190 



Silbury. 



early charters), the latter syllable of which, the modern German 

 for a mountain, clearly points to the tumulus hard by : moreover 

 it has given to this day a crest to the Borough, to wit, " On a 

 wreath a mount vert, culminated by a tower triple-towered, argent." 



In addition to these I may enumerate the following large tumuli; 1 

 in Hertfordshire one near Bishops Stortford ; in Bedfordshire one 

 near Leighton Buzzard ; in Berkshire two near Hampstead 

 Marshall ; in the North Riding of Yorkshire there are several, two 

 of which are of considerable dimensions, the largest of which is 

 called " Rosebury Topping," near Newton, between Stokesley and 

 Guisborough: it is described as "flat on the top, and as large 

 though not so high as Silbury." In the County of Gloucester there is 

 one in the Parish of Bromsberrow, called the "Conygre Hill" which 

 (Mr. Lees informs me) is of about the same circumference, but of 

 lower elevation than Silbury. In Surrey there are many barrows 

 of large size : one on Collin gley Ridge in the Parish of Frimley 

 is described as " larger than any in Wilts except Silbury ; " another 

 at Horshill on the Heath ; another West of Oxenford ; and another 

 to the West of the town of Chobham. In Essex, there is one near 

 St. Giles's Church, in the town of Colchester ; in Kent one near 

 Ashford ; in the County of Hants one near Blackwarren ; and in 

 Suffolk six miles to the East of Ipswich, a large tumulus surrounded 

 by six smaller ones. 



There are also barrows of large size, of whose strength and 

 solidity advantage has been taken to convert them into suitable 

 sites for castle keeps at Oxford, Thetford, Canterbury and Lewes, 

 the two latter of which have been proved by recent excavations 

 to contain human bones at their very base. 2 



But the tumulus which most nearly approaches Silbury in size 



and proportions was raised in modern days over the remains of our 



Belgic allies who fell at Waterloo. This vast barrow of the 19th 



century occupies (as is well known) the centre of the field of battle, 



and though of less actual bulk than our Wiltshire mound, is of no 



1 Most of the larger tumuli mentioned liere are taken from a list in an 

 unpublished MS. of Aubrey in the Library of the Wilts Archaeological and 

 Natural History Society, at Devizes. 



2 Wright's Celt Roman and Saxon, p. 437. 



