Pewsey White Horse

About

Pewsey White Horse is a hill figure of a white horse near the village of Pewsey, Wiltshire, England. Cut into the chalk in 1937, it replaces an earlier horse that had disappeared under the grass and is one of eight remaining white horses in Wiltshire. Measuring 66 feet (20 m) by 45 feet (14 m), it is the smallest of the eight canonical white horses in Wiltshire. When it was cut, Pewsey White Horse was either the seventh or eighth white horse in Wiltshire, depending on whether the Rockley White Horse was included (it was unknown until 1948), and was the first of the 20th century. It was also one of the smallest. George Marples, the father of Morris Marples, who later wrote about the white horse, designed it to commemorate the coronation of George VI, inspired by other white horses in Wiltshire. The horse is a prominent landmark in Pewsey, and today it is maintained and scoured by the Pewsey 6X Club, who work under the name Pewsey Horse Restoration Group. Wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk consider it to be a "well-proportioned representation of the real animal." The white horse also features on the town flag of Pewsey, whose registration notes describe the horse as "iconic". Barry Leighton of the Swindon Advertiser describes the horse as standing in a "care-free trotting stance." The Gazette and Herald have referred to the horse as "one of Pewsey's proudest monuments."

Coordinates

51.3212, -1.7566

Address

Pewsey, Wiltshire, England

Established

1937

Sources

• wikipedia: Pewsey White Horse (CC BY-SA 4.0)