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How and why the ancients enchanted Great Britain and Brittany

Megaliths, Stones of Memory

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Silver Hill - Round Barrow(s) in England in Yorkshire (West)

Submitted by Richard Thornhill on Saturday, 13 August 2005  Page Views: 13037

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Silver Hill
Country: England County: Yorkshire (West) Type: Round Barrow(s)
Nearest Town: Keighley  Nearest Village: Stanbury
Map Ref: SD981375
Latitude: 53.833754N  Longitude: 2.030353W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
2 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
3

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Silver Hill
Silver Hill submitted by rich32 : Whilst out driving in Bronte Country (West Yorks) I came across this mound. It doesn't appear to be on any map. Does anybody know if a site has been identified on Two Lanes Rd, near Stanbury, West Yorks? (Vote or comment on this photo)
Possible Round Barrow in West Yorkshire

An original article by Richard Thornhill: Silver Hill is locally said to be a tumulus, and, topped with two Scots pines as though an illustration for 'The Old Straight Track', it certainly looks like one. Thankfully, however, it has not been scientifically desecrated, and a local museum archaeologist states that there is no evidence for it being a burial mound (1). It is clearly artificial, and may be composed of earth from the steep bank behind. However, although there is a small rock face there, the bank does not seem to have been quarried, so Silver Hill is unlikely to be a spoil heap. Its most obvious explanation is therefore as a prehistoric monument, although it looks rather too steep-sided.

In the 19th century Silver Hill was said to be where Jacobites had buried treasure in 1745: The hill is surrounded by a wall (I suppose to guard the treasure) and its surface is adorned with trees. Grey-headed men living on the borders of Crow Hill and Lancashire Moors affirm that during the Scotch rebellion here was deposited a large chest of silver, which was hid in the hill. It would appear as if the chest of silver is still there! (2)

There is a local tradition that, during the Scotch Rebellion, a large chest of silver was hid in the hill (3).

Not far away lies the round back of Silver Hill, under which a vast treasure was said to have been buried during the ’45 rebellion. The fields which climb this hill were well tilled aforetime through being constantly turned over in search of the treasure (4).

There are numerous local stories about Jacobites and Scottish raiders (5), but, whether or not there is truth in any of them, Silver Hill was not named from Jacobites having buried silver there, as the name was already in use in 1645 (6) and 1653 (7). However, if it is a burial mound, it having been dug into so much by treasure-hunters could explain its atypical shape. In the 16th century, all burial mounds were believed to contain treasure (8), and Silver Hill could have got its name for that reason (A.H. Smith’s suggestions, that either the grass was silvery or the land was rich (9), seem weak), and then later been associated with real or imaginary Jacobites.

I would be interested to know the source for the folklore in Brigantia’s post on the Megalithic Portal, about two spirits, and a flaming barrel that was rolled down the hill. [update January 2018 - see comment below]

Notes
(1) Personal communication, Gavin Edwards, Archaeology Officer, Ilkley Manor House Museum, 2005. (2) James Whalley, The Wild Moor: A Tale Founded on Fact, Todmorden, 1869, p. 103. (3) J. Horsfall Turner, Haworth, Past and Present, 1879, reprinted Hendon Publishing, Nelson, 1999, pp. 153-154. (4) Halliwell Sutcliffe, By Moor and Fell, T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1899, p. 35. (5) For example, one of the numerous and contradictory tales about the Old Silent Inn, near Stanbury, is that Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed there. Also, when I was a child one smallholder was reputed to be descended from a Scottish raider who married a local lass, but had to build his house just outside Haworth because Scots were not allowed to live in the village. Some Jacobite stragglers or deserters may have come to the area, but the stories may have been based on the Scottish drovers who moved cattle down through the Pennines before the railways were built. (6) Title deeds relating to land at Old Snap, 1645, Brigg Collection document no. 234, Keighley Reference Library. (7) Articles of agreement between William Heaton and John Rawson, 17 October 1653, Brigg Collection document no. 347, Keighley Reference Library. (8) Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, 2nd ed., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1997, p. 235. (9) A.H. Smith, The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1961, p. 270.

For other sources of information, please see The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) page for Silver Hill, Stanbury, West Yorkshire, which gives directions for finding this tumulus, together with a photograph and references.
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Silver Hill
Silver Hill submitted by DavidRaven : The enigmatic Silver Hill. Natural or man-made? Members of the Northern Earth Walks group, on a recent visit, noticed that the pinnacle of the mound looks like it had been excavated. Looking for the silver, perhaps? As the hill is in the garden of Silver Hill farm, permission should be sought to visit. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SD9837 : Old Snap Farm from Dean fields, Scar Top by Rob Bainbridge
by Rob Bainbridge
©2009(licence)
SD9837 : Old Snap from the Bronte Way by Chris Heaton
by Chris Heaton
©2012(licence)
SD9837 : New Laithe Road heading to Haworth by Steve Daniels
by Steve Daniels
©2022(licence)
SD9837 : Old Snap by Chris Heaton
by Chris Heaton
©2012(licence)
SD9837 : The Worth valley by steven ruffles
by steven ruffles
©2014(licence)

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"Silver Hill" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Re: Silver Hill by Anne T on Saturday, 06 January 2018
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A bit late to respond to Richard Thornhill's 2005 question about sources of information for Brigantia's folklore, but I've just come across the sources Paul Bennett gives in his The Northern Antiquarian page for this site:

Horsfall-Turner, J., Haworth Past and Present, J.S. Jowett: Brighouse 1879.

Sutcliffe, Halliwell, By Moor and Fell in West Yorkshire, T. Fisher Unwin: London 1899 and

Whalley, James, The Wild Moor, Todmorden 1869.

The quote "One of these (the fiery barrel) rolled down the hill nearby; whereby the ghost of the man walked by the hillock along the track from Ponden House a little further east." From a process of elimination, I am assuming it is the Sutcliffe publication, but I've not been able to get hold of a copy of any of the above to check. Hope this helps (albeit 12 years after the question!)
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Re: Silver Hill by Anonymous on Sunday, 08 January 2006
I heard it was named after Solvar. A viking who was in charge round the area.
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Re: Silver Hill by DavidRaven on Saturday, 20 August 2005
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The 'two spirits' could be the Gytrash. Branwell Bronte told of it in his unpublished 'Percy'; "a spectre not at all similar to the ghosts of those who were once alive, nor to fairies, nor to demons", appearing largely as "a black dog dragging a chain, a dusky calf, nay, even a rolling stone", or "an old, dwarfish and hideous man, as often without a head as with one, moving at dark along the naked fields". Branwell's biographer, Winifred Gerin, confirms the tradition of the apparition and said that the Gytrash can also appear as "a flaming barrel bowling across the fields".
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