The Engineering Solution

Restoring the Hill to its original condition

An aerial view showing locations of work on the hill and the work compound
© English Heritage
 English Heritage has commissioned Skanska Civil Engineering to undertake works to stabilise the Hill. After establishing a compound to the east of the Hill three areas will be addressed.

Work at the hill bottom [1]

A temporary scaffold ramp and building will be erected at the entrance to the horizontal tunnels dug into the Hill in 1849 and 1968. These tunnels will be emptied and then permanently filled with compacted chalk.

Work on the hilltop [2]

Once the horizontal tunnels have been filled, the polystyrene blocks from the large crater on the summit will be carefully removed. The shaft will be filled with chalk brought up to the top of Hill using a rail track.

Work on the hillside [3]

A line of craters on the hillside has been created by subsidence into the horizontal tunnels below. The craters will be packed with chalk once the tunnels beneath have been permanently filled.

All the filling will be done with exactly the same type of chalk that was used to build the mound in the Neolithic period. Once the work is complete, the Hill will have been restored to as near its original condition as possible.