Whitehorse Hill
The White Horse seen from ground
Elevation:	261 m (856 ft)
Location:	Oxfordshire, England
Prominence:	79 m
Topo map:	OS Landranger 174
OS grid reference:	SU302866
Listing:	County Top

As seen from an altitude of 2000 feet, from the cockpit of a glider

The Uffington White Horse is a highly stylised hillfigure, 374 feet (110m) long, cut out of the turf on the upper slopes of Uffington Castle, an Iron Age hill fort near The Ridgeway, in southern England. It is located some five miles (eight kilometres) west of the town of Wantage. Locally, the hill upon which the figure is drawn is called White Horse Hill and the hills immediately surrounding it, the White Horse Hills. Uffington White Horse seen from a lower point, looking towards the Uffington Castle (since iron age), 2004-04-24. ... A topographical summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. ... The metre, or meter, is a measure of length. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a meter. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in south-east England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ... Example of a topographic map with contour lines Topographic maps, also called contour maps, topo maps or topo quads (for quadrangles), are maps that show topography, or land contours, by means of contour lines. ... Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Peak bagging (also hill bagging, mountain bagging, or among enthusiasts, just bagging) is a popular activity for hillwalkers and mountaineers in which they attempt to reach the summit of each peak in a region above some height, or having a particular feature. ... This is a list of metropolitan counties, non-metropolitan counties and unitary authorities of England by their highest point. ... ImageMetadata File history File links White_horse_from_air. ... ImageMetadata File history File links White_horse_from_air. ... Gliders are heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight. ... A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. ... Uffington Castle is all that remains of an early iron Age hill fort in Oxfordshire, England. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... The Ridgeway For other meanings see Ridgeway. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... Wantage is a small town in the Thames Valley, southern England. ...

History of the figure

The figure is believed to date back some 3,000 years to the Bronze Age. This is based on optically stimulated luminescence dating carried out following archaeological investigations in 1994 which produced three dates ranging between 1400 and 600 BC. Numerous other prominent prehistoric sites are located nearby, notably Wayland's Smithy, a long barrow less than two kilometres to the west. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Optically Stimulated Luminescence or OSL Dating is a method of establishing the age of soil sediments. ... Waylands Smithy is a Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb site located near the Uffington White Horse and Uffington Castle in the English county of Oxfordshire. ... A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the Neolithic period. ...

The cutting exposes the underlying chalk making the horse a striking figure. Up until the late 19th century the horse was scoured every seven years as part of a more general local fair held on the hill. However, when the regular cleaning was halted the figure quickly became obscured. It now needs frequent work by English Heritage for the figure to remain visible. Best views of the horse are obtained from the north, particularly from around the village of Great Coxwell. The Needles, part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation For other uses, see Chalk (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 nugget For other uses, see Horse (disambiguation). ... A fair is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. ... English Heritage is a United Kingdom government body with a broad remit of managing the historic environment of England. ...

Layout of the Uffington White Horse as seen from above

The horse is thought to represent a tribal symbol perhaps connected with the builders of Uffington Castle. A more modern theory suggests that the stylised horse figure acted as a sign to people passing on The Ridgeway advertising horses being sold or catered for at the hillfort. It is quite similar to horses depicted on pre-Roman British coinage and the Marlborough bucket. For centuries, however, local people have maintained that it is a portrait of the dragon slain by Saint George on the nearby Dragon Hill. Image File history File links Layout of the Uffington White Horse as seen from above File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Layout of the Uffington White Horse as seen from above File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Uffington Castle is all that remains of an early iron Age hill fort in Oxfordshire, England. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 nugget For other uses, see Horse (disambiguation). ... The Ridgeway For other meanings see Ridgeway. ... Chinese dragon, colour engraving on wood, Chinese school, 19th Century A dragon is a legendary creature, typically depicted as a large and powerful serpent or other reptile, with magical or spiritual qualities. ... Saint-George is a municipality with 695 inhabitants (as of 2003) in the district of Aubonne in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. ... Dragon Hill is located very near the Uffington White Horse. ...

The Blowing stone, a perforated sarsen stone in a garden 2km away and which produces a note when blown through is thought to have possibly been moved from the White Horse site in 1750. Sarsen stones are sandstone blocks found on Salisbury Plain and elsewhere. ...

In August 2002 the figure was defaced with the addition of a rider and three dogs by members of the "Real Countryside Alliance" (Real CA). The act was denounced by the Countryside Alliance.[1] Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris (Linnaeus, 1758) This article is about the domestic dog. ... The Countryside Alliance strongly opposes House of Commons plans to ban fox hunting. ...

Map sources for the Uffington White Horse at grid reference SU302866

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 189 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 189 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ...

The Uffington Horse in popular culture

• G.K. Chesterton's poem The Ballad of the White Horse proposes a Christian interpretion to the continual scouring needed to maintain the impression in the chalk over the intervening millennia.
• Richard Doyle, a cartoonist and illustrator of Punch satirical magazine fame illustrated the 1859 book The Scouring of the White Horse; or, The Long Vacation Ramble of a London Clerk. by the Author of Tom Brown's School Days Thomas Hughes'. The book mentions both the horse and the blowing stone.
• The design of the Uffington Horse was used as the album cover of the 1982 album English Settlement by English rock group XTC, who come from the nearby town of Swindon.
• The White Horse appears in the top right hand corner of the back of the Nirvana CD In Utero.
• It also featured in the 1992 Vincent Ward-directed movie Map of the Human Heart.
• It appears as a hill figure and as a silver necklace worn by Tiffany Aching in two of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky.
• The Uffington Horse is the symbol of Wessex Hall at the University of Reading, adopted in 1920 and still in use today.

For the town of Chesterton in Cambridgeshire, see Chesterton (Cambridge). ... There are two notable Richard Doyles: Richard Doyle (illustrator) Richard Doyle (rights advocate) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ... A statue of Thomas Hughes at Rugby School For the recipient of the Victoria Cross see Thomas Hughes, VC Thomas Hughes (October 20, 1822 – March 22, 1896) was an English lawyer and author. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... English Settlement was a 1982 effort by the British rock band XTC. Track listing Runaways Ball and Chain Senses Working Overtime Jason and the Argonauts No Thugs in Our House Yacht Dance All of a Sudden (Its Too Late) Melt the Guns Leisure Its Nearly Africa Knuckle Down... XTC is an influential pop rock band from Swindon, England. ... Swindon is a large town located in the South West of England, in the county of Wiltshire. ... Nirvana was a popular American rock band from Aberdeen, Washington. ... In Utero is the third and final studio album from the American grunge band, Nirvana. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Vincent Ward (born Greytown, New Zealand, in 1956) is a film director and screenwriter. ... Map of the Human Heart is the title of a 1993 film by New Zealand director Vincent Ward. ... A major subset of the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett involve the witches of Lancre. ... Terence David John Pratchett OBE is an English fantasy author (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England), best known for his Discworld series. ... Cover art of The Colour of Magic by Josh Kirby The Discworld is a series of thirty-four satirical fantasy novels and a number of shorter works by Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld. ... The Wee Free Men is the 30th novel in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series, and the second Discworld book for younger readers. ... A Hat Full of Sky (ISBN 0-385-60736-9) is a novel written by Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, written with younger readers in mind. ... Wessex Hall is one of the 13 Halls of the University of Reading in Berkshire, England. ... The University of Reading (pronounced Redding) is a university in the English town of Reading. ...

See also

• Vale of White Horse
• Chalk figures in the United Kingdom
• Wayland's Smithy
• Dragon Hill, Uffington
• Blowingstone Hill

The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. ... Numerous chalk figures have been carved into hillsides in the United Kingdom, including :- Alton Barnes white horse, Wiltshire (1812) Broad Town white horse, Wiltshire (1864) Cerne Abbas giant, Dorset (popularly believed to be ancient, but recently dated to c. ... Waylands Smithy is a Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb site located near the Uffington White Horse and Uffington Castle in the English county of Oxfordshire. ... Dragon Hill is located very near the Uffington White Horse. ...

External links

• Uffington Whitehorse and Dragon Hill
• Aerial photos and information
• Wiltshire & Oxfordshire chalk horses

Source

Dyer, J, Discovering Prehistoric England, Shire, 2001, ISBN 9780747805076

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White Horse Hill