White Horse

The Uffington White Horse was created sometime between 1380 and 550 BC, during the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age. It is not the only white hill figure in Britain, but it is by far the oldest and is of an entirely different design from the others inspired by it. It is 110 m (360 ft) long and was formed by the digging of deep, curved trenches into the chalk hillside and then filling the trenches with white chalk rubble.

It has long been debated whether the chalk figure was intended to represent a horse or some other animal, such as a dog or a sabre-toothed cat. However, it has been called a horse since at least the 11th century, when referenced in Medieval Welsh literature. The Llyfr Coch Hergest (Red Book of Hergest, 1375–1425) states that:

"Near to the town of Abinton there is a mountain with a figure of a stallion upon it, and it is white. Nothing grows upon it."

Several theories abound as to the 3000-year-old horse’s origins and purpose. Some suggest that it was created during the Anglo-Saxon era, either by King Alfred to celebrate his victory over the Danes in 871 or by Hengist, the Saxon king, whose emblem was a white horse. It is possible the horse is represents a tribal symbol, as it is similar to horses depicted on Celtic coinage, the currency of the pre-Roman-British population. Another theory points to the horse's alignment with the sun, particularly in midwinter when the sun appears to overtake the horse, to indicate that it was created as a depiction of a "solar horse", reflecting mythological beliefs that the sun was carried across the sky on a horse or in a chariot.

Sources:

https://www.discoveringbritain.org

https://www.atlasobscura.com

https://www.hows.org.uk

www.Wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk