Landmark is preserved for the future

7:30pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

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DRUIDS sowed grass seed on the summit of Silbury Hill, to mark the end of a £1.6m conservation project.

The historic monument, near Avebury, was researched in the 1960s by archaeologists who ran an 85m long tunnel to the heart of the mound.

But in 2000 a hole appeared in the top of the hill prompting English Heritage to lead a £1.66m conservation project, with engineering firm Skanska, to preserve the Neolithic mound.

Mark Kirkbride, Skanska project manager, said: "Over the last 12 months the project has been a unique and complex engineering challenge and we have found Silbury to be an incredible feat of construction.

"The tunnelling work has been very unusual and the conditions at times difficult.

"But, through working successfully with English Heritage, we have achieved all of the original aims of the conservation works.

"We are confident that the Hill will now stand safe for future generations to marvel upon."

The project has not only successfully ensured the stability of the 4,400-year-old hill, but also allowed the team to carry out investigations into the age and possible uses of the mysterious mound.

Dr Amanda Chadburn, inspector of ancient monuments at English Heritage said: "Silbury Hill is one of the key monuments of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Sites, and is of global importance.

"It is recognised as a masterpiece of human creative genius and is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe.

"It is proof of the creative and technological abilities of prehistoric peoples to conceive, design and construct features of great size and complexity.

"Given this importance, it was essential that the voids and tunnels within the Hill were backfilled to prevent further archaeological damage to this unique monument."

Because of the research done by English Heritage, archaeologists discovered signs that the summit of the hill may have been more domed in shape, and was truncated later on, in Saxon or Norman times, to create the current shape.

The flat top could have been created in order to house a building. The team discovered a series of medieval postholes and two arrowheads, suggesting a defensive or military function, such as a lookout post or signal station.

Because the tunnel cut through many of the hill's construction phases, archaeologists were also able to take advantage of a chance to make detailed records and investigations along the tunnel.

A presentation on the archaeological findings, and the dating of the hill by the English Heritage team, will take place later in the year.