The earliest archaeological descriptions date to around 1800. In 1796 it was included on a list of Anglesey cromlechs in the Cambrian Register. In 1802 Rev John Skinner made a ""Ten Days' Tour Through the Isle of Anglesea"", an account of which he wrote up, but never published, describing the numerous archaeological sites he visited. It was finally published as a supplement to "Archaeologia Cambrensis" in 1908. On his visit to Bryn Celli Ddu, he was told how the passage tomb had been discovered a generation before, by a farmer looking for useful stone. The sight of the pillar stone had initially unnerved the discoverer, but the prospect of treasure tempted him back, and he uprooted the pillar.