Silbury Hill eh films query

Silbury Hill 180

Image by wickerman

fachtna Jun 10, 2010 22:38:57

Hello - I apologise for bringing the topic of the Silbury Hill project up again (I have said that I wouldn't) but an issue has arisen that may be of some significance for me and my family and I would be grateful for your help.

I have just posted 2 videos produced for English Heritage by Chris Corden Productions on Youtube (thanks to EH and Chris Corden for permission to reproduce the images).

The 1st video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxkXdK2hcs4

The 2nd video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVxKI0bKdk4

There are differing views with regard to the derivation of these films:

In one view the 1st video appeared on the EH Silbury Project Website in the early stages of the fieldwork in 2007 and was taken down and replaced by the 2nd video.

In another view the Ist video never appeared at all on the EH website, which has only ever presented the 2nd video as the first in a series of films on the project.

I would be very grateful for any assistance (and evidence) that people may be able to provide to establish which of these views is correct.

Thanks

fachtna

Sanctuary Jun 11, 2010 08:35:20

Replying to fachtna

It's interesting how diverse some of these films are on Silbury Hill. In the first film shown the commentator says that the hill took some 4 million man hours to complete, yet in the Channel Four doco 'The Heart of the Hill' it says 18 million! That's a huge difference isn't it.
And another aspect I find interesting is the suggestion that the hill was always gleaming white with many people suggesting that's what it was designed to be so that it stood out. Is there any real evidence to support this? Even the final stage of construction would have taken so long that wouldn't the chalk have greened up as work continued...unless it was purposely kept clean during construction that is and after completion? The same has been said of Abvebury's Great Circle's bank, but again, that would green up as work continued surely. The only chalk you see today on the bank is where people walk along it, but I noticed a year or two back when sections were closed off for maintainance growth returned within weeks.

tjj Jun 11, 2010 08:50:01

Replying to fachtna

Just watched the first fim Fachtna and although I don't have time just now to watch the second (carefully in order to comment) my first thought is that the men who intially went into the tunnel were taking a tremendous risk with their own lives. It raises the question, "was English Heritage negligent in this matter and was it more luck than judgement that prevented anyone being seriously injured or hurt??".

Brave men anyway, whoever they were.

best wishes

Rhiannon Jun 11, 2010 08:55:11

Replying to fachtna

Well I dont' know if the 'Way Back Machine' would help you, put in the general EH homepage address and then if you choose a date you will see the homepage as it was. If you then click EH's 'site map' in the top left corner it's probably the easiest way to see if the silbury pages are available. I had a quick look and for example you can see these pages on the hill from some point in early 2007
http://web.archive.org/web/20070108205603/www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.8613

I think that's what it's showing anyway, you could look in more detail obviously, different dates and that. Although absence of evidence would't mean evidence of absence, it just might not have recorded the site on the day your video was there, if it was there?

moss Jun 11, 2010 09:36:32

Replying to fachtna

Well I suppose the most obvious difference between the two videos is approximately 5 minutes, the first is 9 minutes long and the second four minutes. Therefore a lot has ended up on the editing floor in the second video.....

fachtna Jun 11, 2010 16:52:39

Replying to fachtna

Thanks to everyone who has watched the videos and to those who have replied to this post.

To clarify matters - essentially I am trying to establish if this 1st film ever appeared on the EH Silbury website (would have been May/June 2007) and if so, then what evidence could be cited to prove this.

all the best

fachtna

fachtna Jul 15, 2010 19:37:40

Replying to fachtna

fachtna wrote:

I have just posted 2 videos produced for English Heritage by Chris Corden Productions on Youtube (thanks to EH and Chris Corden for permission to reproduce the images).

The 1st video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxkXdK2hcs4

The 2nd video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVxKI0bKdk4

There are differing views with regard to the derivation of these films:

In one view the 1st video appeared on the EH Silbury Project Website in the early stages of the fieldwork in 2007 and was taken down and replaced by the 2nd video.

In another view the Ist video never appeared at all on the EH website, which has only ever presented the 2nd video as the first in a series of films on the project.

I would be very grateful for any assistance (and evidence) that people may be able to provide to establish which of these views is correct.

Thanks

fachtna

Hello

I would just like to say that my query about the films has now been resolved.

After a request under the Freedom Of Information Act English Heritage has discovered that 'both versions of the first Silbury film [ie the 2 videos I posted on youtube] were on the EH website at different times, and that the longer version of the first film [which I termed video 1] was replaced by a shorter edited version [video 2].

The first version of the first film presented the backgound to the 2007 fieldwork and showed work taking place inside the re-opened Atkinson tunnel in May/June 2007, including the excavation of the buried ditch and me talking about the work to camera.

This was replaced by a shorter version which only presented the background to the 2007 fieldwork.

This shorter version was accompanied on the EH website by another film - 'A walk through the tunnel'. This begins with the excavation of the buried ditch being discussed by Mr Jim Leary, who is described in the film as the 'Fieldwork Director of the project for English Heritage'.

Many thanks to all who have assisted with this.

fachtna

Littlestone Jul 29, 2010 13:49:46

Replying to fachtna

More here - http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/multimedia-library/conservation-projects/

And a review here - http://heritageaction.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/silbury-english-heritage-on-their-project-at-the-monument/