Name of monument
Heston Brake
Also known as
Type of site
Dimensions (approx)
H:
W:
D:
LR Grid Reference
OS Map Number
LR 162
Nearest Village
Nearest Town
Chepstow
Property Type
Access
MRW Access rating
MRW Site Rating
Other information
Legends / stories attached to this monument. Inscriptions. See who has provided other information.
With its hilltop views out over the River Severn, the Heston Brake monument, an ancient chambered tomb lies in a very ruinous state, most of the ruin overtaken by wild scrub and bushes.
Finding the monument proved a bit of a non-starter to begin with, although we spotted it from the road, we could not figure out how to get to it as it sits on a hilltop behind some houses. On closer inspection of the Land Ranger we discovered a public footpath running close to the monument. So we set off over the stile and across and up the field, it is only a short walk.
It has been suggested that Heston Brake may well have been a gallery grave due to the fact that the passage and the burial chamber are not clearly separated, this being the case the site dates back to the middle to late Neolithic period. Although apparently the passage and the chamber at Heston Brake are off line of each other suggesting that the current chamber was a modification carried out at a later date, thus suggesting perhaps that an even earlier chamber may have therefore existed.
During excavations of the site in 1888, human skeletons were found within the chamber area, but it was also noticed that the mound was opened on an earlier occasion.
To find the monument from the A48, heading toward Chepstow, take a right turn at the roundabout onto the B4245, heading for Portskewett. You will soon need to take a left turn as indicated on the Land Ranger. Before you get to the junction you should be able to catch sight of the monument high above you on your right.
