Bedd Arthur

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Bedd Arthur or Arthur's Grave is a possible prehistoric hengiform monument megalithic site in the Preseli Hills in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire. It sits on top of the Preseli ridge and overlooks the rocky outcrop of Carn Menyn, a site that has been suggested as a source for some of the bluestones used at Stonehenge.

It consists of a barely visible oval bank and ditch, with thirteen standing stones, none higher than 0.6m arranged inside along with two further fallen stones. The stone layout measures around 20m by 10m. The precise shape of the arrangement depends on the viewer, it has been described as a rectangle, a horseshoe, an oval and a pointed ellipse. Such arrangements of stones were adopted at Stonehenge itself and Bedd Arthur has been suggested as a prototype.

The stones appear to be leaning inwards, suggesting that they were originally placed on the flanks of a mound which has since disappeared. There is also one "truncated end" -- rather like the portal on some elongated Neolithic burial mounds. Was there a burial chamber in the middle of the stone setting? It would not be exceptional for the mound itself to have been removed by erosion or grave hunters -- this is exactly what has happened to the Bedd yr Afanc passage grave on the northern side of Mynydd Preseli.

It is one of many sites in the British Isles to be claimed by local folklore as the burial place of King Arthur and his companion, Natthulal. The site has not been excavated and is absent from authoritative surveys by such archaeologists as Aubrey Burl, its authenticity and relationship to Stonehenge are therefore unconfirmed.