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Hill figure in England

Westbury White Horse or Bratton White Horse is a hill figure on the escarpment of Salisbury Plain, approximately 1.5 mile (2 km) east of Westbury in Wiltshire, England. Located on the edge of Bratton Downs and lying just below an Iron Age hill fort, it is the oldest of several white horses carved in Wiltshire. It was restored in 1778, an action which may have obliterated another horse that had occupied the same slope. A contemporary engraving from around 1772 appears to show a horse facing in the opposite direction that was rather smaller than the present figure. There is, however, no documentation or other evidence for the existence of a chalk horse at Westbury before 1772. The horse is 180 feet (55 m) tall and 170 feet (52 m) wide and has been adopted as a symbol for the town of Westbury, appearing on welcome signs and the logo of its tourist information centre. It is also considered a symbol for Wiltshire as a whole.

Although it is the oldest of the Wiltshire white horses, the origin of Westbury White Horse is obscure. According to local tradition, the current white horse was cut in 1778 by a Mr Gee, who overlaid a smaller, older chalk figure, believed to also have been a horse, the only surviving image of which dates to 1772, and shows a figure facing the other way with a long tail. During the 19th and early 20th Centuries the figure was periodically reshaped and repaired. Paul Newman suggests in his book Lost Gods of Albion (2009) that the horse may have been inspired by the popularity of folly buildings in the 18th century. Wiltshire folklore has it that when the nearby Bratton church clock strikes midnight, the white horse goes down to the Bridewell Springs, below the hill, to drink.

By 1872 the horse was considered to have lost its shape, by the chalk repeatedly growing over and being re cut. In 1873 it was remodelled by a committee, and at the same time substantial edging stones were added all around the perimeter, to prevent the shape from changing again. During the Second World War, the chalk of the horse was turfed over to prevent German pilots from using it for navigation. Nearby Westbury was considered to be a potential target as a railway hub. The horse was illuminated at night in 1900 and again in 1950, both times using army equipment. For the 1950 event, which used World War Two searchlights, traffic in Westbury and Bratton came almost to a standstill as drivers slowed down to look. In 1928, the horse was used as inspiration for the design of the Litlington White Horse in East Sussex, which until 1983, when it was changed from a standing position to a prancing position, was visually similar to the Westbury horse. In 1957 the horse was concreted over and painted white by Westbury Urban District Council, in an attempt to save on long term maintenance costs, as the chalk of the face was eroding and unstable, due to the steepness of the slope. and in 1995, the concrete facing from 1957 was replaced and repainted. This part of the neck had to be re whitened in 2010, leading to the horse having a whiter neck than the rest of the body. The BBC reported that the horse was to be cleaned again in 2012. Work began on 11 April 2012 and was completed on 19 April 2012. The cleaning coincided with the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Celebrating the completion of the work, again the horse was lit up with searchlights. For the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, a fire beacon was placed to the side of the road on the top of the hill leading to the car park on 3 June 2002, that resembles the millennium beacons. It is lit to mark occasions such as the 70th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May 2015. BBC News had a video in June 2018 showing the horse being cleaned with high pressure water jets by up to 18 volunteer abseilers. The cost was given as £3,000, paid for by Westbury Town Council. It stated that the previous clean was in 2016. In July 2023 the horse was cleaned, repainted and repaired again, with water used to clean off algae and dirt in a project funded by English Heritage. The cost was not made public, but the paint alone cost £25,000. It has fifteen parking spaces and information boards on the horse. In 1961 a 400 feet (122 m) chimney was built at the Blue Circle cement works about a mile and a half from the horse. The Blue Circle company was bought in 2001 by Lafarge and the chimney was last used in 2010: it was demolished on 18 September 2016. Some considered it an eyesore whilst others considered it a local icon, a debate covered by a BBC Wiltshire radio broadcast in 2011. The chimney was the most prominent feature of the view from the horse; some considered it to spoil views from the hill. The landscape of the horse was threatened in 2013 when Wiltshire Council revealed plans for a potential three lane bypass that would run within half a mile of the horse, with a business park and 550 new homes on green belt land. Some local residents, together with many from outside the town, were against the "Swindonisation" of their corner of West Wiltshire, although many residents felt that Westbury, as the only town on the A350 without a bypass and whose medieval heart was blighted by pollution and HGVs needed a bypass.

Although the horse is only presumed to commemorate King Alfred's victory at the Battle of Ethandun, an official monument to the victory was erected atop the hill, adjacent to Bratton Camp. The monument does not have an official name but is known as the Battle of Ethandun memorial. It consists of a large sarsen stone (stone of remembrance) with a pebbled base, on which lies a metal commemorative plaque. The monument was unveiled 5 November 2000 by the 7th Marquess of Bath. King Alfred's Tower, near Stourhead, is the best known monument that was definitely built to celebrate King Alfred and his victory. The folly tower was erected in 1772, six years before the white horse was redesigned.

The White Horse was referenced in G. K. Chesterton's epic poem The Ballad of the White Horse (1911) and the books The Tontine (1955) by Thomas B. Costain, The Emigrants (1980) by Caribbean author George Lamming, and in the novel The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje, as the place where the sapper Kip learned how to deactivate bombs. Michael Morpurgo mentioned it as one of the inspirations for The Butterfly Lion. The figure can be seen in the music video for Scottish guitarist Midge Ure's 1996 single "Breathe", and is featured in the current opening titles of the regional television news programme ITV News West Country. Furthermore, it featured in a 2015 Visit England tourist advertisement produced in association with the England rugby team. The horse lends its name to White Horse Business Park outside Trowbridge and White Horse Country Park outside Westbury. The horse overlooks both parks. White Horse Way is also a name of a street in Westbury, and the town's visitor centre features the horse in its logo, as does its golf club. The horse was depicted by artist Eric Ravilious (1903–1942) in his watercolour paintings "Train Landscape" and "The Westbury Horse" 1939.