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Wiltshire's White Horses |
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Measuring 180 feet (55 metres) high by 165 feet (50 metres) long with an eye of 12 feet (3.7 meters) circumference, this horse is reputed to be a copy of the one at Cherhill. Robert Pile of Manor Farm, Alton Barnes paid for its creation in 1812 so that his village might be on an equal footing with Cherhill and Marlborough. John Thorn, a jouneyman painter, produced a drawing of how the finished horse should look on the
side of the hill, set men to work, then made away with the twenty sovereigns he had been paid to get the job done. So Robert Pile ended up cutting it himself. The horse stands on the southern slopes of
the ridge between Walker's Hill and Milk Hill and is visible from Old Sarum. The area round the horse is rich in archaeological remains and is close to Knapp Hill settlem
Henry Eatwell, the parish clerk, carved the horse in 1838 with the assistance of Robert Witt, a local publican. Of all the 19th century
white horses, this is the only one that is supposed to commemorate an ev
On the rise above Littleton Farm, on the upland ridge that connects Compton Bassett with Wroughton
, is a horse that is trotting into obscurity and may soon be lost. This is the county's most northerly white horse and is credited to William Simmonds, a
The horse is 131 feet long (40 metres) and is said to be visible for 30 miles (48 Km). It once had an eye filled with glass bottles to reflect the sun.
To the south-east of the white horse, on top of Cherhill Down is the Lansdowne Monument. Erected in 1845 by the 3rd Marquis of Lansdowne to commemorate his ancestor Sir William Petty. It towers 125 feet (38 metres) above the hill and can also be seen 30 miles (48 Km) away. The hill now belongs to the National Trust. It is said that t
Near where the A4 meets the A345, south-west of the town on Granham Hill is this small white horse measuring 61 feet (19 metres) long by 47 feet (14 metres) high. It was cut in 1804 but fell into neglect, then recut and altered in 1873 but retained its oddly shaped head and short tail. The horse is mentioned in the Marlborough College end-of-term song, but the work was in fact done by the boys of another school in the town. William Canning of the Manor House, Ogbourne St George, a pupil at Mr Greasley's school originally designed and pegged out the white horse, who then prev
Robert Pile, who was responsible for the Alton Barnes white horse also produced this one about 1785. It is cut into the western slope of Pewsey Hill, looking over the Vale. The first horse, reputedly with a rider was almost entirely lost from view. It was superseded in 1937 by the most detailed and beautifully proportioned horse in the county, designed by George Marples and cut by members of the Pewsey Fire Brigade. The horse was commissioned by the village committee organizing celebrations for the coronation of
King George VI. It is close to the site of the original, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the town at a steep incline in the minor road to Everl
Westbury White Horse fron the Bratton Road
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