Silbury Hill

The largest man-made mound in Europe, has a base circumference of 1630ft, and reaches a height of some 130ft it is 100 feet across its flat top surface. Silbury Hill covers an area of five acres and was built around 2500BC as a series of six terraces. Constructed primarily of chalk and soil, each terrace was covered with a layer of loose flint, chalk and gravel to form the current cone shape. The hill was formed with some of the chalk from the great henge at Avebury and built in a complex lattice structure of in-filled chalk walls. It is estimated to have taken 18 million man-hours to construct. The terrace near the top lines up with the horizon, when seen from West Kennet Long Barrow.

Various attempts to find out why it was built have been undertaken, but no one knows for sure. There are speculations though but none can be proved. I like to think that the body of a highly respected person was laid on the top until it decayed into just bare bones and then the bones were taken to the West Kennet long barrow and left there. Of course when Silbury was built the people could have had many ideas that we cannot even fathom today, so why Silbury was built and what it was used for remains a geat mystery.

Silbury Hill from the path to the Kennet

Silbury Hill from the car park

A light shining on Silbury Hill. Two Crop Circles are close by.

My Grand-daughter in a crop circle with Silbury Hill behind her

Silbury Hill again from a crop circle below the West Kennet

This was taken from the second crop circle by the side of the Kennet