Woolbury White Horse

This small horse, 27ft long, is constructed of whitewashed flints embedded in the soil. There once was a cross nearby, a few yards from the main Winchester road constructed by the same method. However this was lost in 1944.

This horse is on the southern ramparts of the Woolbury Ring , about 1 mile east of Stockbridge, just outside of the National Trust property. This figure is not very prominent in the countryside, visible only from the camp itself. The horse is well preserved in shape only a few flints being misplaced, mainly from one of the hind legs and the tail.

It is constructed of rough flints painted white. These are pushed lightly into the ground to form the shape of a horse The horse was restored and whitewashed in 1929 and subsequently the two legs were altered to form four.

Its origin is unknown, but the earliest reference to it dates from 1859, although one report says it was made before 1846.

The stories we have seen are:-

• The cross marks the spot where a farmer called Wigmore was killed, and his horse carried on to the site of the Woolbury Horse where it died and the White Horse was constructed to commemorate this.

• That it was made to commemorate the highwayman who prowled the area.

• A small white horse on the outer face of the south rampart, 27ft long and constructed of flints from the upper chalk. Local legend states that it commemorates a highwayman's horse. Hants web

The only photos I can find are  at www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/wool/wool.htm and they don't inspire me to go and get some myself.