Beautiful valley called Vale of the White House is situated in the southeast of England, about 20 miles southwest of Oxford.
It was named after the mythical horse painting, which was carved into the chalk hills around 1st century BC. It is the oldest work of this kind in the UK.
The whole valley is dotted with small villages and farm houses. The dominant feature of the slope above Uffington is the huge prehistoric horse figure measuring 110 meters.
Pattern has given rise to many legends. Some argue that a horse is a work of the Anglo-Saxon leader Hengist, whose name translates into German as “stallion”.
Others are convinced that a work has a lot in common with Alfred the Great, who allegedly was born not far from here.
All versions of figure creation were stymied by the fact that it is much older – dating back to around 1000 BC. The authors of this and many other patterns were probably Celts.
Their favourites subjects were horses, as they treated them in high esteem. The patterns often include people, as seen in Cerne Abbas in Dorset and on the Long Man of Wilmington.
The reason for creating these patterns was a religious, perhaps also served as indicators or orientation marks.
White Horse Hill, Oxfordshire, England
Tribes marked their territories. Many of them are already overgrown with grass and are hidden somewhere underground.
However Uffington’s creation are cleaned regularly to keep it preserved for future generations. Today the cleaning is considered a kind of traditions associated with the festival and market.
Nearby are the defences of Celtic settlement from the Stone Age, the Uffington Castle. A little further you can see a Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb called Wayland’s Smithy.
It is mentioned in the legends, which Sir Walter Scott used in his historical novel “Kenilworth”. In the village of Uffington you can visit Tom Brown’s School Museum.
It is a school building from the 17th century that stores objects associated with the life and work of writer Thomas Hughes living here between 1822 – 1896. Museum exhibits also material related to the excavations on the White Horse Hill.
The most interesting prehistoric monuments in the area are intricately connected via tourist trail called The Ridgeway National Trail running along the edge of the hill, which also offers stunning views across the valley.
