Westbury White Horse

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Westbury White Horse
From Westbury Hill

The Westbury White Horse is a scratch pattern on a hill about 2 km east of the town of Westbury (Wiltshire) near Salisbury Plain in England. It is the oldest of several white horses in Wiltshire , but not the oldest scratch pattern in England.

It was created in 1778, presumably directly on a much older horse portrait from the 9th century, which, according to tradition, was created to commemorate Alfred the Great's victory over the Danes in 878. A contemporary engraving from 1760 shows a horse facing in the opposite direction. But it should have been much smaller than the current shape.

The portrait fell victim to vandalism in the 1950s. At that time it was repaired inadequately, and a general refurbishment took place only in spring 2007.

Web links

Commons : Westbury White Horse  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 49 "  N , 2 ° 8 ′ 49"  W.