a lack of falsifiability, potentially straying from the empirical rigor of traditional archaeology. This critique, while valid, misapprehends phenomenology’s purpose: it does not seek to replace rational analysis or artifacts but to complement them. As Tilley asserts, the sensory and cultural dimensions of a landscape—how it was walked, seen, and felt—are as integral to ancient meaning-making as the objects left behind. To dismiss these as unfalsifiable is to overlook their grounding in repeatable observations: the solstice light at Bryn Celli Ddu strikes the same quartz-veined slab each year; the Gorsedd’s echo resonates for all who stand before it. Phenomenology invites us to test these experiences ourselves, not as subjective whims but as shared encounters with a landscape’s enduring presence.

By weaving these insights with archaeological evidence, such as found at Bryn Celli Ddu, this approach bridges the empirical and the experiential, offering a fuller picture of the Neolithic mind. Far from diluting rigor, phenomenology enriches it, asking us to trust both our trowels and our senses As Tilley reminds us, lived experience is not a luxury—it is the ground upon which ancient people stood, felt, and made meaning. My own work here blends these strands: the structure of science, the insight of presence.

Bryn Celli Ddu Showing Ditch and Curb Stones with Snowdonia Mountain Range in Distance

It was in this spirit that I entered the chamber at Bryn Celli Ddu on a midsummer’s morning, the first light of the solstice streaming through the passage to touch the rose-flecked stone with gold. Later, on the Gorsedd outcrop I traced ancient cup marks with my fingers, their shallow depressions holding more than rainwater. In those moments, I was not simply observing; I was participating in a conversation across time. Later mysterious shapes, faces and animals reaveled themselves as I tuned my eyes out of the modern perview into the mythic. A revelation. These stories will follow in my following posts.

I now realise that the stones did not answer in words, yet they still asked their own questions: Why am I here? Why this form? What meanings were laid here in earth and stone?

These are not relics of a vanished world but presences, holding a quiet gaze that endures. They invite us to meet them not only with intellect, but with attention—to watch and listen, as they have watched and listened, for thousands of years.

This listening begins with the land’s material heart, where the stones themselves hold secrets of both geology and spirit. The blueschist and quartz of Bryn Celli Ddu’s landscape, shimmering with ancient significance, anchor its sacredness. To understand why this place was chosen, we must turn to the rocks that drew Mesolithic, Neolithic eyes and hands, their properties woven into the rituals that shaped this terrain.

The stones of Bryn Celli Ddu invite us to listen, but their sacredness begins with their material heart—quartz and blueschist.

Bryn Celli Ddu Rear View With Patterned Stone

In the next post, we will explore why these rare rocks anchored the Neolithic rituals of Anglesey.

Watch this space!

Dr Alexander Peach,

August 2025

Stone Temple Gardening

 Select Bibliography:

A full bibliography will be provided in the final essay.

Devereux, P., The Sacred Place: The Ancient Origins of Holy and Mystical Sites. London: Cassell Illustrated, 2000.

Meaden, G. Terence (1992). The Stonehenge Solution: The Secret Revealed. Souvenir Press.

Meaden, G. Terence, (2016). Stonehenge, Avebury and Drombeg Stone Circles Deciphered: The Archaeological Decoding of the Core Symbolism and Meanings Planned into These Ancient British and Irish Monuments. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing,

Meaden, G. Terence, (2017). “Stonehenge and Avebury: Megalithic Shadow Casting at the Solstices at Sunrise.” Journal of Lithic Studies, vol. 4, no. 4, 2017, pp. 39–66. University of Edinburgh.

Renfrew, C., and Bahn, P. (1994) . Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice. 4th ed., Thames and Hudson

Tilley, Christopher. A Phenomenology of Landscape: Places, Paths and Monuments. Oxford: Berg Publishers.

Links

🌀 Prelude to the Sextet: A Guide to the Journey So Far

Before stepping into the heart of Unearthing the Sacred, readers may wish to explore the foundational posts that shaped this unfolding sextet. These earlier essays trace the layered archaeology, sacred geography, and celestial alignments of Bryn Celli Ddu—each offering a unique lens on this enigmatic site.

 📚 Background Posts: The Sacred Landscape Emerges

These four essays form the bedrock of the journey, revealing Bryn Celli Ddu’s evolution from Mesolithic ritual ground to Neolithic passage tomb, and its enduring sanctity across millennia.

Part One: Unearthing the Sacred Heart of Anglesey  https://www.stonetemplegardening.com/post/bryn-celli-ddu-unearthing-the-sacred-heart-of-anglesey-part-one   

  A sweeping introduction to Bryn Celli Ddu’s archaeological complexity and its place within Anglesey’s sacred geography.

 Part Two: Unearthing the Sacred Heart of Neolithic Anglesey Part Two  https://www.stonetemplegardening.com/post/bryn-celli-ddu-unearthing-the-sacred-heart-of-the-neolithic-anglesey-part-2   

  Delves deeper into the site’s ritual landscape, exploring lost cairns, child burials, and the symbolic resonance of hazel and stone.

 Part Three: Stone, Sky, River and Mountain  https://www.stonetemplegardening.com/post/stone-sky-river-and-mountain-the-sacred-geography-of-bryn-celli-ddu-part-three   

  Investigates the elemental geography—blueschist outcrops, sacred rivers, and mountain alignments—that may have sanctified the site long before its monuments were raised.

 Part Four: Unveiling the Cosmic Mysteries of Bryn Celli Ddu https://www.stonetemplegardening.com/post/unveiling-the-cosmic-mysteries-of-bryn-celli-ddd-explore-the-celestial-secrets-of-the-neolithic-sol   

  Explores Bryn Celli Ddu’s solstice alignments, archaeoacoustics, and light phenomena, proposing a multisensory ritual experience encoded in stone.

 🌞 Solstice Posts: Light, Spirit, and Discovery

These posts document personal pilgrimages and recent discoveries, offering a phenomenological and poetic counterpoint to the scholarly essays.

Part One, Stone, Sun, and Spirit: My Solstice Journey to Bryn Celli Ddu  https://www.stonetemplegardening.com/post/stone-sun-and-spirit-my-solstice-journey-to-bryn-celli-ddu   

  A vivid account of witnessing the midsummer sunrise within the tomb, blending personal reflection with archaeological insight.

 Part Two Has a Lost Stone Circle Been Found?: Exciting New Discoveries in Wales  https://www.stonetemplegardening.com/post/has-a-lost-stone-circle-been-found-at-bryn-celli-ddu-exciting-new-discoveries-in-wales   

  Chronicles the excavation near Tyddyn Bach and the possible rediscovery of a lost ceremonial circle, expanding the known ritual landscape.

Together, these posts form a tapestry—archaeological, experiential, and cosmological—through which Bryn Celli Ddu emerges not just as a monument, but as a living dialogue between land, light, and lineage.

Stone Temple Gardening