Alton Barnes White Horse

Alton Barnes White Horse was cut in 1812 on the instructions of one Robert Pile or Pyle, a tenant of Manor Farm, in the village of Alton Barnes. This may be the same Robert Pile who cut the original version of the nearby Pewsey White Horse in 1785, or perhaps his son, given that the Alton Barnes horse was created 27 years later. Selecting the southern slope of Milk Hill for the horse, Pile contacted a journeyman inn sign painter, John Thorne, also known as Jack the Painter, to design and cut the horse, and paid him an advance sum of £20. Pile and Thorne agreed that the white horse would be excavated to a depth of 1 foot and subsequently packed with chalk rubble. Thorne provided Pile with a…

Alton Barnes White Horse is located on the southern, 35° slope of Milk Hill, also known locally as "Old Adam," the tallest hill in Wiltshire with a 295 metre high peak. The horse is sited on the ridge which connects Milk Hill to Walker's Hill, overlooking Pewsey Vale; the land is part of the Pewsey Down Nature Reserve. and the Adam's Grave long barrow. The chalk horse is 166 feet (51 metres) tall and 160 feet (49 metres) wide, and, to prevent foreshortening, is disproportionately tall. It is based on and is said to resemble the nearby Cherhill White Horse, although the Alton Barnes horse is slightly larger. It is possible the horse was bigger in the past, as Revd E.H.M. Sladen, measuring…