Silbury Hill

Including the lay of the land and all that.

And so he says he says whatever lies beneath Silbury Hill was sealed there by Merlin himself.

Of that we can have little doubt.

Sick.

So you watch tents on tenterhooks waiting for some sort of sign.

Malik, you are walking the fairgrounds looking for something, anything.

What you do notice is that some of the carnies have formed a perimeter around the base of Silbury Hill.

Wait, we're at the southeast corner.

We are in prehistoric Stone Central.

You've got Silbury Hill right there.

Do you know of Silbury Hill?

No, I don't.

Silbury Hill.

I think I may have sent you an image.

Did you find your

thrill there?

But it's not just the stones that have eerie, creepy stories attached to them.

is Silbury Hill.

Yes, another bury.

And it is the largest prehistoric man-made mount in Europe.

done physically, that's a good idea.

So I'm thinking he's preparing the ritual space in Silbury Hill.

Oh, you think he's there already? I think he's preparing.

How long do you

All

right.

And then I'll go, then I'll go to Silbury Hill and I'll see what I can find out.

I don't, but I don't, I barely remember what Smythe looks like.

I'm Neil Oliver, and this is my love letter to the British Isles.

In the last podcast, you took us to Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, the largest artificial prehistoric mound in Europe.

Where are we this week? In this instance,

the destination's not a place as such.

You know, if you've only got places like Stonehenge, Stonehenge is remarkable.

Avebury is remarkable.

Silbury Hill is remarkable.

But there are piles of stone when you get right down to it.

Now Beckford's fortune, Alderman Beckford's fortune, derived from the Alderman's Jamaican sugar plantations.

and his Wiltshire estate, Fonthill, 15 miles east of Silbury, out on the plain.

Young Beckford really intensely disliked the Palladian family swagger mansion, Fonthill Splendence, which dates from around 1755, except for the cellars, which were dark and extensive.

And apparently as a youngster, he hugely enjoyed running around in those.