Vale of Pewsey

Today's the day ..................... for leucippotomy

In 1949, Morris Marples invented the word leucippotomy to describe the cutting of white horses into the landscape.

The figures are usually created by the cutting away of the top layer of relatively poor soil on suitable hillsides. This exposes the white chalk beneath, which contrasts well with the short green hill grass, and the image is clearly visible for a considerable distance.

There are eight white horses to be seen in Wiltshire, some of them dating back 250 years. This one is located on a steep slope of Pewsey Hill about a mile south of the village. Although it was only cut in 1937, it replaces an earlier one - which was possibly cut in 1785 .....................