Alton Barnes White Horse

The Wiltshire White Horses have long been an intriguing part of English history. So much so that other places have followed suit & created white horses of their own.

There is a long list of white chalk horses, some of them are located in Wiltshire & collectively known as the Wiltshire horses, others are located in different areas of Britain (with a few outside the country altogether). Alton Barnes is one of the former and located within Wiltshire.

This one isn’t the oldest white horse & isn’t the largest, but it’s a spectacular sight nonetheless.

Alton Barnes Basics

Use the latitude & longitude coordinates to find it on Google earth yourself.

Where – This horse can be found just north of Alton Barnes, England on Milk Hill.

Size – 160 feet wide by 166 feet high.

Year Created – 1812

Latitude & Longitude – 51.222117N 1.505289W

The Story

This horse was commissioned by Mr. Robert Pile of Manor Farm who paid a local painter (John Thorne) £20 to design & begin work on the horse. John based the design on the earlier Cherhill horse, however he later ran off with the money before the work was finished. Clearly it was eventually finished, Mr. Pile simply hired a new contractor & got on with the work.

Over the years the horses profile has changed, but it’s location remains right where Thorne the Thief planned for it.

Alton Barnes received fairly regular maintenance over the years & every so often is scoured & chalked. There are also yearly candle lightings on the winter solstice when the horse it lit up at night with candles.

More Information

Here are a couple of sources for information about the Alton Barnes White Horse.

Alton Barnes White Horse
Wiltshire White Horses – Alton Barnes

More Huge White Horses

There are plenty more where that came from, this is the first in a long list of huge horses on this planet of ours. Be sure to check out the list of white horses and stay tuned for more to come.