92 



THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



remains of a tree, but this could also be taken as an 

 indication of Drax believing a timber core to be 

 something more than a constructional detail. 



Whether the Rev. Duke had read Henry 

 Browne's booklet we cannot be sure, but in the light 

 of Mr Hickley's account further attention is required 

 of Duke's opinion that 'A slip of oak is produced, 

 which, I have no doubt, was the ultimate remains 

 of an upright log, placed as a centre, around which 

 this aspiring mound was raised... the remains of 

 wood in barrows, and that heart of oak, immured 

 in chalk, is almost imperishable. Yet here, I believe 

 it to have been the remains of one entire log' (Duke 

 1846,41-2). 



Richard Atkinson, leader of the BBC dig into 

 Silbury Hill during the late 1960s, expressed on 

 numerous occasions the opinion that the 1776-7 

 shaft probably destroyed a central deposit at the 

 base of the mound (Atkinson 1967, 1974, 1978). 

 This may also have been the fate of any material 

 that stood vertically at the core, as any surviving 

 evidence is now perhaps residing in spoil distributed 

 on the slopes or returned as infill, although the 

 possibility remains that traces may perhaps still be 

 found on the faces of the shaft. 



Further details of Silbury since 1776 may still 

 come to light from the notes and sketches of 

 enthusiasts such as Henry Browne. Stuart Piggott 

 referred to some drawings made by Henry Browne 

 now held in Haslemere Museum (Piggott 1946, 

 470), that have yet to be investigated. The museum 

 has no record of anything by Browne, and there is 

 no connection with Wiltshire evident in their 

 catalogue other than two early guides to Avebury. 

 A physical search of their art collection was not 

 possible in 2001 due to extensive building work. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 



My thanks to David Field for his comments and 

 assistance in preparing the text. 



Published Sources 



ATKINSON, R, 1967, Silbury Hill. Antiquity 41, 259-62 

 ATKINSON, R., 1974, 'Neolithic Science and 



Technology', in F.R.Hodson (ed), The Place of 



Astronomy in the Ancient World. London 

 ATKINSON, R., 1978, 'Silbury Hill', in R. Sutcliffe (ed.), 



Chronicle, 159-73. London: BBC Television 

 BROWNE, H, 1823, An Illustration ofStonehenge and 



Abury. Salisbury: Brodie and Dowding 

 DOUGLAS, J., 1793, Nenia Britannica. London 

 DUKE, REV., 1846, The Druidical Temples ofWiltshire. 



Salisbury: Brodie 

 McAVOY, F., 2000, Silbury Hill Shaft, Evaluations 



Report. English Heritage Centre for Archaeology, 



Project 661 

 MERE WETHER, J., 1851, Diary of a Dean. London 

 PIGGOTT, S., 1946, 'The destruction of "The 



Sanctuary" on Overton Hill', WANHM 51, 470-1 

 TUCKER, C, 1849, 'Report of the Examination of 



Silbury Hill', in Memoirs Illustrative of the History 



and Antiquities ofWiltshire and the City of Salisbury, 



297-303. London: George Bell/Archaeological 



Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 

 WHITTLE, A., 1997, Sacred Mound, Holy Rings. 



Silbury Hill and the West Kennet Palisade Enclosures: 



a Later Neolithic Complex in North Wiltshire. 



Oxford: Oxbow Books 

 See also: 

 EDWARDS, B., 2001, The 'Hole' Story. VISION 1(1) 



Archive sources 



Major Allen Archive (Ashmolean Museum) 



Richard Atkinson, Interview, Cardiff, 2 1 September 1 988 



(Alexander Keiller Museum) 

 'Eye-Witness Accounts of the Silbury Tunnel 1915-1923' 



(Alexander Keiller Museum) 

 WC. Lukis, Silbury Hill, GMAG 7485a (Guernsey 



Museum and Gallery) 

 'Silbury Hill Site Diary', 1969 (Alexander Keiller 



Museum) 

 'Silbury Hill Report on Environmental Investigation', 



1986 (Alexander Keiller Museum) 

 Ministry of Public Building and Works File No AA 7 1 72 1/ 



3 Part 1, 2, & 3 (PRO) 



