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Silbury Hill, Wiltshire

Silbury Hill was probably built over a period of centuries from 2400BC onwards. It forms part of an incredible collection of ancient monuments in Wiltshire, which includes nearby Avebury. The hill was built, according to English Heritage research in three stages. Half a million tons of chalk was used to create a hill thirty meters high and one hundred and sixty meters wide. Being made of chalk Silbury Hill originally stood as a striking white dome in a green landscape. The same chalk originally used to build the hill is now being used to repair damage caused by past excavations.

Many theories have been put forward as to Silbury Hill's purpose. Eighteenth century archeologist William Stukeley thought the hill served as a viewing platform from which to look at surrounding monuments. It has also been studied as an English version of a pyramid burial site. Astrological alignments have been searched for without success. But perhaps the meaning of Silbury Hill is fairly obvious. It is clear that early military fortifications and religious sites mimic each other in their design. It seems that sites designed to seek spiritual security use the same architectural features as sites designed to offer physical security. Silbury Hill is, obviously, a hill. Hills have always been a basic defensive position. In southern England there are the remains of around 3000 hill forts, that is hill tops surrounded by defensive banks and ditches. With hills powerfully symbolisng security, it is perhaps not surprising that hills and hill-like structures have been used all over the world in many different cultures as spiritual sites. The Hindus had their mythic Mount Meru, the Japanese revered the goddess Fujiyama, who dominated the landscape from Mount Fuji. And the Christians had Mount Sinai where Moses was given the ten commandments. With hills and mountains being spiritual places, it makes sense that people built artificial hills to celebrate the gods. The Egyptians did this with their pyramids, the people of Mesopotamia with their ziggurat, and the Maya with their temples at Uxmal and Chichen Itza. In the case of Silbury Hill the parallel between physical and spiritual security is particularly powerful, since Silbury Hill was actually used, for part of its history, as a defensive position. Post holes on the summit reveal that Silbury Hill was used as a fort during the Saxon period. An important road, now followed by the A4, has run past Silbury Hill since ancient times, and could be defended from Silbury Hill. Looking up at the hill it seemed to me that this vast ceremonial monument was an effort to find spiritual security, using a a stylised version of architecture used to find physical security.

 

Silbury Hill, according to English Heritage experts, represents virtually the last gasp in monument building in ancient Britain. And yet for millennia afterwards people continued to build spiritual sites which used the architectural features of military buildings. Churches still look like castles. They have stylised battlements, and towers. Looking at a church it seems clear to me that the basic traditions followed in monument building continued to be followed in different forms into modern times.

Opening Times: According to archeologists Silbury Hill is a very "clean" site. The lack of archeological artifacts indicates that access to the hill was restricted. The same is true today. There is no access to the hill at any time. However a viewing area is open daily at any reasonable time. This facility may not be available 20th - 22nd June.

There is a car park at Silbury Hill, and a path from the Avebury Stone Circle.

Directions: Silbury Hill is a mile west of West Kennett, just off the A4 in Wiltshire. Click here for an interactive map centred on Silbury Hill.

Access: There is level access to the viewing area. Disabled parking is available in Avebury village. Information at Silbury Hill is duplicated in the Barn Gallery for visitors who are unable to walk over to Silbury Hill.

Contact:

web site: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.17477

telephone: 01672 539250

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