WINDMILL AND SILBURY HILL

41. Windmill Hill; from where Wiltshire's monuments originate .

Archaeologists describe Windmill Hill as a causewayed enclosure. This is misleading because it was where people 3, 700 years ago scribed out a massive egg based on the megalithic yard. The largest arc of the egg measures 750 megalithic yards (622.5m). So Windmill Hill was a vast experiment that gave rise to the underlying geometry of Avebury's outer ring of megaliths (large stones).

It was 1926, and the archaeologist Harold St George Gray found a three-inch-long chalk phallus while excavating the shell of the egg Windmill Hill Ring A, a mile northwest of Avebury.

This is a letter that Harold St George Gray sent to the amateur archaeologist Alexander Keiller- the Scottish Marmalade millionaire...

Quote: Phallus of chalk of a flattened cross-section, the glans penis well defined by a deep encircling groove. Length three and three eights of an inch. Sept 9 1926b. Ref. Windmill Hill notebook Vol 2. P28-29.

So, Windmill Hill had a lot to do with fertility!

No wonder Keiller's curiosity was piqued, causing him to purchase Windmill Hill and rescue it from Marcony, who wanted to build a radio relay station on top of it.

43. The north-western slope of Windmill Hill.

It's a well known fact that the egg-shaped monument on top of Windmill Hill makes it appear as though it was meant to slither down the considerable slope on its north-western side. To give a clearer impression of this, the approximate routes of Ring A and Ring B that traverse this slope are shown above in white.

The guiding factor which determined that the monument should be so far offset - is of course the moon-alignment made between its axis, which broadly passes through Ring C - the "Yolk" and a distant notch in the horizon to the nearest 10-degree. Only by centring the monument as far to the north-west as possible could this 230-degree azimuth, relative to the southernmost moonset and notch be maintained. This is made clearer in the next image.

44. Professor Alexander Thom maintained that some Scottish monuments were aligned on notches in the landscape that looked as if some angry giant had taken an axe to the horizons of his native Scotland. Megalithic Lunar Observatories. A. Thom.

Well, I don't know whether Professor Thom ever visited the causewayed enclosure that straddles Avebury's Windmill Hill, but if he had, he would not have missed this notch, which is almost five miles from the monument, especially since the southernmost moon enters this notch every 18.61 years.

Imagine this: the modern A361 from Avebury to Devizes passes through this notch. At night, many vehicles traverse it, their headlights illuminating the way. But what if, just as the extreme southernmost moon sinks into this notch, you capture a photo? It would be a sight to behold as if cars emerged from the moon. A truly unique and rare photo opportunity, wouldn't you agree?

Most moon-aligned 'notches' are subtle, as seen above. Others are in your face, like Migdale in Scotland.

Let's talk about Migdale in Scotland. The Time Team was in awe of Migdale's moon alignment during their excavation of a pair of round barrows. Picture this: an excavated pyramid-shaped artefact of wood, a standing stone that mirrors Avebury's Silbury Hill, all perfectly aligned with the slope of a mountain. At the far end of Loch Migdale, the moon descends at her Major Standstill, completing this breathtaking alignment.

46. Silbury Hill. The hill that stole Stonehenge's crown.

This view displays the largest ditch out of the three dug. Small, medium and large. The outer shown gives an understanding of the original ground level and confirms that the artificial mound was mainly built from the surrounding chalk soil to put Silbury in the centre of a lake.

The outline of these three ditches remains unknown despite the tunnels and shafts dug through to Silbury's heart. These ditches represent growth and cannot be taken as evidence that the monument was built in stages.

In 1776-7, Col. Drax supervised a team of coal miners who, starting from the top, drilled a vertical shaft searching for the fabled King Sil's burial site. The miners hoped to find the King and his horse and suits of armour. However, before reaching the bottom, the miners encountered a perpendicular void, about six inches in diameter, which extended to the bedrock and the base of Silbury, nearly 40 feet below.

This void was the only remaining testimony to an oak post that once stood there. The post, which had rotted away, was, as any civil engineer will tell you, placed upright to ensure that Silbury's centre point was kept true as the mound rose in height. It is important to note that this post was not a totem pole, as some have suggested.

Silbury Hill needed to be constructed precisely in its designated location. And it is. Its topmost layer is acknowledged to be within one metre of its true position.

Silbury Hill, a testament to human ingenuity, was not just a structure but a competition. It was pitted against the 'Super circuit,' a recent discovery of pits encircling Durrington Walls. Stonehenge, it seems, was not one to be outshone!

47. The hypothesis.

There was a time when this view from Avebury's Sanctuary was very different from that seen here. People building the Sanctuary in those days would have noted that the slope leading down from the peak of Cherhill Hill was clear and unobstructed.

People were acutely aware that Cherhill Hill had been crucial in producing Avebury’s 750-radius moon antenna and the equinoctial egg that aims at it’s northern slope. This fabulous hill offered scope for further potential.

So, people built Silbury at a specific height and location to create a notch in the horizon.

This notch was designed to capture the sun at sunset. People hoped he would come to rest on top of Silbury, and his light would bounce off the reflective lake, lighting up the heavens with an immense searchlight effect.

The moon could hardly fail to be impressed by this brilliant piece of Neolithic theatre and be compelled to join him in astronomical intercourse. Just like she did when entering the long barrow of Gussage St Michael 3, in the middle of the six-mile-long Dorset Cursus.

48. For clarity, the changing levels between the Sanctuary and the peak of Cherhill Hill are exaggerated ten times in the vertical plane. The graph clearly indicates that Silbury was not built piecemeal stage by stage, but its final height was predetermined.

Here are some thoughts on what lies beneath Silbury Hill.

Stonehenge's 56 Aubrey Holes dedicated the monument to the moon from the beginning. However, whilst Stonehenge followed the 10-degree rule, the sun did not.

The four major standstills of the moon on a flat and level horizon in Wiltshire align closely to the 10-degree rule with azimuths of 40, 140, 220, and 320. These alignments will be the focus of intense archaeological research around Xmas 2024, particularly regarding Stonehenge's Station Stones.

Those who set up the stone rows leading into and out of the Avebury Henge took full advantage of the moon's accuracy. Also, with its moon antenna, the Avebury henge is deemed female.

People of the Stone Age were fascinated with geometry and astronomy and combined the two many times. Silbury Hill is geometric, too, with several triangles travelling from top to bottom. But just how many triangles there are is subject to debate. One thing seems inevitable: its geometry was scribed onto the chalk base before any construction could begin. This geometry was given permanence with timber fencing.

49. Avebury folks first scribed a 200 Megalithic Yard circle. This circle was then divided into nine equal segments to make a Nonagon. While these 40-degree divisions respect the moon, these are unlikely alignments if viewed at ground level.

Furthermore, a Nonagon gives only two major standstill positions—those seen on either side of the south. For this reason, we have split a couple of triangles in two to give respect to the northernmost moonrise and moonset. Thus, Silbury now has eleven sides and is a better match to the actual.

One thing is certain: This geometry was decided from the very start. And because of its moon-respecting geometry, Silbury Hill is female!

50. The Palisades. Straddling the River Kennet a little way downstream from Silbury Hill. Based on a photo taken from on top of the West Kennet long barrow.

Built from around 5,000 oak posts held up with sarsen boulders and the bones of about the same number of specially bred pigs.

CAD proves that there were more arcs of different sizes in this build than you can shake a stick at! There was only one reason for so many arcs of different sizes, and that was to imbue the river with a spirit of growth and pass it on downstream to the Marlborough Mound!

The vast number of pigs, most likely piglets of nine-months old - like at Durrington Walls, also imbued the river with the essence of life.

Then heat the whole up like the sun by setting fire to it. Which they did!

What looks like a mound, seen coloured red, was named Silbaby by someone, until it was proved to be natural. It was probably made from the spoil which was cast out from roadmaking. There is a spring at the base of Silbaby, which along with the more famous 'Swallow's spring' feeds the river Kennet.