Five years ago today I was in Avebury, Wiltshire in the UK, my favorite place outside Pennsylvania, to stay for a few days. I wish I’d had this phone so the photos would be better.

View to Silbury Hill and summer clouds

David Suff (b.1955) - Silbury Hill (Crown of Crows). 2017. Coloured pencil on paper.

"Located close to Avebury, Silbury Hill is Britain's answer to the ancient pyramids. The largest artificial mound in Europe, the hill compares in height and volume to most of Egypt's pyramids, and was erected at approximately the same time (completed in 2400BCE).

Nobody understands what Silbury Hill's purpose was, suffice to say that, unlike the pyramids, it wasn't a burial site. It stands within an area in Wiltshire rich in Neolithic sites, and sits between West Kennett Long Barrow just on the other side of the road, and Avebury Stone Circle just a few fields away to the north.

From a photographic perspective, until a few years ago I had always avoided photographing it. I just didn't know how to show it off well in a photograph. I've visited a few times over the past couple of years, hoping to capture it from a better angle with the drone. But there was always something missing.

Last week I was much more successful. The shallow depression surrounding the mound (which was cut out by the people who made the mound) can occasionally flood after periods of heavy rainfall. This turns the mound into an 'island' which makes the scenery so much more photogenic. Add to that a beautiful layer of frost coating the landscape and a pink dawn sky above, and it gave me all the elements I was hoping for to show off this magnificant ancient site as well as I could."

~ Adam Burton

[Ian Sanders]

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“An iceberg is water striving to be land; a mountain, especially a Himalaya, especially Everest, is land's attempt to metamorphose into sky; it is grounded in flight, the earth mutated--nearly--into air, and become, in the true sense, exalted. Long before she ever encountered the mountain, Allie was aware of its brooding presence in her soul.” ― Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

My favourite Wiltshire inspired watercolours by Sonia Hill, available to buy/view on her Facebook and Etsy. Wonderful! 🦋

Avebury

~ I was feeling part of the scenery I walked right out of the machinery My heart going "Boom-boom-boom" 💚✨

Journey to Avebury

A Journey to Avebury is the name of a short silent film made by Derek Jarman made in 1971. Shot in wobbly Super 8, and saturated with burnt orange hues, it has an otherworldly eldritch atmosphere that is hard to describe. Suffice to say it is hardly be the sort of thing that the then English Tourist Board might have chosen to promote the stone-encircled Wiltshire village. Too painterly and…

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Journeying into the Mystical World of Avebury Stone Circle

Explore the mystical Avebury Stone Circle, Silbury Hill, and more! Join my adventure with fellow bloggers, authors, and paranormal enthusiasts in my latest blog post. Discover the magic at Avebury!

(Image source: Avebury (1937) by Paul Nash. Original from The Museum of New Zealand. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.) A few days before the summer solstice, I embarked on a captivating journey to the ancient marvels of Avebury, Silbury Hill, and the West Kennett Long Barrow. It was a trip filled with wonder, history, and a dash of the paranormal. Joining me were fellow bloggers, writers,…

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1st August 2023

Silbury Hill is a frankly astounding artificial mound to the southwest of Avebury.

It’s base covers about 5 ¼ acres and is 130ft high, with close to 9 million cubic feet of material – making it the largest manmade mound in Europe! The top is flattened (probably as a lookout long after it’s original construction) and it’s original surface would’ve looked stepped. It’s circled by a 100ft wide moat that’s obscured by long grass and the landscapes undulations and in the winter or particularly bad weather it fills with water and reflects the hill perfectly – it’s built close to Swallowhead spring & the river Kennet.

The building took place over 50-100 years roughly starting at 2470BC and ending around 2350BC with 3 stages of construction, well after West Kennet Barrow had been constructed and not long after the Avebury complex had been completed. It’s predominantly chalk & clay, built on a spur meaning it’s bottom is 25ft-ish of undisturbed chalk. The 3 stages of building would’ve started with a small gravel mound which was added to over time with chalk, clay, and sarsen stones, and then further clay and the excavation ditches that were repeatedly filled and backfilled as the Hill grew, and completed with the of the huge ditch (now the moat).

No burials have been found within the hill, ruling out it’s usage as a burial site (indeed, with West Kennet Barrow so close by it wouldn’t make sense to split burials and the veneration of ancestral remains over such a small distance). Local folklore does tell of a King Sil buried beneath the mound though. Other theories include the Hill as part of sight lines in the landscape, a place of seasonal rites, to even it’s constructed around a sacred pillar or pole. It’s the focus of many ley lines, dragon lines, energy pools, and more according to various pamphlets and books sold within Avebury’s Henge Shop too.

Whatever it’s original purpose, Silbury Hill is a stunning part of the landscape around Avebury. It’s scale is hard to figure when at the viewing site, but walking up the path to West Kennet Barrow & looking back really contextualises it’s size and prominence. A stunning place to visit on the way into Avebury or on the way to any number of other ritual sites in the locale.

[Silbury Hill in Wiltshire.]

5 years ago today on the path from West Kennet Long Barrow, looking toward Silbury Hill. It was a beautiful morning and I took lots of pictures but I won’t flood you with them. I recommend staying in Avebury, getting up before sunrise and walking through the fields to these ancient sites. It’s a mood.

Silbury Hill on the eve of the summer solstice

Silbury Hill Venture!

7 Enigmatic Stonehenge Guided Tours to Experience

Now you can explore the magical world of Stonehenge. Here huge ancient stones stand in mysterious patterns. People join Stonehenge’s guided tours to uncover its secrets and stories. These tours are like adventures that help people understand this ancient wonder. Imagine going on a treasure hunt through time to learn about history! Today, you will discover some tours that show the wonders of…

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