Pewsey White
Horse
Pewsey, Wiltshire
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Featured Location Guide |
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This NNW facing horse, is the smallest of the Wiltshire
white horses at 66 feet long, but larger than the earlier one nearby which was
43 feet long. It can be seen from many places along the A345 near Pewsey, but
when coming into the area from the south or south west it is the larger and more
prominent Alton Barnes horse that you generally see. This horse is on Pewsey Hill about a mile south of Pewsey, to
the east of the minor road that leads from the A345 on the edge of Pewsey to the
village of Everleigh. It is a little above and a little to the left of the site
of the old horse.
The horse faces left, and is a well-proportioned
representation of the real horse. It is on a good slope, and looks out across
Pewsey Vale towards the Alton Barnes horse. Some say you can also see the
Devizes horse from the Pewsey vale at the same time as the Pewsey one, but we
did not spot it, although we were able to see the Alton Barnes one.
George Marples, an authority on hill carvings, was researching
the old white horse in 1937, when a local committee was looking for a way to
commemorate the Coronation of George VI. Mr Marples was asked for ideas on
the design of a new white horse to solve this. He produced three drawings,
each with the year 1937 above the horse, and one of these was selected.
Mr Marples devised a triangulation method for the marking out
of the horse, his original design and method can be
seen by clicking here.
It was cut by volunteers from Pewsey Fire Brigade in
April 1937, which included the year as well as the horse. The horse is
well-maintained today, but the year has been allowed to grow over, and no longer
visible.
The Old Horse
The horse was cut by, or on the instructions of, a Robert Pile
of Manor Farm, Alton Barnes, thought to be around 1785. The Alton Barnes white
horse was cut some twenty-five or thirty years later by a Robert Pile of the
same address, either the same man or his son. The Pewsey horse was scoured in
1789, and this was probably the first and last scouring, as the landowner
objected to the festivities which accompanied it and refused to allow it again.
We can only wonder what went on.
By the mid 1800s it was in a poor state , and by the
1930's, the chalk was no longer visible, but the outline of the head
and body could just be made out, both as raised contours revealed by the light
of the newly risen sun and as a discolouration of the grass.
From a sketch of the contours still visible in 1939, the horse
may have been of fairly good proportions, and it faced left as most Wiltshire
White Horses do. Some say the horse had a boy rider, but there was no
visible rider in the late 1800s when the chalk was still visible.
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Planning Grid
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Location: |
Pewsey White Horse, Pewsey, Wiltshire |
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Grid Reference: |
SU170580 |
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Getting there: |
Found to the east of the minor
road that leads from the A345 on the edge of Pewsey to the village of
Everleigh. |
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Access: |
The Figure can be visited from the top of
Pewsey Hill where there are footpaths leading to the horse and places where
a car may be parked although not designated parking places. |
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Parking: |
Roadside |
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Facilities: |
None |
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Things To Do,
See and Photograph: |
White horse. |
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What to take: |
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Nature highlights: |
Country location |
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Address: |
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Postcode: |
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Telephone: |
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Opening times: |
Open all the time |
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Charges: |
None |
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Photo Restrictions: |
None |
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Other Restrictions: |
None |
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Special Needs Access: |
None, but can be seen from road |
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Special Needs Facilities: |
None |
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Children Facilities: |
Not the best horse to visit with children, its
smaller and not as interesting. |
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Dogs Allowed: |
No known restrictions. |
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Please let us know any other information that we
can add to the Further information and Planning Grids or page and any errors that you discover. Before making a long trip to any location it is always
wise to double check the current information, websites like magazines may be
correct at the time the information is written, but things change and it is of
course impossible to double check all entries on a regular basis. If you have
any good photographs that you feel would improve the illustration of this page
then please let us have copies. In referring to this page it is helpful if you
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