A neolithic site said to be the burial place of the fabled wizard Merlin is due to undergo restorations.
The Marlborough Mound (aka Merlin’s Mound) sits with the grounds of Marlborough College (a private school attended by the likes of Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Jack Whitehall). It’s thought to have been built 4,400 years ago and, at 19 metres high, is the second tallest neolithic monument in all of Europe, after Sidbury Hill just five miles away.
Last year, Marlborough College applied for permission to remove the twentieth century disused buildings that are cut into the side of the monument – a carpentry workshop, toilets, plant room and water meter and pump. Earlier this month Wiltshire Council gave that plan the go ahead.
The removal of the buildings will make the mound more ‘visually pleasing’ and allow for more archeological research to be carried out. According to the application, the structures will be ‘ demolished slowly with an archaeologist presence during the process’.
An archeological assessment of the landmark last year described it as ‘nationally important’. The castle at the top of the mound was built by William the Conquerer after he assumed control of the area in 1067. Several hundred years later the young King Edward VI passed it to his mother’s family, the Seymours who excavated a cavern and built a shell-decorated grotto and a spiral path to the summit.
The site, which is looked after by the Marlborough Mound Trust, isn’t actually accessible to the public unless arranged with the school, but there is one open day a year when you can book a tour of the site. It’s hoped that the work will help to enhance the visitor experience at the new Mound Information Centre being built next to the structure.
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