page_title: Pewsey White Horse
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Pewsey White Horse / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: George VI of the United Kingdom - Statue by William McMillan (1955) at Carlton House Terrace - London, England. photo by and copyright Tagishsimon - 31st May 2004
context_page_description: Pewsey White Horse is a hill figure of a white horse near the village of Pewsey, Wiltshire, England. Cut of chalk in 1937, it replaces an earlier horse that had disappeared under the grass and is one of eight remaining white horses in Wiltshire. It measures 66’ by 45’, making it the smallest of the eight canonical white horse in Wiltshire.
  When Pewsey White Horse was cut it was the seventh or eighth White Horse in Wiltshire and the first of the 20th century. It was also one of the smallest. George Marples designed the white horse commemorating the Coronation of George VI, and was inspired by other white horses in Wiltshire.
  The horse is the most well known landmark in Pewsey, and today it is maintained and scoured by the Pewsey 6X Club, who work under the name Pewsey Horse Restoration Group. Wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk consider it to be a "well-proportioned representation of the real animal." The white horse also features on the Town Flag of Pewsey, whose official registration notes describe the horse as "iconic". Barry Leighton of the Swindon Advertiser describes the horse as standing in a "care-free trotting stance."
context_section_description: A previous white horse was cut on the same hill, probably in 1785. It was cut by, or on the instructions of, Robert Pile of Manor Farm, Alton Barnes. The nearby Alton Barnes White Horse was cut 27 years later by a Robert Pile of the same address, but is unknown if this is the same man. The horse received a scouring in 1789, believed to be the first and last scouring, as the landowner objected to the festivities which had accompanied the scouring and thus refused to allow it to happen again. Thus, it fell into neglect, and by the mid-1800s was in a bad state of repair. By the mid-1930s, the chalk of the horse was no longer visible. Nonetheless, the outline of the head and body could still vaguely be seen, both as raised contours revealed by both the light of the rising sun and as a discolouration of the grass.
  As is visible from a sketch of the contours still visible in 1939, the horse may have been of fairly good proportions. A local legend says that the horse had a boy rider, but there appears to have been no visible rider in the late 1800s when the chalk was still able to be seen, so this theory has often been refuted. Had it had a rider, it would have been one of two of such horses to do so in England, alongside the 19th century Osmington White Horse near Weymouth, Dorset.
  In 1937, George Marples, an authority on hill figures, was in the area researching the horse, which at this time was barely visible, when he was approached by a committee that had just been formed to find a suitable way of commemorating the Coronation of George VI. Marples drew up three designs for a horse and, for ease of maintenance, the horse shown trotting to the left was chosen. (The former Pewsey horse also faced the left, as did all other Wiltshire white horses at the time). Each of his designs showed '1937' above the horse to record the year, as the cutting years of several other horses in Wiltshire were, and still are, unknown. Marples suggested a triangular method for marking out the horse. A sketch of this method is known to still exist.
  In April 1937 it was cut by volunteers from Pewsey Fire Brigade. Some sources suggest it was cut in late April 1937, whilst others state it was cut in the last few weeks of April 1937. The date '1937' was cut above the horse, however, it appears this number was never later scoured and thus the date is no longer visible. The horse was floodlit in coronation week and the effect was described as "very good" except for thick fog on two nights. The nearby Cherhill White Horse was also floodlit to mark the occasion. Notably, the Pewsey horse was cut 99 years after Hackpen White Horse was cut to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria, the only other horse in Wiltshire known to commemorate a coronation.
caption: The horse was cut to commemorate the Coronation of George VI
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