White Horse - Uffington

From: Equestrian and Horse
See Also: Folkestone White Horse | Cherhill White Horse

The White Horse In Uffington
The Ufington White Horse is one of Britain's oldest and most famous hill figures, which occurs on the upper slopes of White Horse Hill, Uffington in England.

The Uffington White Horse shows a large visual representation of a horse that has been created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying chalk.

The art of carving white horses in chalk upland areas is also known as Leucippotomy.

Date Made - The Uffington White Horse is thought to date as far back as 3,000 years, to the Bronze Age.

Restoration -A process called scouring takes place, scouring strips off all the weeds and then new chalk is often also added.

Regular scouring of the White Horse is essential to maintain the shape and definition of the hill figure, when the regular cleaning is halted the figure quickly becomes obscured and so frequent cleaning is necessary to ensure that the White Horse remains visible.

Size - The White Horse is 374 feet in length and 110 feet in height.

Making Of The Uffington White Horse - The White Horse was created by stripping away the turf to expose the chalk hillside beneath and therefore creating the image that can still be seen today.

Why The Uffington White Horse Was Created
It is all a bit of a mystery as there is no evidence to say exactly why the Uffington Horse was actually created. Some believe that it was created as a sign for the Gods due to the fact that it is only fully visible from the air.

Location - The hill forms a part of the scarp of the Berkshire Downs and overlooks to Vale of White Horse to the north.