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| The Hole |
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 Silbury Hill news, views and archive brought to you by Weird Wiltshire Introduction Latest News News Archive Excavations The Hole Beaker People What is it for? What Next? Postcards Wallpaper Links  |
In spring 2000, a 22-year-old vertical mine shaft opened up in the top of Silbury Hill, leaving a 12-metre deep hole at the summit of the hill. English Heritage attempted to roof the hole with scaffolding and tin sheets but it was unsuccessful: what had been a two-metre square shaft opening collapsed, leaving a gaping void big enough to put a single decker bus in. 
It was later revealed that two amateur investigators (who were more used
to examining crop circles than archaeological mysteries) had lowered themselves
into the shaft and could have contributed to its collapse.
The shaft was dug in 1776-7 by a team of miners paid by the Duke of Northumberland who was in search of the fabled treasure of a statue of King Sel on horseback. It is believed nothing was found. It appears the miners did not completely fill in their excavation to the bottom of the 39-metre high hill but partly filled it and plugged the top with a few feet of soil which was probably supported by branches. The re-appearance of the shaft in May 2000 and its subsequent collapse re-awakened national and international interest in the mound, with calls for its restoration coming from leading archaeologists and from the hill’s owner, Lord Avebury, formerly the Liberal MP Earl Lubbock. Lord Avebury asked questions in the House of Lords about how the hill would be surveyed and the hole plugged. |
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