The White Horse of Berkshire

On the western boundaries of Berkshire, among the chalk-hills which form a continuation of the Wiltshire Downs, there is a remarkable memorial of by-gone times,--the renowned White Horse of Berkshire. The colossal representation which bears this name is an excavation on the side of a steep green hill two feet deep, showing the chalk of which the hill is composed. Though rudely cut, the figure, when viewed from the vale beneath, is easily recognized as a white horse in the act of galloping. Its length is about 374 feet, and the space which it occupies is said to be nearly two acres.

The origin of this remarkable figure is involved in doubt; but, according to tradition, it was carved to commemorate the victory of King Ethelred and his brother Alfred, afterwards Alfred the Great, over the Danes at Ashdown, in the year 871. The actual site of this great battle is not known, and has been a subject of much discussion; but the strongest probability is in favor of White-Horse Hill, on the summit of which, at the height of 893 feet above the sea, is an ancient encampment, consisting of a plain of more than eight acres in extent, surrounded by a rampart and ditch.

Immediately beneath it is the stupendous engraving of the White Horse. The preservation of this time-honored memorial is due to a ceremony known as "The Scouring of the White Horse."

The inhabitants of the neighboring district assemble once every year, and scour or clean out the trench so as to renew and preserve the figure of the horse. The festival which concludes their labors forms a fete of one or two days' duration, the rustics being entertained at the expense of the landlord. A most interesting and graphic description of one of these rural gatherings, which took place in September, 1857, is given in "The Scouring of the White Horse," from the spirited pen of Mr. Thomas Hughes, the author of "Tom Brown's School-Days."

See "Book of Days."