White horses of Wiltshire
From Marlborough to Westbury, to Alton Barnes and Pewsey, Wiltshire is a county of white horses. It is believed there were 24 of these hillside landmarks around Britain, with 13 within this county. The majority of these chalk figures were cut in the past 300 years. Only the Uffington White Horse, located across the border in Oxfordshire, has particular historic weight. It belongs to the Bronze Age, and may have been created in honour of a goddess or local tribe. Over the years, five of Wiltshire’s white horses have disappeared into the landscape, due to lack of maintenance. Without regular scouring, to remove weeds and soil from the surface, and rechalking, the figures can become overgrown, blurred and faint. Many are now looked after by local volunteer groups, the council, or in the case of Wiltshire’s oldest horse at Westbury, the National Trust.