CPAT Regional Historic Environment Record
The following information is from the on-line database 'Archwilio'.
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Gop Cave

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 102261
Trust : Clwyd Powys
Community : Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor
Unitary authority : Flintshire
NGR : SJ08648008
Site Type (preferred type first) : MULTIPERIOD CAVE OCCUPATION
Status : scheduled monument

Description :
Interconnected rock shelter and cave. The rock shelter was excavated in 1886 and the cave in 1908. Finds show use from Palaeolithic to Neolithic. Some of the finds are in the NMW.

Condition good. Natural limestone cave. (CCC, 1979)

No change since 1979 visit. (CCC, 1988)

The burial contained unusual Late Neolithic artefacts of northern English origin (MacInnes, 1968) which epitomise a new phase in north-eastern Wales, opening up eastwards contacts which are maintained through the Bronze Age (Lynch, Frances, 2003).

The cave was excavated from 1908-14 and details are provided by Davies (1949) who also notes the results of further excavations in the area in front of the rock shelter by Glenn in 1921-2. (Davies 1949, 280-4). Further excavations were carried out between 1953 and 1962 by Stead and Bridgwood, and discovered a new chamber containing a Neolithic charnel deposit, apparently without grave goods. (Cullingford 1962, 325)

The cave entrance lies at the base of a linear rock outcrop below Gop Cairn on its S side. There are two entrances which interconnect, the passages extending into the hillside for about 10m-15m. The cave was revealed by excavation and two trenches are evident in the spoil which extends in an E/W direction to the S of the mouth of the cave. Although extensively investigated over the years, it seems likely that some deposits may survive in front of the cave entrances and traces of a clastic deposit were seen within the E part of the cave suggesting that this was also not completely excavated. The scheduled area only covers the deposits in front of the cave mouth and not the cave passages which extend into the hillside. (Caves Scheduling Enhancement Project, CPAT site visit 6/3/2009)

There is an extensive literature on this cave for which see Chamberlain & Williams 2000. See also PRNs 102262-4.

This cave has three associated records representing the periods of finds found with the cave:
PRN 102263 Gop Cave, Neolithic; PRN 102262 Gop Cave, Palaeolithic; and PRN 102264 Gop Cave, prehistoric (MB 15/12/14)

Ebbs surveyed this cave in May 2013 and has produced a detailed plan of the cave which is available to view on his website (https://sites.google.com/site/cavesofnortheastwales). He provides the following detailed log of the archaeological investigations undertaken in the cave:
1886. Archaeologically excavated in 1886 by Boyd Dawkins who found 14 human skeletons of Late Neolithic age. Beneath this deposit was a Pleistocene (Ice Age) layer containing animal bones: .... in one area of the cave, found rubble walls which made up a rectangular chamber. Within this chamber were fourteen human skeletons laid in crouched positions, along with pottery, a polished flint knife, jet 'belt-sliders' and quartz pebbles........ Beneath this Neolithic deposit there was a layer of Pleistocene cave earth which contained bones of animal species including hyaena, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, horse and bison.
1908-14. John H. Morris of Rhyl and T. Allen Glenn found a further 6 skeletons (of which two were children) in the north-west passage beyond the burial chamber excavated by Boyd Dawkins. Also found was a 'beautifully made' hand-axe of Graig Lwyd rock from Penmaenmawr. This excavation work opened the passage to surface creating a second entrance, known as the North West Cave.
1919-21. T. Allen Glenn, with funding from the National Museum of Wales, excavated the platform in front of the cave, extending the existing trenches of earlier work. He found further human and animal remains and stone tools. Many of the remains from the cave are held by the National Museum of Wales. (Walker, E., 1993. History of Excavations at Gop Cave, Clwyd Archaeological News.)
1956. Excavated by William H. Stead (Source: Coflein cat. No. C433032: Photocopies of correspondence, includes letters from the excavator). (Hankinson, 2015)

Sources :
Boyd Dawkins, W , 1901 , On the cairn and sepulchral cave at Gop, near Prestatyn , Archaeological Journal : 58 : 322-41
Boyd Dawkins, W , 1902 , On the cairn and sepulchral cave at Gop, near Prestatyn , Archaeologia Cambrensis : 2 : 161-85
Boyd Dawkins, W , 1912 , Certain fixed points in the prehistory of Wales , Archaeologia Cambrensis : 12 : 61-108
Cadw , 1986 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - Fl067(FLT)
Cadw , 2000 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - Fl067(FLT)
Clwyd Archaeology Service , 1979 , Site visit record - PRN102261
Clwyd Archaeology Service , 1988 , Site visit record - PRN102261
Clwyd Archaeology Service , 1993 , Site visit record - PRN102261
Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust , 2009 , Site visit record - PRN 102261 ( © Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust)
Daniel, G E , 1950 , Prehistoric Chambered Tombs of England and Wales
Davies, E., 1949 , The Prehistoric and Roman Remains of Flintshire
Glenn, T A , 1913 , Northern Flintshire
Glenn, T A , 1926 , title unknown - Rhyl foreshore neolithic axes , Archaeologia Cambrensis : 6 : 199-203
Glenn, T A & Piggot, S , 1935 , Distribution of the Graig Lwyd Axe and its associated cultures , Archaeologia Cambrensis : 90 : 189-218
Hankinson, R , 2015 , Caves of North-East Wales: Archaeological Assessment 2014-15 ( © Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust)
Hughes, M J , 1912 , title unknown - Gop Cave
Jones, N W , 2000 , Prehistoric Funerary & Ritual Sites: Flintshire and Wrexham: project report ( © Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust)
Lynch, F , 1969 , Flint arrowheads from Minera, Wrexham , Denbighshire Historical Society Transactions : 18 : 147-55?
Lynch, Frances , 2003 , Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Monuments in Flintshire and Wrexham , Flintshire Historical Society Journal : 36 : 19-31
Ordnance Survey , 1959 , OS record card SJ 08 SE 72
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales , 1982 , RCAHMW archives - SJ08SE
Stead, W H & Bridgewood, R , 1957 , title unknown - Gop Cave
Valdemar, A E & Jones, R D , 1970 , An initial report on the archaeological and palaeontological caves and rock shelters in North Wales , Transactions of the Cave Research Group of Great Britain : 12 : 99-107
Williams, John Ll , 2000 , Flaked Graig Lwyd Axes (Group VII) and their Regional Distribution in Northern Wales , Archaeology in Wales : 40 : 14-19

Events :
39988 : Gop Cave, excavation 1886 (year : 1886-1908)
58469 : Gop Cave, excavation 1908 (year : 1908)
43121 : Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Monuments, Flintshire and Wrexham, assessment project 2000 (year : 2000)
59044 : Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Monuments, Flintshire and Wrexham, desktop study 2000 (year : 2000)
59045 : Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Monuments, Flintshire and Wrexham, field survey project 2000 (year : 2000)
141889 : Gop Cave, excavation 1953-62 (year : 1953-62)
113485 : Caves, assessment project 2009 (year : 2009)
132573 : Caves Scheduling Enhancement Programme (year : 2014-17)
130439 : Caves Scheduling Enhancement Programme follow up, desk based assessment 2014-15 (year : 2014-15)

Related records
CPAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 102261

Compiled date : 31-08-1993


Images :



Archaeological data, from the Historic Environment Record, supplied by The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust in partnership with Local Authorities, Cadw and the partners of ENDEX © CPAT, 2025 (and in part © Crown, 2025). It is intended to be used for private research only and is not for use as part of commercial projects. If you wish to use this information for publication in printed or multimedia form or to compile resources for commercial use, prior permission must be obtained in writing. Use of this information is subject to the terms and conditions of access to HER data published on CPAT's website. Please contact the HER if you have any further questions regarding this information. Please quote the Primary Reference Numbers (PRNs) in any correspondence.

April 1, 2025, 10:25 pm - File produced for Archwilio from CPAT's Regional HER.
Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, The Offices, Coed y Dinas, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 8RP
tel (01938) 553670, email her@cpat.org.uk, website www.cpat.org.uk

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