Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Pagan Eye: Westbury White Horse
One of my new year resolutions this year was to visit more of England's chalk hill figures, such as a white horse, that I hadn't been to before. So on my return journey home from my holiday in Cornwall in August, I took a detour to visit the Westbury White Horse, in Wiltshire.
This is one of the county's oldest white horses. It was cut into the hill in 1778, but is thought to have been a replacement for a much older chalk figure, possibly commemorating King Alfred's victory over the Vikings. Westbury White Horse is on the hillside below Bratton Camp, which is an Iron Age hillfort that in turn encloses a much older long barrow.
As well as visiting the site at the top of the hill, I took this photograph from the road that runs below it. I like the juxtaposition of the white horse at the top of the chalk hill overlooking two real horses grazing in a field in the valley.
My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures.
If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.
Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/08/white-horses-of-england.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/07/pagan-eye-waylands-smithy-on-sunny-day.html
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/bratton-camp-and-white-horse
http://wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/westbury.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/01/my-new-year-resolutions-for-2012.html
Labels:
animals,
archaeology,
England,
history,
Pagan Eye,
photography
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