——————————— Druid’s ———————————

Druid’s Circle (also called Meini Hirion or Y Meini Hirion) is the name of a stone circle south of Penmaenmawr, west of Conwy in the north of Wales, which strongly reminds of Lakeland circles like Swinside. Meini Hirion – Welsh for “long stones” – is also the name of two, standing to the west of the A496 at Llanbedr in Gwynedd menhirs.

The stone circle, originally made up of 30 stones and excavated by W. E. Griffiths in 1950, lies about 420 m high in the marshes above Colwyn Bay. 11 stones are preserved and stand within a low wall of about 35 m in diameter. The 23 m ring is not a perfect circle, but slightly flattened on the northeast side, where a path runs. Two portal stones are facing south.

Although the proximity to the Graig Lwyd Beil-Schlagplatz, which is about 400 m away, indicates an early date for construction, it is in contradiction to the Bronze Age finds, which could be secondary uses of the district. A ruined stone circle (Circle 278) lies to the west, a ruined hilltop settlement in the southwest and a small cairn on the nearby hill Tal-y-Fan.

A stone of a stone box was found, with stones scattered unevenly around it, including quartz. Inside the box was a jar containing the burnt bones of a child between the ages of ten and twelve. A second cremation was found in a pit. A simple vessel contained the burned bones of a child between the ages of eleven and thirteen, accompanied by a small bronze knife.

A preliminary dating was on 1450-1400 BC. Made in the Bronze Age, but the circle can be much older (3000 BC)

Legends are associated with two stones. The victim’s stone stands to the east and has a curved natural ledge at the top. Legend has it that the children who were killed here during the ceremonies within the ring came here to death.

On the west side is the so-called deity. The stone has an anthropomorphic appearance, similar to a human figure with a hood and looks directly into the center of the circle. According to legend, this stone is slain anyone who swear nearby. It is claimed that a skeptic visited the district at night to test the testimony. His body was found the next day at the foot of the deity stone.