Hackpen White Horse

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Hackpen White Horse (pictured in 2007). Broad Hinton White Horse, Hackpen Hill - geograph.org.uk - 415006.jpg
Hackpen White Horse (pictured in 2007).

Hackpen White Horse is a chalk hill figure of a white horse on Hackpen Hill, located below The Ridgeway on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, two miles south east of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire, England. It is one of nine white horse hill figures located in Wiltshire. It is also known as the Broad Hinton White Horse due to its proximity to the village. Supposedly cut by local parish clerk Henry Eatwell in 1838 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria, the horse is 90 feet (27 m) wide by 90 feet (27m) high. The horse is regularly scoured and maintained.

Contents

Origins and early history

The horse is said to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria. Victoria coronation 2.jpg
The horse is said to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria.

The origin of the horse is uncertain, [1] and is sometimes said to be the only 19th century white horse to have little of its history known. [2] It is generally regarded that the horse was cut in 1838 by Henry Eatwell, a parish clerk of Broad Hinton, assisted by a local pub landlord. [2] It is said to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria. [1] [2]

The original Litlington White Horse is often regarded as the 'sister horse' to the Hackpen White Horse, both having been initially cut in 1838 to honour the coronation of Queen Victoria and were of broadly similar proportions.

Description and location

The horse is cut of chalk, is 90 feet (27 m) square, making it the only square-dimension horse in England, and faces west-northwest. [2] Although Hackpen Hill is high (600 feet (180 m)), it is a gentle slope, [2] especially when compared to the hills of most other Wiltshire horses. [1] Because the hill is gentle, the horse is partly banked up and slightly raised from the surrounding grass to make it more easily visible. [1] The head was initially elevated to help with the foreshortening. [2] The best view of the horse is said to be from the nearby B4041 road, [2] whilst the A361 road near Broad Hinton also provides a clear view. [2]

At the top of the hill is a car park where the Ridgeway crosses the B4041 road, and a footpath stretches from there down to the horse, making the horse accessible to the public. [2] Ironically, many real horses often roam the field. [3] It has been suggested that the stones for Stonehenge and Avebury may have come from a field of sarsen stones just to the south east of its location. [3] The expression "as different as chalk and cheese" is sometimes believed to refer to the land divided by Hackpen Hill. The hill forms the boundary between the high chalk downs to the south of it and the clay cattle country to the north, where cheese is a product of the milk from the cattle, so the two areas "are as different as chalk and cheese." [4] Hackpen White Horse was not the only hillside shape cut to commemorate Queen Victoria; in 1887, for her Golden Jubilee, a hillside row of trees were planted in the shape of a "V" in Westmeston, Sussex. [5]

The horse ties "neck-and-neck" with Broad Town White Horse as the closest white horse to Swindon. [6]

Scouring and recent history

Hackpen White Horse in 2007. Hackpen White Horse, near Broad Hinton - geograph.org.uk - 552493.jpg
Hackpen White Horse in 2007.

The horse is regularly scoured (cleaned and maintained). In either May or June 2000, John Wain cleaned it single-handedly, taking him some five hours. He later flew David Brewer over the area to photograph the village of Broad Hinton and the white horse for brewers's book Images of a Wiltshire Downland Village: Broad Hinton and Uffcott. [1] Wain cleaned it annually until Bevan Pope cleaned the horse single-handedly on 23 September 2004. [1] Wain cleaned the horse again with the help of a group of friends on 1 February 2011 and 4 February 2012. [1] On both occasions, they illuminated the newly cleaned horse when the work was completed. [1] Although to illuminate a white horse has been sporadic tradition for other horses in Wiltshire, those occasions marked the first times it had been done for Hackpen White Horse. [7]

In March 2009, the horse was transformed into a "red horse" for the Comic Relief charity's Red Nose Day campaign; this was achieved by covering the horse's shape with numerous red sheets and fabrics. [8] The White Horse pub, located half a mile away in Winterbourne Bassett, features an illustration resembling the horse as its logo. [9] The pub itself was named after the eight horses in Wiltshire. [9]

The horse has also featured in several artworks, including a stained glass window made by Berry Stained Glass, [10] Benoit Philppe's The Hackpen White Horse oil on canvas painting, [11] and a silver necklace created in 2015 by Devizes-based jeweller Daniel Pike. [12] In 2005, the horse appeared in episode 1 of series 6 of Top Gear , [13] and, in 2012, for a Pukka Pies sponsorship advert for ITV travel series Ade in Britain, Pukka Pies modified a photograph of the location to include a hill figure of one of their pies instead of the horse. [14]

See also

Wiltshire white horses
Other white horses

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiltshire</span> County of England

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon, and Trowbridge is the county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uffington White Horse</span> Prehistoric carving in Uffington, England

The Uffington White Horse is a prehistoric hill figure, 110 m (360 ft) long, formed from deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. The figure is situated on the upper slopes of Whitehorse Hill in the English civil parish of Uffington in Oxfordshire, some 16 km (10 mi) east of Swindon, 8 km (5.0 mi) south of the town of Faringdon and a similar distance west of the town of Wantage; or 2.5 km (1.6 mi) south of Uffington. The hill forms a part of the scarp of the Berkshire Downs and overlooks the Vale of White Horse to the north. The best views of the figure are obtained from the air, or from directly across the Vale, particularly around the villages of Great Coxwell, Longcot, and Fernham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wroughton</span> Human settlement in England

Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junctions 15 and 16. The village is about 2.2 miles (3.5 km) south of Swindon town centre on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town of Marlborough is about 11 miles (18 km) to the south, and the World Heritage Site at Avebury is about 7 miles (11 km) to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westbury White Horse</span> Hill figure in England

Westbury White Horse or Bratton White Horse is a hill figure on the escarpment of Salisbury Plain, approximately 1.5 mi (2.4 km) east of Westbury in Wiltshire, England. Located on the edge of Bratton Downs and lying just below an Iron Age hill fort, it is the oldest of several white horses carved in Wiltshire. It was restored in 1778, an action which may have obliterated another horse that had occupied the same slope. A contemporary engraving from around 1772 appears to show a horse facing in the opposite direction that was rather smaller than the present figure. There is, however, no documentation or other evidence for the existence of a chalk horse at Westbury before 1772.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad Hinton</span> Human settlement in England

Broad Hinton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlets of Uffcott and The Weir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winterbourne Bassett</span> Human settlement in England

Winterbourne Bassett is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Swindon and 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Marlborough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Wessex Downs</span> National Landscape in England

The North Wessex Downs National Landscape is located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name North Wessex Downs is not a traditional one, the area covered being better known by various overlapping local names, including the Berkshire Downs, the North Hampshire Downs, the White Horse Hills, the Lambourn Downs, the Marlborough Downs, the Vale of Pewsey and Savernake Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winterbourne Monkton</span> Human settlement in England

Winterbourne Monkton is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Avebury Stone Circle and 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Marlborough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill figure</span> Type of landscape design

A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and rubble made from material brighter than the natural bedrock is placed into them. The new material is often chalk, a soft and white form of limestone, leading to the alternative name of chalk figure for this form of art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad Town</span> Human settlement in England

Broad Town is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Royal Wootton Bassett and 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlet of Thornhill and the farming hamlet of Cotmarsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiltshire Victoria County History</span> Encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England

The Wiltshire Victoria County History, properly called The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire but commonly referred to as VCH Wiltshire, is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria. With eighteen volumes published in the series, it is now the most substantial of the Victoria County Histories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherhill White Horse</span> English geoglyph

Cherhill White Horse is a hill figure on Cherhill Down, 3.5 miles east of Calne in Wiltshire, England. Dating from the late 18th century, it is the third oldest of several such white horses in Great Britain, with only the Uffington White Horse and the Westbury White Horse being older. The figure is also sometimes called the Oldbury White Horse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlborough White Horse</span>

Marlborough White Horse, also called the Preshute White Horse, is a hill figure on Granham Hill, a fairly shallow slope of the downland above the hamlet of Preshute, southwest of Marlborough in the county of Wiltshire, England. Dating from 1804, it is one of several such white horses to be seen around Great Britain, and one of nine in Wiltshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton Barnes White Horse</span> Hill figure in Alton, United Kingdom

Alton Barnes White Horse is a chalk hill figure of a white horse located on Milk Hill some 1,000 metres north of the village of Alton, Wiltshire, England. The horse is approximately 180 feet high and 160 feet long, and was cut in 1812 under the commission of local farmer Robert Pile. Pile instructed inn sign painter John Thorne to design and cut the horse, although Thorne conned Pile by leaving with his advance sum while employing local resident John Harvey to cut the horse instead. It is based on another white horse hill figure in Wiltshire, the Cherhill White Horse, and is the second-biggest of nine white horses in Wiltshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pewsey White Horse</span> Hill figure of a white horse in England

Pewsey White Horse is a hill figure of a white horse near the village of Pewsey, Wiltshire, England. Cut of chalk in 1937, it replaces an earlier horse that had disappeared under the grass and is one of eight remaining white horses in Wiltshire. It measures 66’ by 45’, making it the smallest of the eight canonical white horses in Wiltshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devizes White Horse</span>

Devizes White Horse, officially known as the Devizes Millennium White Horse, is a chalk hill figure of a horse located on Bank Field, an escarpment at Roundway Hill, on the outskirts of the town of Devizes above the hamlet of Roundway, Wiltshire, England; it is about ½ mile north of Roundway. It was cut in 1999 to celebrate the forthcoming third millennium, and is based on a design of another white horse hill figure, which was also known as Devizes White Horse, or sometimes The Snobs Horse, which was very close to the present horse as it was also on Roundway Hill beneath the Oliver's Castle hill fort. Traces of the Snobs Horse can still be seen under the right conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad Town White Horse</span>

Broad Town White Horse is a hill figure of a white horse located in the village of Broad Town, Wiltshire, England. One of eight canonical hill figures in Wiltshire depicting a white horse, it is carved into a 45° slope above Little Town Nursery Farmhouse and is visible for 20 miles. The horse is 80 by 60 feet in size and composed of fine compacted chalk with well defined edges. Although its origin is uncertain, according to William Plenderleath, writing in 1885, it was cut in 1864 by a William Simmonds, who held the farm then. Simmonds claimed later that it had been his intention to enlarge the horse gradually over the years, but he had to give up the farm and so did not have the opportunity.

The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College is a mixed secondary school and sixth form in Wroughton, near Swindon in the English county of Wiltshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litlington White Horse</span> Hill figure near Litlington in East Sussex

The Litlington White Horse is a chalk hill figure depicting a horse, situated on Hindover Hill in the South Downs, looking over the River Cuckmere to the west of the village of Litlington and north of East Blatchington in East Sussex, England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wiltshire White Horses: The Hackpen or Broad Hinton or Winterbourne Bassett white horse
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hackpen White Horse
  3. 1 2 Walking the Wessex White Horses - Hackpen
  4. Wiltshire White Horses: Folklore and legends
  5. Artists and the South Downs - South Downs National Park Authority
  6. Leighton, Barry (25 May 2016). "Scouring for those white horses". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  7. Wiltshire White Horses: Lighting up the horses
  8. BBC - Wiltshire - Comic Relief - Hackpen White Horse goes red!
  9. 1 2 The White Horse Winterbourne Bassett nr Swindon pub-food/Sunday-Lunch/Hackpen/Dog-Friendly
  10. Berry Stained Glass : Hackpen White Horse
  11. My French Easel: The Hackpen White Horse
  12. White horse inspiration for jeweller and artist (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
  13. "Series 6, Episode 1". Top Gear. 22 May 2005.
  14. Hillfigures.co.uk - A site dedicated to information about hill figures