Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

I also don't think the henge wall would be the likely intended viewing point. From a ceremonial point of view (literally) seeing it from inside the henge seems much more likely to have been considered important.

In any case, the henge wall at the relevant point is much lower than it was originally, having been demolished to allow tourist Stage coaches through (no piddling about planning visitors centres in those days, just bish, bash, done!)

The original henge wall (I think) would have been exactly on a line in space running from Silbury, the shoulder of Waden, skimming the henge wall and into the eyeball of a shortish person standing a few feet across from the obelisk. Four points in perfect three dimensional alignment. Chance or deliberate? Spoilsport Littlestone points out Waden might have been wooded, thereby making it chance at a stroke. But WAS it wooded?

[What if it was only the ditch that was the important part and the bank just the spoil heap from it dumped on the outside and left, rather than spending donkeys more years removing it.

You could say the same about Silbury, that it's an irrelevant spoil heap, in fact someone did suggest it, or you could reverse the speculation and say the ditch was irrelevant, and merely the place the material was obtained from. I would have thought though, if we are to look at it in purely ergonomic terms, they wouldn't have built the wall as a spoil heap as the effort of piling it up would be much greater than spreading it out horizontally further away.

"As to Silbury possibly being a spoil heap, well it was a brilliantly constructed one if it was…which it wasn’t of course…I think!!"

Well actually, in defence of the Silbury Spoil Heap theory, of course they had to construct it brilliantly so as to avoid it eroding into the sacred ditch - and they've clearly done a brilliant job - which is more than can be said of the architects of the Avebury spoil heap.

Not from the "spoil heap" though. I guess it's due entirely to the presence of water. There's a case, is there not, for asking EH to dredge it, on the grounds not of radical alteration but merely of overdue maintenance....

Whilst we are discussing the henge bank I'd like to thow open a question. Dunno if it's been asked before but do you think it's possible that the bank was never intended to be an important part of the overall plan? Before everybody says what a daft question that is just have a think about it. What if it was only the ditch that was the important part and the bank just the spoil heap from it dumped on the outside and left, rather than spending donkeys more years removing it. It had to be on the outside because the stones were planned for the inside. But, if it was only the bank that was required then the material for that could have been brought in from elsewhere so it may suggest the ditch was the important bit. Does that make sense and a valid point to raise? I've mentioned this elsewhere in the past and met with a varied response.

Was it deliberately filled with water originally? I don't know. It would need to be deliberately lined with clay but how can that be known when clay would tend to accumulate over time anyway?