Photo: Andrew Selkirk

Silbury Hill:
A last look inside
On May 29, 2000, Amanda Chadburn, the English Heritage
Inspector of Ancient Monuments for the South-Western Region,
received an alarming phone call: Silbury Hill had collapsed.
Lisa Westcott investigates

PHOTOGRAPHY: English Heritage, unless otherwise indicated

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 Silbury Hill

Above left English Heritage prehistorian

and archaeologist Jim Leary examines an
interface between the phases of Silbury Hill.

Above Polystyrene blocks placed

into the collapsed summit.

Right Interior view of the original tunnel,

Photo: AS

showing evidence of sliding chalk.

A
large hole had appeared in the top scheduled to begin on 15 November 2007, when Above Abseiler
of the huge mound – the largest over 500,000 pounds of crushed and liquified descending from the
top of Silbury Hill after
mound in northern Europe – and native chalk will be pumped into the tunnels
the 2000 collapse.
something needed to be done and void areas; Silbury Hill will be fully consoli-
about it. At first Amanda was dated, never to collapse again.
tempted to dismiss the report as being sheer
alarmism, but it turned out that it was indeed Excavating Silbury
true: a large hole had opened in the top of the In 1776, the treasure-hunting Duke of Northum-
monument and caving enthusiasts were already berland employed miners to dig a hole down
abseiling down and exploring the crumbling from the top of the monument. He was disap-
sides. pointed in his quest, and it was the remains of
There have been three major excavations of his shaft that had reopened and caused the May
Below The
Silbury in modern times, each contributing to 2000 cave-in. The second attempt was in 1849,
1968 lintel for
the destabilisation of the mound that led to the when the newly formed Archaeological Insti- Atkinson’s tunnel.
recent project to restore it. In order to under- tute engaged Dean Merewether to dig a shaft Skanska engineers
stand the current English Heritage work there, from the side. He also used miners to dig his  stand in front.
it is essential to note that it has been clear from
the start of the project three years ago that it was
intended as a conservation effort, rather than
an excavation. English Heritage was on site at
Silbury Hill not to dig, but principally to solve
the issues caused by previous archaeologists.
This priority has been apparent in every facet of
the undertaking - in the methodology of inten-
sive sampling, in the recording techniques, and
most visibly in the plans to seal Silbury Hill for-
ever. There has been much heated debate about
the decision to close completely the mound in
perpetuity, and as English Heritage site director
Jim Leary says: ‘I feel the responsibility every
day, when I’m in the tunnel. I realise that what
we are doing inside is the last chance anyone
will ever get and no one will ever go back in.
It weighs heavily on my mind.’ Backfilling is

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 “I feel the responsibility every
day, when I’m in the tunnel.
I realise that what we are
doing inside is the last chance
anyone will ever get and no

”
one will ever go back in. It
weighs heavily on my mind.

Above View of the tunnel, and though he reached the centre of the
tunnel before removal of mound, he too failed to find any central burial.
the road stone backfill. The third major attempt came in 1968-1969
when the young and enthusiastic Controller of
BBC2, David Attenborough, approached Rich-
ard Atkinson (one of the foremost prehistorians
of his day) to tunnel once again into the mound
to reveal its mysteries. Atkinson reported that
the mound was constructed in three stages: the
first stage was a turf mound, which had been
covered by a chalk mound, which in its turn
was enlarged yet again to form the huge mound
that we see today. He obtained five radiocarbon
dates from the mound that suggested that it
had been built in the Late Neolithic, between
2500 and 2000 BC. However, by the end of the
second season, the programme came to a halt.
What should be done with the tunnels that
remained?
Atkinson believed that they should be left
open for future generations to explore and
revise his interpretations. Others were not quite
so certain that the iron arches would stand up,
so the Ministry of Works (the predecessor to

how does silbury fit into the history

`illustration: Michael Goddard

of the unesco world heritage sitE?

Around 2400 BC, everything appears to happen. The Beaker People arrive,
the first stone Stonehenge began to be erected 20 miles to the south, and
the first phase of Silbury Hill was built. Is there anything before this? In
particular, is there a ‘Grooved Ware’ phase, similar to the construction of
Durrington Walls in the Stonehenge area?
The answer lies in the West Kennet Palisaded Enclosures, situated half
a mile north-west of the West Kennet long barrow. These are vast timber
enclosures, originally seen on air photos, excavated by Alasdair Whittle
between 1987-1992. There are two of them, four and five hectares in area,
with several smaller timber structures inside. The excavations revealed masses
of Grooved Ware and also a predominance of pig bones, often associated
with this pottery type. The radiocarbon dates came out between 2500-2000
BC, but one would dearly like to have greater precision: did this Grooved
Ware site precede the Beaker activity or were both sites occupied at the
same time? Were the users of Grooved Ware conducting their ceremonies at
the palisaded enclosures whilst simultaneously Silbury was being constructed
less than a mile away and the great timber circle was being constructed at
Avebury? The final activity at the West Kennet long barrow must also have
taken place about this time, when three large sarsen stones were erected in
Photo: AS

front of the entrance to close it for good.

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 Silbury Hill

English Heritage) decided that the main tunnel Left Jim Leary holds the
should be backfilled. The main length of the antler fragment found
in the middle fills. The
approach tunnel was backfilled with road
fragment will be essential
stone, but the process was not completed for radiocarbon dating.
throughout the tunnel system. The cen-
tral portion, where there was a cruciform
excavation, was left open. Eventually,
the Ministry of Works was proven right
when the iron arches buckled under the
weight of the hill above and a complex sys-
tem of fissures developed. In May 2000, the
central part of the chamber collapsed and the
earlier shaft fell into the central chamber and a
hole appeared at the top. The hole was hastily
covered, though this did not prevent various
caving enthusiasts from breaking in and abseil-
ing down the void – and thereby dislodging
even more material from the sides. A blocking
of white polystyrene blocks was then inserted,
and Skanska Engineering were called in as con-
sultants. Since then, with the expenditure of
over £1 million, the interior of Silbury has
once again been investigated.

English Heritage gets stuck in

The most recent work started in May 2007 with
the opening of the original tunnels. The 

Left Reconstruction of the West

Kennet Palisaded Enclosures.

Below The West Kennet Long Barrow. Note the

giant sarsens placed in front of the entrance.

Right Radiocarbon diagram showing the

date relationships of the monuments within
the UNESCO World Heritage site.

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portal of the original Atkin- the Atkinson chamber,
son tunnel was soon discov- a significant collapse
ered, with an inscription zone of rubble chalk
of 1968 on the lintel. was encountered
Progress was slow to and tunnelling
begin with as archae- was temporarily
ologists excavated suspended.
the ditch around the The collapse
Phase 2 mound, which caused a pause
had been backfilled while the engi-
when the mound was neers worked out
enlarged in the final Phase 3. what to do. When
This went down some three the tunnel reached the
metres below the tunnel turf mound at the centre
floor, but since the tunnel of the hill, it widened out to
was already below the old form a chamber. This had never
ground surface the ditch been backfilled, and it was here that
must have originally been a the pressures were greatest. It would
fairly massive six metres deep. appear that the original Merewether
The only significant discovery tunnel of 1849 was present in a void
was of an antler fragment from the above the Atkinson chamber and that
middle fills, which was avidly seized upon for Above Grass removed this was left unsupported in 1969 -1970.
radiocarbon dating. Soon, and alarmingly, they from the Neolithic centre Thus a gap was formed. A method was devised
began to find voids in the roof that had been of Silbury Hill. The of inserting a specialist foaming resin to stabilise
level of preservation
opened up when the tunnel began to fall in. To the rubble chalk in the immediate roof area,
is remarkable.
explore these they brought in a Rovver, which to prevent any further collapse and allow the
Below The centre of
proved admirably suitable for exploring the Silbury 1. The striated tunnelling to proceed in safety.
voids, winding its way in to explore the extent of appearance is a result of Eventually the tunnellers reached the heart
movement within the hill caused by the stresses the many different turves of the original turf mound; the archaeologists
of the deteriorating tunnel. that were laid down marvelled as their predecessors had done in
to form the mound.
In the last week of July 2007, there was a major 1968 at the excellent state of preservation of
Below right The
collapse. Heavy rains had percolated through Rovver, a foot-high
the organic materials that made up the origi-
the porous chalk and destabilised it, causing remote -controlled nal monument. Owing to the pressure of the
more voids to open. Already there had been two crawler camera used overlying mound, the vegetable matter was per-
specific zones of voiding and when they reached to explore the voids. fectly preserved and the grass was still green.
The extremely high level of preservation in the
centre from the Late Neolithic period is unique,
and archaeologists were able to confirm the
original observation that the turves were not
just cut from the footprint of the monument but
would have been cut from a wide area including
chalk grassland.
There were few finds from
the excavations; however, it
is clear that the develop-
ment of Silbury Hill was a
complex process. Silbury
Hill does not just fit into
Photo: AS

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 Silbury Hill

Photo: Andrew Selkirk

three simple phases; there are many phases, the
complexities of which are only now beginning
to be untangled. Pits, stakeholes, and even a
small satellite mound have also been recorded
within Silbury 1. The site report from English
Heritage is eagerly awaited; though Atkinson
cannot really be blamed for not having com-
pleted the backfilling of Silbury Hill as it was
not truly his responsibility, he can be blamed
for never having published a complete record
of his excavations there (although Alasdair
Above 3D photo- century of 2400 BC. This was a pinch-point of
grammetry section (left) prehistory, when the Beaker People were arriv-
compared with a photo of
ing and the first stone Stonehenge was being
the tunnel wall, showing
the line between the
constructed. However, there continues to be
turf/clay of Silbury 1 some dispute as to when the third and final
and the rubble chalk of phase was constructed. One interpretation sug-
Silbury 2. The 3D image gests that the third phase may have followed
shows just as much, quickly after the second, and it could all have
if not more, detail.
been completed by 2400 BC. However, a clearly
apparent standstill phase after Silbury 2 

“
Whittle made a valiant attempt to publish his
fragmentary archive in 1997). Because of this,
there are many of eyes on the data that will be Heavy rains had percolated
presented; English Heritage is conscious of the
through the porous chalk

”
waiting public.
The 2007 Silbury Hill Conservation Project and destablised it, causing
has quite literally recorded every single inch of
the tunnels, and a fascinating ‘virtual reality’ more voids to open.
reconstruction as well as extremely detailed
3D sections have been created using photo-
grammetry. Over 400 samples have been taken,
including a series of cores from the very centre
of the original mound, with many of them ear-
marked to be frozen for study by future genera-
tions and their more advanced technologies.

Dating Silbury Hill

The main new evidence we can expect from
the recent work at Silbury Hill will be in the
dating. Already the preliminary results, when
combined with Bayesian statistics (CA 209),
have enabled the dates to be made consider-
ably more specific and firmly place Silbury in
context with the surrounding UNESCO World
Below Geophysics
Heritage site monuments. instrumentation installed
The latest thinking is that the original turf under the tunnels.
mound was probably constructed within a

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 indicates that there may have been a pause of
perhaps a couple of hundred years, making the
final phase of construction as late as 2100 to
2000BC.

The future of Silbury Hill

The 2007 Silbury Hill Conservation Project
has come to an end; here, curatorial philoso-
phy has gone from one extreme to the other.
Whereas Atkinson left his arches in position
and wanted to leave the central chamber open,
the current plan is quite the reverse. Silbury
Hill will remain a wondrous monument in the
landscape, untrodden by human foot.
However, that does not mean that there is
no further opportunity for study of the site.
Geophysics instrumentation has been installed
under the hill in the natural chalk, including a
Time Domain Reflectometry sensor (TDR) and
an Electric Resistivity Imaging Cable. The TDR

Left Map of Silbury Hill area clearly showing the

Roman settlements across the A4 (originally the
Roman pilgrimage route to Bath) and adjacent
to the mound on the east; the River Kennet and
Swallowhead Springs are also clearly visible.

Below Looking towards Silbury from the Roman

settlement area. Dark patches on the hillside to the east
denote the rest of the Roman settlement. It is clear from
this view that Silbury Hill must have been significant
in the daily lives of those who lived so close to it.
Photo: Lisa Westcott

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 Silbury Hill

is laid under the most sensitive part of Silbury 1;
and transmits a pulse along the cable, determin-
ing the soil moisture from the travel time and
amplitude of the reflected energy. The Electric
Resistivity Imaging Cable has steel electrodes
every 0.5m out to 64m from the centre of Sil-
bury 1; an electric current may be sent from a
portable resistivity meter brought to site for the
measurements, through any combination of
buried electrodes. This current passes through
dissolved ions in water (not chalk itself) and
thus provides another measure of the variations
in the moisture content. More voiding inside
Silbury would, presumably, create an air space –
obviously, lacking water – which would in turn
show up in the readings as a high resistance
anomaly and enable staff to respond before fur-
ther damage can occur. Neither instrument is
preventative, but it is hoped that the measur-
able results (taken at regular intervals for the
foreseeable future) will enable archaeologists
to continue to ‘see’ into Silbury Hill; and, as
technology moves on, it is anticipated that
further functions will be developed for the
electrode array that will make it possible to get
a clearer picture of what is inside the hill. We
will never know everything, but what we do
not know should diminish as time goes on.
Many questions remain to be explored.
Foremost among them is: why? What was
the purpose of Silbury Hill – what did it repre-
sent, what function did it perform, what was
its meaning to the people who went to such
great efforts to build it? Folklore places it as
the burial mound of King Sil; other theories
attach it to the Goddess, and still others 
Below Votive offerings at Swallowhead Springs. Interestingly, one is a
modern copy of a Beaker vessel. The sarsens are laid across the convergence
where the Winterbourne ends and the River Kennet begins; this special
place must have had serious ritual significance for early inhabitants.

romans and the hill

The Romans clearly used Silbury as a sighting
point when laying out the road from London
to Bath (the predecessor to the modern A4), for
the road approaches Silbury but then swerves
around the base. In the Late Roman period
there was a settlement on the other side of the
road to Silbury. The location and size of this
settlement highlights the fact that the Romans
must have seen some ritual significance in Silbury
Hill; interestingly, given these factors, literally
nothing Roman has been found on the mound.
Also interestingly, in the 19th century four
Roman ‘wells’ (visible on the map at left) were
discovered around the base of the hill. These
wells offer an intruiging mystery and perhaps
clues to the Roman occupation of the site. There
was plenty of water readily available to the
Romans at Silbury, given the close proximity of
Swallowhead Springs and the convergence of the
Winterbourne and Kennet rivers. Surely there
was no need for wells? These springs have been a
place of ritual significance for time out of mind,
and the site today still shows evidence of the
offerings that have been traditional for centuries.
English Heritage archaeologist Jim Leary feels
certain that the wells were actually ritual shafts
and will hopefully investigate them further
during ongoing survey of the settlement.

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 Silbury Hill
Photo: LWW
propose that it was an observatory or sundial -
by means of the shadows cast by the mound on
the plain to the north towards Avebury – used
to track the seasons. It is certainly tied to the
other monuments nearby through sight lines
and other alignments, and Silbury is an inte-
gral part of this constructed sacred landscape.
Perhaps the mound was aping a natural hill: Jim
Leary points to the similarity of the final phase
of Silbury Hill with Picked Hill – a prominent
hill in the nearby Vale of Pewsey. In a flat area
like the Vale of Pewsey, a feature such as Picked
Hill would have stood out and may have had
symbolic value – was Silbury an attempt to emu-
late it in the Kennet Valley? Jim also points to
the Hill’s lowland setting and proximity to a
river and spring. These are important features
in the landscape and may well have been sacred
for generations of earlier inhabitants – was Sil-
bury marking them for all to see and ensuring
their sanctity was never forgotten? Was the
mound a response to the influx of new Beaker
ideologies, materials and know-how- a way for
the local population to assert their identity?
The concentration of different local materials –
clay, gravel, chalk, turfs, topsoil, and even small
sarsen boulders - found in Silbury 1 suggests that
the builders were bringing their landscape into
the construction; was this a way of focussing
their landscape and creating a microcosm of
their world in one place?
There are plans to venture beyond previous
discussions of Silbury and consider the later
20
uses of the hill. Atkinson reported finding pot- Above View
tery from the Late Saxon/Norman period on from the top.
Silbury Hill is an integral
the hilltop, and the present excavation found
part of the Stonehenge-
further evidence of this activity. One of the Avebury-West Kennet
most exciting new theories to have emerged prehistoric landscape.
from the project is that the hill’s iconic shape This photo, taken from
may be the result of significant modification the top of the mound,
by the placement of a large Saxon or Norman shows the Long Barrow at
top right. Swallowhead
military structure on top; archaeologists believe
Springs lies far right
it may have originally been domed, rather than within the copse of trees
flat-top as we see today. If so, where was the top just down the slope.
of the hill dumped, and what could possibly
be found in that material? There will be work Source
done on locating the source of the materials For further
used in the primary mound; were the Pleisto- information, please
cene gravels dug up from deep underground, contact Jim Leary at
or exposed in a river valley? Additionally, no Jim.Leary@english-
evidence of the large workforce that would have heritage.org.uk.
been needed to construct Silbury Hill has yet
been found; was it a shared workforce with the
other monuments in the surrounding area? It
is interesting to consider a segregated popula-
tion, with lumberjacks cutting the forest of trees
needed to construct the West Kennet Palisaded
Enclosure while stonemasons banged away at Further
Stonehenge and Avebury and chalk quarriers information
got down to business at Silbury Hill. Certainly, Jim Leary will be
better dating will start reducing the possibili- speaking about
Silbury Hill at
ties, especially as more information trickles out Archaeology 2008 on
of the Durrington Walls excavation. ‘Eureka’ 9-10 February at the
moments tend to happen in post-excavation, so British Museum
it is possible that stunning results could be just
around the corner. ca
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