Saturday, 22 February 2014

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - Silbury Hill Ley, Wiltshire

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - Silbury Hill Ley, Wiltshire

This Ley is described in a number of books, with a good, perhaps the best and certainly most thorough description given in the Ley Hunter’s Companion, Devereux & Thomson, p.130.

The ley is described as running from Bincknoll Castle to Marden Henge, with points aligning with Bincknoll Castle; Broad Hinton where there is a well and St Peter’s church; Avebury Henge; Silbury Hill; the site of a stone circle; Wans Dyke where a perpendicular ditch or cross dyke intersects; and finally on to Marden Henge.

I first drew a line on the OS 1:25,000 map using the grid points described by LHC, which ran fairly true, cutting the points broadly as described.

Initially I visited Wans Dyke, which with this being my first encounter, struck me as incredibly impressive. The high bank and deep ditch running as they do for so very many miles, immediately out do any other pre-industrial structures I have seen. Offa’s Dyke, which I have walked half of, though perhaps much diminished, and bearly traceable in parts, is but a patch on its contemporary. Why is Wans Dyke not known to people as Offa’s defense work is?




Wans Dyke at Tan Hill

Anyway, I am not here to marvel at Saxon defences, but here is a dyke that runs a ridge, and the location were this ley hits the ridge is most definitely a watershed. Marden Henge, which I am yet to visit, lies beyond and at a lower level and is clearly not visible from any of the other ley points described, so Wans Dyke is the terminus and any extension is merely that.

Walking the dyke I found a spot which according to map and GPS is the mark point offered by LHC. There is a definite gap here in the dyke, which I now believe more probably commands the true crossing point of the ley - efforts with google maps and the 19th century Cassini Historical Map which reveals evidence of former tracks that used to cross here.

I took some time with binoculars considering the line northwards. On the horizon I could see a church tower with white unflagged pole. I know now this to definitely be Broad Hinton Church a mark point as described by LHC. Silbury Hill is clearly visible and the line of sight to Broad Hinton Church cuts the west flank of Silbury hill as also described. Avebury, however is not visible as it lies at a lower level out of sight. There is nothing else that I could make out of the way to the north, and as the church does seem the furthest visible point, I could see of no sign of Bincknoll camp.




Northwards from Tan Hill to Silbury Hill

Looking to the South, with out the aid of compass - which I unfortunately omitted to pack - I spot what may be Marden Henge.


Southwards from Tan Hill to Marden Henge 

On my walk back to the road from Wans Dyke I followed the ridge around to Adam’s Grave. This is a hugely impressive long barrow with deep cuttings either side that presumably were dug to lift the barrow up. As I approached I note a couple of massive stones that may mark the way from a tumuli higher on the ridge. I didn’t check the alignment but they did seem curious and not marked on the map. The near by hill carving of a white horse, is by comparison much less impressive, amateurish perhaps.

Later, when seated, and able to consider what I had seen and properly study maps, I became troubled by the visibility of points on the ley. While from Wans Dyke a clear view is had over much of the length, beyond Broad Hinton it was not possible to see further and on to Bincknoll Castle. How could Bincknoll be considered as a terminal point by LHC if it could not be seen from the Wans Dyke ridge?

I undertook the rather labourious yet satisfying task of profiling the height of the ley from end to end. I did so by measuring the distance from Bincknoll camp, noting the height at each intersecting contour line on the map and graphing the height against distance to give a side section of the altitude along the ley.


The profile showed that from Wans Dyke, at its commanding elevation of 250m, the described points of the former stone circle, Silbury Hill, Avebury Henge are all technically visible. Beyond this there is a high spot at Mill Lane, then again at Broad Hinton. There are two further high spots further on at 1.5km from Bincknoll camp the other at just 500m form the camp, both are 205m high. It is unclear from the map what height to take for Bincknoll Camp as it appears to be on a scarp slope decending to the plane to the north; an odd choice for a start point of a ley if ever there were.  Only investigation would tell, but to keep the story simple, my visit to the site has revealed that the centre of the camp and the outer defence ring sit at 200m.  Stood upon the highest point there available it was definitely not possible to see the Wans Dyke nor much further than a mile or so.  This is not a good sign for the inclusion of Bincknoll Camp as a terminal point on the ley.






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