On Silbury Hill

Silbury Hill in Wiltshire has perplexed people for generations. Was it once an island, moated by water? Was it a place of worship, of ritual, of celebration, perhaps a way of marking the seasons' passing? Along with Stonehenge and nearby Avebury, was it part of a healing landscape or a physical memory of the long dead?

In On Silbury Hill, Adam Thorpe posits that the mysterious hill is the sum of all we project onto it—a blank screen where human dreams and nightmares flicker. The hill has been a part of Thorpe's life since his schooldays at Marlborough, a place he could escape to. Since then, wherever he has lived, in England, France and Cameroon, Thorpe has carried Silbury with him.

Now, thirty years after the publication of his landmark novel Ulverton, he returns once more to the landscape that inspired him, creating a monumental chalkland memoir, assembled from fragments, skilfully built from the ancient past.