Restoration plans for 'Merlin's Mound' approved

The 62ft (19m) mound is inside the grounds of Marlborough College

A neolithic monument which legend says contains the remains of King Arthur's magical mentor Merlin is to be restored.

The Marlborough Mound, also known as Merlin's Mound or Merlin's Mount, sits inside the grounds of Marlborough College.

The college applied for planning permission to remove 20th Century buildings cut into the side of the monument last year.

Wiltshire Council has now given the go-ahead for the carpentry workshop, toilets, plant room and water meter and pump to be demolished.

According to the plans, there is "good potential" for traces of medieval and post-medieval waterways to be encountered during the works, which the schools says will leave a more "visually pleasing" setting for the monument.

The mound was built 4,000 years ago and, at 62ft (19m) tall, it is second only to nearby Silbury Hill in terms of height for such a monument.

William the Conqueror ordered a castle be built on the mound following the Norman Conquest.

According to local legend, the wizard Merlin is buried in the mound, giving the town its motto – "'ubi nunc sapientis ossa Merlini" or "where now are the bones of the wise Merlin".

Archaeologists will soon be able to investigate a cross-section of the mound

In the 1980s, a teacher at the boarding school - where the likes of Catherine, Princess of Wales, and comedian Jack Whitehall were educated - supervised the renovation of an 18th Century shell grotto, which had been dug into the side of the hill.

The Marlborough Mound Trust was formed in 2000 to conserve and restore the monument.

An archaeological assessment in 2024 described the mound as "nationally important" and said that while it is unlikely anything archaeologically significant would be found under the buildings, removing them would enable archaeologists to investigate a cross-section of the mound.

The mound is not open to the public, although an annual open day is held each summer, for which tickets are issued.