Not a Fool, but a Giant on the Hill...

Hill figures (or chalk figures, as they are sometimes known) are not unique to Great Britain, but are more prevalent there than anywhere else in the world.  They are large figures - usually of humans or horses - that are etched into the ground.  They are either cut from the grass, carved into chalk, or formed by digging trenches and lining them with chalk.

Perhaps the most famous (and certainly the most notorious) is the Cerne Abbas Giant (or simply Cerne Giant).  The Giant is a hill figure near the Dorset village of Cerne Abbas.  It depicts a large naked man, wielding a club.  I will say no more, as one look at the figure below will explain the notoriety!

 Cerne Giant by Duncan is licensed under CC BY 2.0 

The figure is 180' tall, and 167' wide, and is carved into the limestone hills, and lined with crushed chalk.  The age of the carving is not known, as the first mention of it only dates back to the 17th century.  It could be older, but we just don't know.

Another male figure, albeit more modest, is the Long Man of Wilmington.  Carved into Windover Hill near Wilmington, in Sussex, it was first thought to have originated during the Iron Age, but it does now seem that it is far more modern than that.  It is 227' tall.

 Long Man of Wilmington, East Sussex by Julie Mac is licensed under CC BY 2.0    

I mentioned the fact that horses are also a common subject as far as hill figures, and there are 16 such carvings in the UK.  Eight of these are in the county of Wiltshire.  Ironically, the most famous horse is to be found in Oxfordshire, in the parish of Uffington.  The 374' White Horse of Uffington is thought to be prehistoric dating from the Iron Age or late Bronze Age, and is very close to the Uffington Hillfort.

 Aerial photograph of White Horse and Uffington Hillfort by Tyler Bell is licensed under CC BY 2.0 

Another famous White Horse is to be found on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, easy of the village of Westbury.  Probably dating from the 18th century, the Westbury White Horse is a more realistic depiction than its stylized counterpart in Uffington.

Westbury White Horse by ciamabue is licensed under CC BY 2.0