FREE ON SILBURY HILL PDF Adam Thorpe | 232 pages | 13 Jan 2015 | Little Toller Books | 9781908213242 | English | Wimborne Minster, United Kingdom Silbury Hill, England. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See On Silbury Hill Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. On Silbury Hill by Adam On Silbury Hill. Adrian Cooper Editor. Silbury Hill in Wiltshire has inspired and perplexed people for generations. Artists and poets have fathomed their deepest thoughts searching for the hill's hidden meanings, archaeologists have tunnelled through earth On Silbury Hill fragments that prove its purpose. But for all this human endeavour, Silbury Hill remains a mystery. We do know it is the largest prehistoric mound in Eur Silbury Hill in Wiltshire has inspired and perplexed people for generations. We do know it is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. But was it once an island, moated by water? Was it a place of worship and celebration, perhaps a vast measure of the passing seasons? Along with Stonehenge and Avebury, was it part of a healing landscape or a physical memory of the long-ago dead? Silbury Hill is the sum of all that we project. A blank screen where human dreams and nightmares flicker. The hill has been part of Adam Thorpe's own life since On Silbury Hill schooldays at Marlborough, which he would often escape in the surrounding downlands. He has carried Silbury ever since, through his teenage years in Cameroon, into his adulthood in southern England and France: its presence fused to each landscape which became his home. It is a chalkland memoir told in fragments and family snapshots, skillfully built, layer on layer, from Britain's ancient and modern past. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions 2. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about On Silbury Hillplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of On Silbury Hill. I have read all of Adam Thorpe's novels, so I was intrigued when I discovered that he had written a non-fiction book about Silbury Hill, other ancient historical relics on the Wiltshire chalkland notably Avebury and Stonehenge, but also the smaller man-made hill in the grounds of Marlborough's public school, where Thorpe was educatedand how they have affected his life and On Silbury Hill. The book is something of a curate's egg, interesting at times, On Silbury Hill personal and idiosyncratic but let down by I have read all of Adam Thorpe's novels, so I was intrigued when I discovered that he had written a non-fiction book about Silbury Hill, other ancient historical relics on the Wiltshire chalkland notably Avebury and Stonehenge, but also the smaller man-made hill in the grounds of Marlborough's public school, where Thorpe was educatedand how they have affected his life and thinking. Perhaps this is inevitable because so little is known about the people who built the monuments or what their purpose was. Jul 22, Paul rated it really liked it Shelves: wainwright-prizebooks-readnatural-history. This book is so difficult to absolutely categorise. It combines a history book, a memoir and with some natural history, all On Silbury Hill on the prehistoric monument that is Silbury Hill. This amazing structure is the largest man made mound in Europe measuring 40m high and covering an area of five acres, and is believed to have been constructed around years ago. Even though it has outlived its creators for several millennia, nobody has On Silbury Hill single clue as to its purpose. That said, there has been pl This book is so difficult to absolutely categorise. That said, there has been plenty of speculation, and when viewed through the lens of the neolithic landscape it may have played some ritual purpose. Thorpe first became aware of the monument when he was a boarder at Marlborough school. Of excursions from school he walked and cycled the On Silbury Hill and even climbed it. It played an important part in his formative years as he escaped from the school. He makes journeys to Avebury and and other neolithic sites to try and understand the place, but without drawing any firm conclusions. It is a beautifully written book though, as he deftly weaves the On Silbury Hill between his childhood and recent visits to Silbury, with some of the characters that he meets on his travels, and the overlay of the paganism that you get around these sites. As an aside, this is a beautifully made book too. The size and weight of the book and paper feel just right, and the On Silbury Hill makes for easy reading. View all 6 comments. Shelves: summerpublishednonfictionancient-historybritain-englandeng-wiltshirearchaeologyautobiography-memoirbullies. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Jul 23, Penny rated it it was amazing Shelves: landscape. It's part of a small series On Silbury Hill monographs by Little Toller, and I am definitely going to seek out the other ones On Silbury Hill. I live very close, to a Neolithic Henge - I can see the woods surrounding it from my upstairs house windows. It has a strange pull, and that's not just me being fanciful. Locals are proud and protective about being part of such an 4. Locals are proud and protective about being part of such an ancient landscape. At the same time I have lost count of the people who have told me they avoid going into the copse because 'it has a funny feeling in there'. You'd have to pay me very good money On Silbury Hill go there alone at night! But what exactly are we feeling? Are we picking up how ancient the place is? The mystery of how and of course why it was built? Is it all in our minds? This book described as a 'chalkland memoir is a meditation on how Silbury Hill has been part of Thorpe's life, right back to when he was a young boarder at Marlborough School On Silbury Hill by, a place with its own mysterious mound. I loved the mixture of nature writing, archaeology and personal memoir On Silbury Hill thought it all worked really well. I especially appreciated Thorpe's honesty and lack of irony - his adolescent daydreams about being a Neolithic hunter returning home to his woman, or adventures in 18th century London under hypnosis. I like his dreaminess and imagination, and how he seems someone living in the wrong time. I really hope he does more non fiction writing. Thorpe can't give us any explanations about Silbury Hill. The point is, of course, that it has no point! View all 7 comments. A hard to define book, part memoir, part countryside and a dash of archeaology. After On Silbury Hill past the school days Mr Thorpe really hits his stride, sadly a little late. However, this is still an absorbing read. As well as providing the reader with information about the enigmatic hill and the varying theories about its original purpose, Thorpe wr On Silbury Hill, by Adam Thorpe, is another fascinating addition to On Silbury Hill Little Toller Monograph series. As well as On Silbury Hill the reader with information about the enigmatic hill and the varying theories about its original purpose, Thorpe writes of his time in Wiltshire as a schoolboy, and later in life when he would return to visit. Like many who are drawn to the area — I have lived nearby for over three decades — he finds something elemental in his reaction to the location and its ancient artefacts. Silbury Hill was built, probably over several generations, more than years ago. She is around feet high — the equivalent of a 13 storey building — and has a base covering around 5 acres. Nobody knows On Silbury Hill she was created although there are many theories. Archaeologists On Silbury Hill drilled down into her, dug tunnels through her and taken away samples to try to work out On Silbury Hill purpose. She is neither a burial mound nor a treasure trove. There are few clues as to what she may have been used for. What is known is that she was one of three man made mounds in an area that also includes the Avebury stone circles and its associated avenues. Nearby are several large barrows that exist to house the dead. There is evidence of massive gatherings in ancient times suggesting significant rituals were enacted. Today, gatherings are of tourists or those who claim a religious link. Silbury Hill - Wikipedia Other English Sites:. Altered Landscapes. The Salisbury Complex. Geometric Alignments. England Homepage. Index of Ancient Sites. About Us. A-Z Site Index. Gift Shop. Silbury Hill: Conical Pyramid. The largest artificial earth mound pyramid in Europe. Conical in shape, and rising to a height of ft, with a circular base more than yards in diameter and a flattened top. Its total volume has been estimated atcubic feet. Excavations at the top and sides have revealed no skeletal or funerary remains. There are indications that a large pole may have once topped the hill. The flattened top is ft in diameter, the same as the exterior diameter of the Stonehenge sarsen stones. Click here for Map of site.