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Chalk figure

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.

Hill figures are common in England: examples include the Cerne Abbas giant, the Uffington White Horse, the Long Man of Wilmington, various badges of military units as well as the "lost" carvings at Cambridge, Oxford and Plymouth Hoe.

[edit] History

The creation of hill figures has been practised since prehistory and can include human (gigantotomy) and animal forms (cutting horses is known as "leucippotomy") as well as more abstract symbols and, in the modern era, advertising brands.

The reasons for the creation for the figures are varied and obscure. The Uffington Horse probably held religious significance, whereas the Cerne Abbas giant might have been a work of political satire.^[1] Wiltshire is a County with a large number of White Horses; 14 have been recorded [1].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. Despite some of the figures being of great age, they are at the same time relatively new. Devizes in Wiltshire created a large White Horse for the 2000 Millenium celebrations and in October 2009 celebrated this with a an aerial photo of volunteers making the figure 10 for an aerial photo[2].

The figures need to be maintained to stay visible, and local people often work to restore their local landmark on a regular basis, thereby continuing an unbroken tradition.

Similar pictures exist in other parts of the world, for example the Nazca Lines in Peru, however these were made in the desert and not on grassy hillsides, and so survive much longer without human maintanance as they do not become overgrown.

[edit] Lost figures

Since hill figures need to be maintained by the removal of regrown turf, only those which have motivated the local populace to look after them have survived. Ancient figures all have an associated fair or ceremony which involves maintaining them.

Unmaintained figures gradually fade away.^[2] 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 to be prehistoric in origin as only one figure in the UK has been shown to be of this age, the Uffington White Horse.

[edit] Some of the most significant figures

[edit] England

Alton Barnes white horse, Wiltshire (1812)^{map 1}
Broad Town white horse, Wiltshire (1864)^{map 2}
Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne, Kent (1993)^{map 3}
Bulford Kiwi, carved by New Zealand soldiers at Sling Camp in 1919^{map 4}
Cerne Abbas giant, Dorset^{map 5}
Cleadon Hills white horse, Cleadon, Tyne and Wear (before 1887)
Old Devizes white horse, or the Snobs' horse, Wiltshire (1845)
New Devizes white horse, Wiltshire (1999)^{map 6}
Cherhill White Horse, Wiltshire (1780)^{map 7}
Folkestone White Horse, Kent (2003)^{map 8}
Fovant Down badges, Wiltshire^{map 9}
Hackpen or Broad Hinton or Winterbourne Bassett white horse, Wiltshire (1838?)^{map 10}
Hindhead white horse, Surrey (before 1913, lost)
Ham Hill or Inkpen white horse, Wiltshire (1865-1877)
Kilburn White Horse, Yorkshire (1857)^{map 11}

Lenham Memorial Cross, Kent (1922)^{map 12}
Old Litlington (Alfriston) white horse, Sussex (c.1838)
New Litlington white horse, Sussex (1925)^{map 13}
Marlborough or Preshute white horse, Wiltshire (1804)^{map 14}
Osmington White Horse, Dorset (c.1808)^{map 15}
Old Pewsey White Horse, Wiltshire (1785)
New Pewsey white horse, Wiltshire (1937)^{map 16}
Rockley white horse, Wiltshire (discovered 1948, now lost)
Tan Hill white horse, Wiltshire (lost)
Uffington White Horse (Bronze Age, 1400 BC to 600 BC)^{map 17}
Westbury White Horse (in the parish of Bratton), Wiltshire (before 1742)^{map 18}
Whipsnade Zoo white lion, on the Dunstable Downs, Bedfordshire (1931)^{map 19}
The Whitehawk hawk, in Sheepcote Valley on the South Downs, east of Brighton, Sussex (2001)^{map 20}
Whiteleaf Cross, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire (earliest ref. 1742) ^{map 21}
Wye Crown, Kent^{map 22}
Long Man of Wilmington, Sussex (c. 16th century)^{map 23}

[edit] Scotland

Mormond Horse, on the south-west flank of Mormond Hill, about 10 mi (16 km) from Fraserburgh, Aberdeen.^[3]^[4]
Mormond White Stag, on the other side of the hill from the Mormond Horse. About 10 mi (16 km) from Fraserburgh, Aberdeen.^[5]

[edit] Photographic gallery

The Cerne Abbas giant	The Cherhill White Horse	The White Horse near Kilburn, North Yorkshire	Lenham Cross on the North Downs
Uffington White Horse	The Westbury White Horse	The Whipsnade Zoo lion	The Long Man of Wilmington
Wye Crown

[edit] Drawings gallery

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.

[edit] Hill figures in fiction

The Ballad of the White Horse G. K. Chesterton
Sun Horse, Moon Horse Rosemary Sutcliff
Witch Hill Marcus Sedgwick
Find the White Horse Dick King-Smith
The Wee Free Men Terry Pratchett
The Dark Is Rising Sequence Susan Cooper
Sandman Neil Gaiman
The Language of Bees Laurie R. King
The Westbury White Horse is mentioned in the novel The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, but was not featured in the film of the novel.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset
^ List of lost figures
^ Bergamar, Kate (1997). Discovering Hill Figures. Pub. Shire. ISBN 0-7478-0345-5. P. 7 - 9.
^ Plenderleath, Rev. W. C. (1892). The White Horses of the West of England. Pub. Allen & Storr, London. P. 38.
^ Bergamar, Kate (1997). Discovering Hill Figures. Pub. Shire. ISBN 0-7478-0345-5. P. 10 - 12.

[edit] Bibliography

Bergamar, Kate (1997). Discovering Hill Figures. Pub. Shire. ISBN 0-7478-0345-5.
Newman, Paul (1997). "Lost Gods of Albion: The Chalk Hill-Figures of Britain (2nd ed.)", Pub. Sutton, ISBN 0-7509-1563-3.
Plenderleath, Rev. W. C. (1892). The White Horses of the West of England. Pub. Allen & Storr, London.

[edit] Mapping

^map 1 Alton Barnes white horse, 51°22′20.81″N 001°50′53.49″W / 51.3724472°N 1.8481917°W / 51.3724472; -1.8481917 (Alton Barnes white horse)
^map 2 Broad Town white horse, 51°30′11.86″N 001°51′33.23″W / 51.5032944°N 1.8592306°W / 51.5032944; -1.8592306 (Broad Town white horse)
^map 3 Battle of Britain Memorial, 51°05′54.05″N 001°12′22.03″E / 51.0983472°N 1.2061194°E / 51.0983472; 1.2061194 (Battle of Britain Memorial)
^map 4 Bulford Kiwi, 51°11′38.84″N 001°42′54.20″W / 51.1941222°N 1.715056°W / 51.1941222; -1.715056 (Bulford Kiwi)
^map 5 Cerne Abbas giant, 50°48′49.17″N 002°28′29.09″W / 50.8136583°N 2.4747472°W / 50.8136583; -2.4747472 (Cerne Abbas giant)
^map 6 New Devizes white horse, 51°22′34.78″N 001°58′42.67″W / 51.3763278°N 1.9785194°W / 51.3763278; -1.9785194 (New Devizes white horse)
^map 7 Cherhill white horse, 51°25′30.90″N 001°55′47.36″W / 51.42525°N 1.9298222°W / 51.42525; -1.9298222 (Cherhill white horse)
^map 8 Folkestone white horse, 51°06′04.35″N 001°08′22.95″E / 51.1012083°N 1.1397083°E / 51.1012083; 1.1397083 (Folkestone white horse)
^map 9 Fovant Down badges , 51°03′14.32″N 001°58′43.94″W / 51.0539778°N 1.9788722°W / 51.0539778; -1.9788722 (Fovant Down badges)
^map 10 Hackpen white horse, 51°28′20.94″N 001°49′03.26″W / 51.4724833°N 1.8175722°W / 51.4724833; -1.8175722 (Hackpen white horse)
^map 11 Kilburn white horse, 54°13′29.26″N 001°12′45.65″W / 54.2247944°N 1.2126806°W / 54.2247944; -1.2126806 (Kilburn white horse)

^map 12 Lenham Memorial Cross, 51°14′31.99″N 000°43′44.33″E / 51.2422194°N 0.7289806°E / 51.2422194; 0.7289806 (Lenham Memorial Cross)
^map 13 New Litlington white horse, 50°47′18.38″N 000°08′31.26″E / 50.7884389°N 0.1420167°E / 50.7884389; 0.1420167 (New Litlington white horse)
^map 14 Marlborough white horse, 51°24′45.74″N 001°44′15.25″W / 51.4127056°N 1.7375694°W / 51.4127056; -1.7375694 (Marlborough white horse)
^map 15 Osmington white horse, 50°39′27.85″N 002°24′14.88″W / 50.6577361°N 2.4041333°W / 50.6577361; -2.4041333 (Osmington white horse)
^map 16 new Pewsey white horse, 51°19′16.42″N 001°45′23.34″W / 51.3212278°N 1.7564833°W / 51.3212278; -1.7564833 (new Pewsey white horse)
^map 17 Uffington white horse, 51°34′39.90″N 001°33′59.67″W / 51.57775°N 1.566575°W / 51.57775; -1.566575 (Uffington white horse)
^map 18 Westbury white horse, 51°15′48.91″N 002°08′49.07″W / 51.2635861°N 2.1469639°W / 51.2635861; -2.1469639 (Westbury white horse)
^map 19 Whipsnade Zoo white lion, 51°50′54.26″N 000°33′15.11″W / 51.8484056°N 0.5541972°W / 51.8484056; -0.5541972 (Whipsnade Zoo white lion)
^map 20 Whitehawk hawk, 50°49′16.29″N 000°05′36.14″W / 50.8211917°N 0.0933722°W / 50.8211917; -0.0933722 (Whitehawk hawk)
^map 21 Whiteleaf Cross, 51°43′43.23″N 000°48′42.48″W / 51.728675°N 0.8118°W / 51.728675; -0.8118 (Whiteleaf Cross)
^map 22 Wye Crown, 51°10′52.58″N 000°57′43.43″E / 51.1812722°N 0.9620639°E / 51.1812722; 0.9620639 (Wye Crown)
^map 23 Long Man of Wilmington, 50°48′36.31″N 000°11′16.83″E / 50.8100861°N 0.1880083°E / 50.8100861; 0.1880083 (Long Man of Wilmington)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: hill figure

[0] Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset

[1] List of lost figures

[Bergamar1-2] Bergamar, Kate (1997). Discovering Hill Figures. Pub. Shire. ISBN 0-7478-0345-5. P. 7 - 9.

[Plenderleath-3] Plenderleath, Rev. W. C. (1892). The White Horses of the West of England. Pub. Allen & Storr, London. P. 38.

[Bergamar2-4] Bergamar, Kate (1997). Discovering Hill Figures. Pub. Shire. ISBN 0-7478-0345-5. P. 10 - 12.

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