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Silbury Hill is one of the strangest structures in the world – it looks like a hill but is entirely manmade. There is no obvious explanation as to why it was built, which may be the reason why this earthwork is not better known.

The effort involved in building it without modern tools must have been prodigious. Conical and undamaged despite the passage of more than 3,000 years, the hill stands in the middle of the Wiltshire Plain near Marlborough. It is estimated that the amount of soil and rubble moved to make the hill rivals that moved to create the Great Pyramid at Giza – one estimate reckons 500 men working continuously seven days a week for 15 years could only just have completed the work.

It’s been said that the mound was a colossal grave for a great Neolithic king but no evidence of burial has been found by archaeologists; others claim the hill is some kind of a sundial or zodiacal indicator, but again there is no basis for this suggestion. The archaeology that has been uncovered indicates that the hill began as a 6m (20ft) mound, which was later capped with chalk rubble and then increased dramatically to its present 40m (130ft) height by excavating a 7.5m (25ft) deep ditch all the way around and adding the excavated material to the top. Silbury completely covers slightly more than 2.25ha (5½ acres) of ground.

SECRETS

While you’re there

Visit nearby AVEBURY, where this quaint old village is cut through by an ancient stone circle known as Avebury Henge.

Secret place to stay

THE LODGE, Avebury (aveburylodge.co.uk). Vegetarian B&B with a warm and comfortable feel.

Silbury Hill dominates the Wiltshire Plain.