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The Eternal T
The Eternal Sep 8, 2012 23:22:48
Replying to Littlestone

Littlestone wrote:
Putting aside the rights and wrongs of climbing Silbury, I have to disagree with both The Eternal and Sanctuary when they say (to paraphrase) the view from the top is great and helps put the monument within its landscape. The view from the top isn’t that great actually because you can’t see much further than the downs immediately surrounding the monument. There’s a much better view of both Silbury and the surrounding landscape from the top of Waden Hill – from there the monument is truly in the landscape (ditto the views from the Sanctuary and Windmill Hill).
Littlestone,

I agree that the view from the top of Silbury Hill isn't the best view of the area. However, I think that the view from there is very relevent to the meaning of its construction. And if we are denied that view, then we can't possibly have a credible opinion of why Silbury Hill was built. Surely, the view from the top is crucial to the debate on why it was built. It's like saying that the orientation of the Stonehenge Avenue means nothing with respect to the construction of that monument.

Silbury Hill is a hill. Why is it a hill? That is the question. It's big, and has a flat top, so that has to be important. Is it for a view, or is it for size? If just for size, then why such a flat top?

As for access to the top, well, that is a topic worthy of debate. Control is necessary, but access has to be within that control. Otherwise, why preserve something that no-one can see?

Cheers,
TE.

L Littlestone
Littlestone Sep 9, 2012 08:22:31
Replying to The Eternal

Silbury Hill is a hill. Why is it a hill? That is the question. It's big, and has a flat top, so that has to be important. Is it for a view, or is it for size? If just for size, then why such a flat top?
Not necessarily to view the surrounding area (though in later times, and for reasons of defence, that was likely).

But if we’re talking about its original purpose, the view from the top might not have been that important really. As I said above, what happened after completion of the structure is perhaps the interesting bit; was it reserved for special ceremonies with only an elite few allowed access, was it open to all at any time, or was it a combination of both - out of bounds to most people most of the time but opened up a few times a year for special occasions?

To that we could add, did it have something on the top to be viewed from the surrounding landscape? The fact that Silbury can be seen from so many points in the area surely points to that being its original and primary role – in other words it was constructed to be seen, not to see from. Interestingly, we could argue that Stonehenge was designed with the opposite in mind :-)