Hill figure

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.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/cerne-abbas-giant.htm|title=Cerne Abbas Giant|work=sacred-destinations.com|access-date=2009-03-28|archive-date=2021-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319032052/https://www.gstatic.com/prose/brandjs.js|url-status=live}} Wiltshire is a county with a large number of White Horses; 14 have been recorded.{{cite web|url=http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/index.html|title=Wiltshire White Horses|work=wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk|access-date=2009-11-05|archive-date=2009-04-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405032643/http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/index.html|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|title=Roundway Hill and covert, Oliver's castle and Millennium White Horse|url=http://www.devizesheritage.org.uk/olivers_castle_and_roundway_hill.html|website=devizeheritage.org.uk|access-date=5 July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304180203/http://www.devizesheritage.org.uk/olivers_castle_and_roundway_hill.html|archive-date=4 March 2015}}

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.{{Cite news |title=Volunteers restore Australian map to Wiltshire hillside |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-wiltshire-46060246 |access-date=2024-07-29 |language=en-GB}}

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.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

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".Morris Marples, "White horses and other hill figures", Publisher: A. Sutton, 1949 (reprint), {{ISBN|0904387593}}, 9780904387599, 223 pages, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q4aAAAAYAAJ&q=Gigantotomy+Leucippotomy page 16]John Timpson, "Timpson's Other England: A Look at the Unusual and the Definitely Odd", Publisher: Jarrold, 1994, {{ISBN|071170645X}}, 9780711706453, 224 pages, [https://books.google.com/books?id=v3KCYyLL8bEC&q=Gigantotomy+Leucippotomy. page 68] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514033612/https://books.google.com/books?id=v3KCYyLL8bEC&q=Gigantotomy+Leucippotomy. |date=2024-05-14 }}Harold William Timperley, "The Vale of Pewsey", Publisher Hale, 1954, 230 pages, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bgJIAAAAMAAJ&q=Gigantotomy+Leucippotomy. page 181] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514021634/https://books.google.com/books?id=bgJIAAAAMAAJ&q=Gigantotomy+Leucippotomy. |date=2024-05-14 }} Though neither word appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, the terms occasionally appear in print."Top 10: Britain's largest hill figures", The Telegraph, undated, attributed to Top 10 of Britain: 250 Quintessentially British Lists by Russell Ash, published by Hamlyn

Until recently, three methods were used to construct white hill figures.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

• The stripping method: where the soil is thin, the turf or soil is stripped away to expose the chalk underneath. This produces quick results but the figure needs regular maintenance, as it would soon become overgrown. This was a practice for hill figures but not as much for horses. The Laverstock Panda at Laverstock near Salisbury, Wiltshire was constructed this way in 1968 and is now lost. Traces of figures of this type are not usually found after the figure is overgrown.{{cn|date=May 2024}}
• The covering method: rocks are placed on top of the turf. This method is normally used when there is no underlying chalk, the chalk is deep or tools are not available. The maintenance for these figures is very high. There are several examples, such as the Woolbury White Horse in Hampshire. This method leaves no trace of the figure's existence when overgrown, as is the case of the lost Fovant Badges in Wiltshire.{{cn|date=May 2024}}
• The trenching method, which is by far the most common method of hill figure construction. The underlying chalk where some white horses are constructed is not near the surface, so a trench is dug and chalk from another site is used to fill it. The Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire is the prime example of this method. This method is invasive in the hillside and allows traces of the figure to be seen even when the figure has been overgrown for many years, an example being the original Devizes White Horse, cut in 1845 and lost sometime in the mid 20th century, but rediscovered when traces reappeared.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

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.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

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|date=February 2013}}

Unmaintained figures gradually fade away.{{cite web|last=Hows|first=Mark|title=Lost Figures|work=Hillfigure site|url=http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/lost/lostfig.htm|access-date=2014-01-20|archive-date=2014-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806171606/http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/lost/lostfig.htm|url-status=live}} 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|date=February 2013}}

While presumed to be of prehistoric origin, surviving examples may have been created only within the last four hundred years.Bergamar, Kate (1997). Discovering Hill Figures. Pub. Shire. {{ISBN|0-7478-0345-5}}. 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, Litlington and on Plymouth Hoe can no longer be seen with the naked eye.{{cite web|title=Prehistorical Wiltshire|url=http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/statue/1287/English/Salisbur/stoneh1.htm|website=fortunecity.com|access-date=5 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040315152542/http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/statue/1287/English/Salisbur/stoneh1.htm|archive-date=15 March 2004|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.waysideofwiltshire.co.uk/holiday-accommodation-chippenham.html|title=Wayside of Wiltshire|work=Bed & Breakfast and Self Catering Holiday Accommodation in beautiful Wiltshire|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410044604/http://www.waysideofwiltshire.co.uk/holiday-accommodation-chippenham.html|archive-date=2013-04-10}}{{cite book |last1=Castleden |first1=Rodney |title=The Wilmington Giant: The Quest for a Lost Myth |date=1983 |publisher=Turnstone Press |location=London |page=24}}

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.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

{{main|Cerne Abbas Giant}}

The Cerne Abbas Giant, also referred to as the "Rude Man" or the "Rude Giant", is a hill figure of a giant naked man {{convert|180|ft|abbr=on}} high, {{convert|167|ft|abbr=on}} wide. 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 {{convert|12|in|cm|abbr=on}} wide, 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 {{convert|120|ft|abbr=on}} in length.

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{{snd}} an unquestionably prehistoric hill figure on the Berkshire Downs{{snd}} was noticed and recorded by medieval authors.{{cite book |last=Hutchins |first=John |author-link=John Hutchins (antiquary) |others=Robert Douch (Contributor) |title=The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset |orig-year=1742 |year=1973 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=Oxford |isbn=0-87471-336-6 }} 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.{{Cite news |date=2021-05-12 |title=Cerne Giant in Dorset dates from Anglo-Saxon times, analysis suggests |language=en |url=http://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/12/cerne-giant-in-dorset-dates-from-anglo-saxon-times-analysis-suggests |access-date=2021-05-12 |archive-date=2024-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514021627/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/12/cerne-giant-in-dorset-dates-from-anglo-saxon-times-analysis-suggests |url-status=live }}

In 2008, overgrowth forced a re-chalking of the giant,{{cite news |last=BBC |author-link=BBC |title=Sheep shortage hits Giant's look |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7465329.stm |publisher=BBC |date=June 20, 2008 |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-date=2021-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211173146/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7465329.stm |url-status=live }} with 17 tonnes of new chalk being poured in and tamped down by hand.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/sep/16/heritage.ruralaffairs|title=Volunteers restore historic giant of Cerne Abbas to his former glory|last=Morris|first=Steven|date=2008-09-16|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian Newspapers|access-date=2008-09-17|archive-date=2017-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813191152/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/sep/16/heritage.ruralaffairs|url-status=live}}

File:Long Man of Wilmington.jpg seen from a distance]]

{{main|Long Man of Wilmington}}

The Long Man of Wilmington is located on one of the steep slopes of Windover Hill, {{convert|6|mi|km|spell=in}} northwest of Eastbourne. The figure is {{convert|227|ft|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.The Modern Antiquarian, Julian Cope, Thorsons 1998

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.{{cite journal |title=Shape-shifting: The changing outline of the Long Man of Wilmington |journal=Sussex Archaeological Collections |first=Rodney |last=Castleden |issue=140 |pages=83–95 |year=2002 |volume=140 |doi=10.5284/1085966 |doi-access=free}}

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.The Unknown, Issue Jan 1986 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.{{cite news |first=David |last=Derbyshire |title=Prehistoric Long Man is '16th century new boy' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1443003/Prehistoric-Long-Man-is-16th-century-new-boy.html |work=Daily Telegraph |publisher=Telegraph Media Group |date=2 October 2003 |access-date=2009-02-08 |archive-date=2012-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111061709/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1443003/Prehistoric-Long-Man-is-16th-century-new-boy.html |url-status=live }}

{{main|Plymouth Hoe}}

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.{{Cite book

| publisher = The Mint Press

| isbn = 1-903356-32-6

| last = Gray

| first = Todd

| title = Lost Devon: Creation, Change and Destruction over 500 Years

| location = Exeter, Devon

| year = 2003

|pages = 153

}} An early and explicit reference was made to them by Richard Carew in 1602.The Survey of Cornwall, text here:[http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/srvcr10.txt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929134358/http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/srvcr10.txt|date=2007-09-29}}. Note that Carew refers to Plymouth Hoe as "the Hawe at Plymmouth". At one time these figures were periodically re-cut and cleaned but no trace of them remains today.{{cite book|last=Bracken|first=C. W.|title=A History of Plymouth and her Neighbours|publisher=Underhill|location=Plymouth|year=1931|pages=4}}

{{main|Litlington White Horse#The Giant of Hindover Hill}}

The Giant of Hindover Hill is a lost chalk hill figure believed to have once accompanied the original Litlington White Horse on Hindover Hill in Litlington, East Sussex.{{cite book |last1=Castleden |first1=Rodney |title=The Wilmington Giant: The Quest for a Lost Myth |date=1983 |publisher=Turnstone Press |location=London |page=24}} References to the figure appear in the 19th century, with some historians suggesting it resembled the nearby Long Man of Wilmington.{{cite book |last1=Carr-Gomm |first1=Philip |title=The Druid Way |date=1993 |publisher=Element |location=Shaftesbury, England; Rockport, Massachusetts}} It was reportedly known alongside the Wilmington figure as "Adam and Eve," and some accounts describe it as a female giant or goddess.{{cite book |last1=Simpson |first1=Jacqueline |title=The Folklore of Sussex |date=1973 |publisher=Batsford |page=29}} By the early 20th century, mentions of the giant had largely disappeared, and by the 1920s, reports confirmed that both the horse and the figure had faded from view, with no clear evidence of their existence remaining.{{cite news |title=The "Long Man" Mystery |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001920/19230915/202/0019 |access-date=29 January 2025 |work=Worthing Herald |date=15 September 1923}}

{{main|Firle Corn}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/lost/firle.htm|title=Firle Corn|work=hows.org.uk|access-date=2012-10-22|archive-date=2012-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222033047/http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/lost/firle.htm|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/63/long_man_of_wilmington.html |title=Scraps of Folklore Collected by John Philipps Emslie, C. S. Burne, Folklore, Vol. 26, No. 2. (Jun. 30, 1915), pp. 153-170. |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-date=2012-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815010811/http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/63/long_man_of_wilmington.html |url-status=live }}

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.{{cite news|title=Wish for rain to wash away Homer|work=BBC News|date=2007-07-16|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/6901543.stm|access-date=2012-10-22|archive-date=2014-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715084303/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/6901543.stm|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=Hamblin|first1=Cory|title=Serket's Movies: Commentary and Trivia on 444 Movies|date=2009|publisher=Dorrance Publishing|isbn=9781434996053|page=327|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8074omXANY4C&pg=PA327|access-date=30 June 2015}}

• Atacama Giant

{{more citations needed section|date=August 2024}}

File:Litlington White Horse.jpg in the village of Litlington, East Sussex]]

There are 16 known white horse hill figures in the UK, or 17 including the painted one at Cleadon Hills.{{Cite web |title=Hillfigures.co.uk - A site dedicated to information about hill figures. |url=http://www.hillfigures.co.uk/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=www.hillfigures.co.uk |archive-date=2022-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813213315/http://hillfigures.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}

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|date=November 2012}}

• Near Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne, Kent (1993){{cn|date=May 2024}}
• Bulford Kiwi, Sling Camp (1919)
• Compton Chamberlayne Australia map, Wiltshire (1916)
• Fovant badges, Wiltshire (1916-)
• Lenham Cross, Kent (1922)
• Shoreham, Kent memorial cross, Kent (1920){{cn|date=May 2024}}
• Sutton Mandeville military badges, Wiltshire (1916, photographed, to be lost soon{{comment|when?}}){{cn|date=May 2024}}
• Whipsnade white lion, Bedfordshire (1931)
• Whitehawk hawk, Sussex (2001){{cn|date=May 2024}}
• Whiteleaf Cross, Monks Risborough, Buckinghamshire (earliest ref. 1742)
• Wye Crown, Kent (1902)

• Mormond White Stag, on the other side of the hill from the Mormond Horse.Bergamar, Kate (1997). Discovering Hill Figures. Pub. Shire. {{ISBN|0-7478-0345-5}}. P. 10 - 12.

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/10638539.Staying_in_the_public_eye/ |title=Staying in the public eye |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112506/http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/10638539.Staying_in_the_public_eye/ |archive-date=2015-09-24 }}

In 2010, Charlotte Moreton created the steel sculpture White Horse for Solstice Park, Amesbury, taking influence from white horses.{{cite web|title=Solstice Park Slstice|url=http://www.solsticepark.com/files/2713/9284/1982/solstice-park-sculptures-leaflet-Nov-2013.pdf|website=Solsticepark.com|access-date=August 29, 2015|archive-date=October 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024180821/http://www.solsticepark.com/files/2713/9284/1982/solstice-park-sculptures-leaflet-Nov-2013.pdf|url-status=dead}}

The Westbury White Horse is depicted on a roundabout and mosaic in the town.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

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.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

File:Cherhillwhitehorse.jpg|The Cherhill White Horse near Cherhill

File:Kilburnwhitehorse2.jpg|The Kilburn White Horse near Kilburn, North Yorkshire

File:Lenham Cross.jpg|Lenham Cross on the North Downs in Kent

File:UK Dunstable Whipsnade Zoo hill figure.jpg|Figure of a lion cut into the hillside: the Whipsnade Zoo lion near Whipsnade

File:Wye Crown.jpg|Outline of a crown cut into the hillside. Wye Crown, at Wye, Kent

File:Watlington whitemark.jpg|An offwhite triangle cut into the hillside. Watlington White Mark

File:Fovant Badges - geograph.org.uk - 1306244.jpg|Three military badges from the Fovant badges

File:Bulford Kiwi.JPG|A kiwi cut into the hillside. The Bulford Kiwi near Bulford

File:Whiteleaf Cross Aug 2005.JPG|A white cross cut into the hillside. Whiteleaf Cross

File:Osmington White Horse 2013-09-05.jpg|White horse with George III riding; Osmington White Horse near Weymouth, Dorset

File:Folkestone White Horse cropped.jpg|A stylised figure of a galloping white horse. Folkestone White Horse on Cheriton Hill, Folkestone

File:Alton Barnes White Horse - geograph.org.uk - 1744619.jpg|Alton Barnes White Horse

File:View to Mormond Hill White Horse figure - geograph.org.uk - 235788.jpg|The Mormond Hill White Horse, near Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire

File:Buchan Line, view to Mormond Hill - geograph.org.uk - 235815.jpg|The Mormond Hill White Stag, near Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire

File:Hill Figure over looking Foxholes Bottom and the A36 - geograph.org.uk - 327177.jpg|The Lamb Down Badge, near Codford, Wiltshire{{cite web|url=http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/lamb/lambdo.htm|title=Lamb Down Military Badge|publisher=hows.org.uk|access-date=2014-09-26|archive-date=2015-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110060632/http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/lamb/lambdo.htm|url-status=live}}

File:Broad Hinton White Horse, Hackpen Hill - geograph.org.uk - 415006.jpg|Hackpen White Horse

File:Pendle Hill 1612 painting.tif|Pendle Hill marked with the date 1612 on the 400th anniversary of the Witch Trials

{{Gallery

|title=Drawings of English hill figures

|File:Cherhill-white-horse-1892-plenderleath.svg|The Cherhill White Horse in 1892

|File:Edington White Horses.jpg|The Westbury White Horse in 1772 (top) and as re-cut in 1778 (bottom)

|File:Uffington-white-horse-1892.svg|The Uffington White Horse in 1885.

|File:Long Man of Wilmington.png|Layout of the Long Man of Wilmington

|File:Uffington White Horse layout.png|Layout of the Uffington White Horse

|File:Cerne-Abbas-Giant-2.svg|Layout of the Cerne Abbas Giant

}}

• The Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton
• The Scouring of the White Horse by Tom Hughes
• Sun Horse, Moon Horse by Rosemary Sutcliff
• Witch Hill by Marcus Sedgwick
• Find the White Horse by Dick King-Smith
• A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
• The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
• The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
• The Language of Bees by 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.

• Alton Barnes White Horse appears, very briefly, in the music video for Staying Out for the Summer by Dodgy.{{YouTube|eY2dcd_OtlU|Staying Out For The Summer - Dodgy}}
• Cherhill White Horse features in the music video for Doctorin' the Tardis by The Timelords.
• Uffington White Horse (in animated form) features in the music video for Sonnet by The Verve.
• Westbury White Horse features in the music video for Breathe by Midge Ure, alongside a temporary figure of the sun.

• Anglo-Saxon paganism
• English folklore
• Gog Magog Hills, an unverified claim of geoglyphs
• Hillside letters, a similar type of geoglyph common in the Western U.S., but using letters instead of figures
• Nazca Lines, geoglyphs etched into the Nazca Plain
• White horse (mythology)

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Newman |first=Paul |year=1997 |title=Lost Gods of Albion: The Chalk Hill-Figures of Britain |edition=2nd |publisher=Sutton |location=Stroud |isbn=0-7509-1563-3 }}
• {{cite book |author-link=William Plenderleath |last=Plenderleath |first=W C |year=1892 |title=The White Horses of the West of England |edition=2nd |publisher=Allen & Storr |location=London |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/t7dr6d402&view=2up&seq=4 }}

{{Commons|hill figure}}

• [http://www.lastrefuge.co.uk/images/html/aerials_UK_historical_sites/hill_figures/ Images of some UK Hill Figures]

{{Hill figure}}

{{Prehistoric technology}}

Category:Types of monuments and memorials

Category:Archaeology of the United Kingdom

Category:Public art

Category:Chalk