- The Cherhill White Horse in 1892
- The Westbury White Horse in 1772 (top) and as re-cut in 1778 (bottom)
- The Uffington White Horse in 1885.
- Layout of the Long Man of Wilmington
- Layout of the Uffington White Horse
- Layout of the Cerne Abbas Giant
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.[ citation needed ]
Hill figures cut in grass are a phenomenon especially seen in England, where examples include the Cerne Abbas Giant, the Uffington White Horse, and the Long Man of Wilmington, as well as the "lost" carvings at Cambridge, Oxford and Plymouth Hoe. From the 18th century onwards, many further ones were added. Many figures long thought to be ancient have been found to be relatively recent when subjected to modern archaeological scrutiny, at least in their current form. Only the Uffington White Horse appears to retain a prehistoric shape, while the Cerne Abbas Giant may be prehistoric, Romano-British, or Early Modern. Nevertheless, these figures, and their possible lost companions, have been iconic in the English people's conception of their past.[ citation needed ]
In England there are at least fifty landscape figures, the majority of which are in the south. [1]
The creation of hill figures has been practised since prehistory and can include human and animal forms. Cutting of horses is common, as well as more abstract symbols and, in the modern era, advertising brands.[ citation needed ]
The reasons for the creation for the figures are varied and obscure. The Uffington Horse probably held political significance, since the figure dominates the valley below. It probably dates to the British Iron Age since coins have been found exhibiting the symbol. The Cerne Abbas Giant might have been a work of political satire likely of the Early Modern period. [2] Wiltshire is a county with a large number of White Horses; 14 have been recorded. [3] The figures are usually created by the cutting away of the top layer of relatively poor soil on suitable hillsides. This exposes the white chalk beneath, which contrasts well with the short green hill grass, and the image is clearly visible for a considerable distance. Although most of the figures are of great age, many are relatively new. Devizes in Wiltshire created a large white horse for the 2000 Millennium celebrations and in October 2009 celebrated this with an aerial photo of volunteers making the figure 10 for an aerial photo. [4]
Figures must be maintained to remain visible, and local people often work regularly to restore or maintain a local landmark, though two cuttings of military badges at Sutton Mandeville, Wiltshire, are becoming lost. A lost map of Australia at Compton Chamberlayne, Wiltshire, was restored in 2018. [5]
Similar pictures exist elsewhere in the world, notably the far larger Nazca Lines in Peru, which are on flat land but visible from hills in the area. However, these were made in desert terrain rather than on grassy hillsides, so have not become overgrown and thus have survived much longer without maintenance. The Nazca Lines were formed by removing loose stones from the lines to expose the whiteish underlying soil, which is not itself dug.[ citation needed ]
Geoglyph is the usual term for structures carved into or otherwise made from rock formations.
In 1949, Morris Marples "half-humorously" coined the words "leucippotomy for the cutting of white horses and gigantotomy for the cutting of giants on rare occasions". [6] [7] [8] Though neither word appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, the terms occasionally appear in print. [9]
Until recently, three methods were used to construct white hill figures.[ citation needed ]
The biggest threat to white horses and other hill figures is natural vegetation covering the figures. In the case of chalk figures, natural vegetation encroaches from the edges and can grow on soil washed onto the figure by rain. Water erosion can also be a problem on steep or gentle slopes, because rain can wash the chalk off the horse, or soil onto the horse. Larger horses are more susceptible to this. If chalk is washed off the horse, the horse gradually creeps down the slope; or if soil is washed onto the horse, it collects onto the lower edges and the horse gradually climbs up the slope. A solution is to provide drainage, either using run-off drains, as at Uffington White Horse, or a french ditch.[ citation needed ]
Since hill figures must be maintained by the removal of regrown turf, only those that motivate the local populace to look after them survive. Surviving ancient figures all have an associated fair or ceremony that involves maintaining them.[ citation needed ]
Unmaintained figures gradually fade away. [10] Firle Corn at Firle Beacon, Sussex could be a lost figure. Its existence is suggested by infrared photography. If it is a lost figure, its age is uncertain, and unlikely prehistoric in origin, as only one figure in the UK has been shown to be of this age, the Uffington White Horse.[ citation needed ]
While presumed to be of prehistoric origin, surviving examples may have been created only within the last four hundred years. [11] Of these giants only two survive: one near the village of Cerne Abbas, to the north of Dorchester, in Dorset and one at Wilmington, Long Man civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex. Examples located at Oxford, Cambridge, and on Plymouth Hoe can no longer be seen with the naked eye. [11] [12] [13]
The Osmington White Horse carries a rider (King George III) but is not considered an example of gigantotomy due to the name of the figure referring to the horse.[ citation needed ]
The Cerne Abbas Giant, also referred to as the "Rude Man" or the "Rude Giant", is a hill figure of a giant naked man 180 ft (55 m) high, 167 ft (51 m) wide. [2] The figure is carved into the side of a steep hill, and is best viewed from the opposite side of the valley or from the air. The carving is formed by a trench 12 in (30 cm) wide, [2] and about the same depth, which has been cut through grass and earth into the underlying chalk. In his right hand the giant holds a knobbled club 120 ft (37 m) in length. [2]
Its history cannot be traced back further than the late 17th century, making an origin during the Celtic, Roman or even Early Medieval periods difficult to prove. Above and to the right of the Giant's head is an earthwork known as the "Trendle", or "Frying Pan". Medieval writings refer to this location as "Trendle Hill", but make no mention of the giant, leading to the conclusion that it was probably only carved about 400 years ago. In contrast, the Uffington White Horse – an unquestionably prehistoric hill figure on the Berkshire Downs – was noticed and recorded by medieval authors. [2] [14] In 2021, a sediment analysis by the National Trust indicated an origin in the date range of 700 CE to 1100 CE, surprising historians who did not expect it to be medieval. [15]
In 2008, overgrowth forced a re-chalking of the giant, [16] with 17 tonnes of new chalk being poured in and tamped down by hand. [17]
The Long Man of Wilmington is located on one of the steep slopes of Windover Hill, six miles (9.7 km) northwest of Eastbourne. The figure is 227 feet (69 m) tall and designed to look in proportion when viewed from below, and is shown holding two staves. The earliest record was made by the surveyor John Rowley in the year 1710. This drawing suggests that the original figure was a shadow or indentation in the grass, rather than the solid outline of a human figure. The staves were not depicted as a rake and scythe as was once thought, and the head was a helmet shape. Sir William Borrow's drawing of 1766 shows the figure holding a rake and a scythe, both shorter than the staves. [18]
Before 1874, the Long Man's outline was only visible in certain light conditions as a different shade in the hillside grass, or after a light fall of snow. In that year an antiquarian marked out the outline with yellow bricks, later cemented together. It has been claimed that the 'restoration' process distorted the position of the feet, an assertion backed up by several who had been familiar with the figure before 1874, and also by later resistivity surveys. [19] It has also been suggested that it removed the Long Man's genitalia, though there is no historical or archaeological evidence which supports that claim. [18] [20] A wide range of dates of origin have been proposed for the Long Man, but more recent archaeological work done by the University of Reading suggests that the figure dates from the 16th or 17th century AD. [21]
Until the early 17th century large outline images of the two giants, perhaps Gog and Magog (or Goemagot and Corineus) had for a long time been cut into the turf of Plymouth Hoe exposing the white limestone beneath. [22] An early and explicit reference was made to them by Richard Carew in 1602. [23] At one time these figures were periodically re-cut and cleaned but no trace of them remains today. [22] [24]
Firle Corn in Firle, Sussex is a nearly-lost hill figure which can be seen with the aid of infrared photography. Now looking more like a small ear of corn or a strange weapon than a human figure, there is a legend suggesting that a giant called Gill was once cut on this same hill and that he was considered an adversary of the Long Man of Wilmington not far away. [25] According to one story, the giant on Firle Beacon threw his hammer at the Wilmington giant and killed him, and that the figure on the hillside marks the place where his body fell. [26]
As a publicity stunt for the opening of The Simpsons Movie on 16 July 2007, a giant Homer Simpson brandishing a doughnut was outlined in water-based biodegradable paint to the left of the Cerne Abbas Giant. This act angered local neopagans, who pledged to perform "rain magic" to wash the figure away. [27] [28]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(August 2024) |
There are 16 known white horse hill figures in the UK, or 17 including the painted one at Cleadon Hills. [29]
Name | County | Cutting date |
---|---|---|
Uffington White Horse | Oxfordshire | 1000 BC |
Westbury White Horse | Wiltshire | 1600s |
Cherhill White Horse | Wiltshire | 1780 |
Mormond White Horse | Aberdeenshire | 1790s |
Marlborough White Horse | Wiltshire | 1804 |
Osmington White Horse | Dorset | 1808 |
Alton Barnes White Horse | Wiltshire | 1812 |
Hackpen White Horse | Wiltshire | 1838 |
Woolbury White Horse | Hampshire | Before 1846 |
Kilburn White Horse | North Yorkshire | 1857 |
Broad Town White Horse | Wiltshire | 1864 |
Cleadon White Horse | South Tyneside | Before 1887 |
Litlington White Horse | East Sussex | 1924 |
Pewsey White Horse | Wiltshire | 1937 |
Devizes White Horse | Wiltshire | 1999 |
Heeley White Horse | South Yorkshire | 2000 |
Folkestone White Horse | Kent | 2003 |
Lutterworth white horses | Leicestershire | 2012 |
Beverley Racecourse white horses | East Riding | 2010s |
Black Horse of Bush Howe | Cumbria | ? (may be a natural figure) |
Name | County | Cut | Lost | Replaced by |
---|---|---|---|---|
Old Westbury White Horse | Wiltshire | 878? | Before 1778 | New Westbury White Horse |
The Giant Ghyst | Bristol | Before 1480 [30] | ||
Plymouth Hoe Gogmagog | Devon | Before 1486 [31] | Late 1660s | – |
Wandlebury Hill Gogmagog | Cambridgeshire | Before 1605 | Around 1730 | – |
Old Pewsey White Horse | Wiltshire | 1785 | 1940 | New Pewsey White Horse |
Pitstone Hill White Horse | Buckinghamshire | 1809? | Before 1990 | – |
Old Litlington White Horse | Sussex | 1838 | 1924 | New Litlington White Horse |
Old Devizes White Horse | Wiltshire | 1845 | Before 1999 | New Devizes White Horse |
Hackpen White Horse | Wiltshire | 1868? | Before 1990 | – |
Hindhead White Horse | Surrey | Before 1913 | 1939 | – |
Red Horse of Tysoe | Warwickshire | Before 1607 | Remains lost in 1964 | - |
Red Horse of Tysoe "IV" | Warwickshire | 1800 | 1910 | – |
Rockley White Horse | Wiltshire | Discovered 1948 | After 1950, before 1990 | – |
Tan Hill White Horse/Donkey | Wiltshire | Before 1975 | After 1975, before 1990 | – |
Mossley White Horse (aka Luzley White Horse) | Greater Manchester | 1981 [32] | After 1994, before 1999 | – |
Folkestone White Horse mock-up | Kent | 1999 | 1999 | Folkestone White Horse |
Laverstock Panda | Wiltshire | 1969 | 1984 | – |
Pont Abraham Tea Pot and Cup | Wales | 1992 | 2009 | – |
Name | County | Discovery date | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Whittlesford White Horse | Cambridge | 2004 | A crop mark resembling a horse discovered 2004, possibly hinting a previous horse was cut here. |
Liddington White Horse | Wiltshire | 2000s | Plans for this white horse (including designs) occurred in the 2000s, but the project never happened. |
Red Horse of Tysoe "VI" | Warwickshire | 2010s | A forthcoming recutting of the Red Horse of Tysoe at the Vale of the Red Horse. |
Name | Location | Cut | Lost |
---|---|---|---|
Bloemfontein White Horse | Bloemfontein, South Africa | Before 1932 | N/A |
Cockington Green white horse | Cockington Green, Canberra, Australia | 20th or 21st century | N/A |
Georgia white horse | Georgia, United States | 20th or 21st century | N/A |
Juárez White Horse | Ciudad Juárez, Mexico | Unknown | N/A |
Riff Country horse | Iourdanan, Morocco | Unknown | Unknown |
Spis Castle Celtic Horse | Žehra, Slovakia | 2000s | N/A |
Tunis Horses | Tunis, Tunisia | Unknown | N/A |
Waimate White [33] | Waimate, New Zealand | 1968 | N/A |
The horses in Cockington Green, Georgia and Juárez are all based on the style of or direct copies of the Uffington White Horse.[ citation needed ]
The white horses of Wiltshire, of which there are currently nine, have inspired other sculptures in the county. Julive Livsey's sculpture White Horse Pacified (1987) in Shaw, Swindon was inspired by the white horses. [35]
In 2010, Charlotte Moreton created the steel sculpture White Horse for Solstice Park, Amesbury, taking influence from white horses. [36]
The Westbury White Horse is depicted on a roundabout and mosaic in the town.[ citation needed ]
An 1872 sketch of the Cherhill White Horse was incorporated into an unofficial flag of Wiltshire.
The Town Flag of Pewsey, registered in September 2014, features the Pewsey White Horse at its centre.[ citation needed ]
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.
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.
The Kilburn White Horse is a hill figure cut into the hillside in the North York Moors National Park near Kilburn in North Yorkshire, England.
Cherhill is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) east of the town of Calne, on the A4 road towards Marlborough. The parish includes the village of Yatesbury.
A geoglyph is a large design or motif – generally longer than 4 metres (13 ft) – produced on the ground by durable elements of the landscape, such as stones, stone fragments, gravel, or earth. A positive geoglyph is formed by the arrangement and alignment of materials on the ground in a manner akin to petroforms, while a negative geoglyph is formed by removing part of the natural ground surface to create differently coloured or textured ground in a manner akin to petroglyphs.
Wandlebury Hill is a peak in the Gog Magog Hills, a ridge of low chalk hills extending for several miles to the southeast of Cambridge, England. The underlying rock is present in a number of places on the hill. At 74 metres (243 ft) it is the same height as the nearby Little Trees Hill, although the latter is a more notable landmark.
The Long Man of Wilmington or Wilmington Giant is a hill figure on the steep slopes of Windover Hill near Wilmington, East Sussex, England. It is 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Eastbourne and 1⁄3 mile (540 m) south of Wilmington. Locally, the figure was once often called the "Green Man". The Long Man is 235 feet (72 m) tall, holds two "staves", and is designed to look in proportion when viewed from below.
There are three flag designs associated with the English county of Wiltshire. Like the proposed flags of many other counties, two of the three have no official status as they were not designed by the College of Arms. One of the designs, the "Bustard Flag", was approved by a full meeting of the Wiltshire Council on 1 December 2009, as a county flag and subsequently registered with the Flag Institute.
The Bulford Kiwi is a large depiction of a kiwi, carved in the chalk on Beacon Hill above the military town of Bulford on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. It was created in 1919 by soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who were awaiting repatriation following the end of the First World War.
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.
The Folkestone White Horse is a white horse hill figure, carved into Cheriton Hill, Folkestone, Kent, South East England. It overlooks the English terminal of the Channel Tunnel and was completed in June 2003.
The Cerne Abbas Giant is a hill figure near the village of Cerne Abbas, in Dorset, England. It is currently owned by the National Trust, and listed as a scheduled monument of England. Measuring 55 metres (180 ft) in length, the hill figure depicts a bald, nude male with a prominent erection, holding his left hand out to the side and wielding a large club in his right hand. Like many other hill figures, the Cerne Giant is formed by shallow trenches cut into the turf and backfilled with chalk rubble.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Fovant Badges are a set of regimental badges cut into a chalk hill, Fovant Down, near Fovant, in south-west Wiltshire, England. They are between Salisbury and Shaftesbury on the A30 road in the Nadder valley, and are approximately 1⁄2 mile (800 m) south-east of Fovant village. They were created by soldiers garrisoned nearby, and waiting to go to France, during the First World War; the first in 1916. They are clearly visible from the A30 which runs through the village. Nine of the original twenty remain, and are scheduled ancient monuments and recognised by the Imperial War Museum as war memorials. Further badges have been added more recently.
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 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.
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.
The Litlington White Horse is a chalk hill figure depicting a horse, situated on Hindover Hill in the South Downs. It overlooks the River Cuckmere to the west of the village of Litlington and north of East Blatchington in East Sussex, England.