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| Cherhill - 1780 |
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 White Horses news, views and archives brought to you by Weird Wiltshire Introduction Latest News News Archive Westbury Cherhill Marlborough Alton Barnes Hackpen Devizes Broad Town Pewsey Uffington Gallery Postcards Wallpaper Links 
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THE Cherhill Horse, or Oldbury horse as it is often known, is the second oldest of Wiltshire's horses.It is situated on the Cherhill Downs, about four miles east of Calne. It is found to be near the scene of a great battle which was fought between Egbert, King of the West Saxons and Ceolwulph King of the Mercians in 821 AD. It is situated just below Oldbury Castle, an old hill fort, and the Lansdowne monument. Known as 'Mad Doctor' he was rumoured to have shouted his instructions for the horse through a speaking trumpet, from a position in Cherhill village, one and a half miles away. A distinguishing feature of the Cherhill white horse was the animal's eye, which in the late 1800s was filled with old bottles that sparkled in the sun from a great distance. The bottles were donated by a farmer's wife, but were quickly stolen by souvenir hunters. 
Nearly 100 years later, in 1971, a new eye, (composed of 50 bottles,) was
put in place by schoolchildren, but it has now been replaced by a concrete
eye. Unlike the Westbury White Horse, the surface of the Cherhill horse
is still chalk.The horse was last refurbished by the Cherhill Parish Council in 2002, at a cost of £18,000. |
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