Broad Town History
History and memories of our community
Comparing the horse's outline with historical sketches and photographs we can see the horse appearing to 'lose' and then 'gain' weight with the passage of time. The below timeline demonstrates this yo-yoing of the horse's waist circumference with gravitational force followed by scouring or restoration work thought to be the likely reason for the changes in outline.
Late 1930's
Chronological Development
Report Figure 3:Page 5
1947
Source: Historic England Archive Topographic Report Figure 18:
Page 15
1960-late 1980's
Source: Historic England Archive
Chronological Development Report Figure 7: Page 8
2025
Topographic Report
Figure 15: Page 10
Garry Gibbon observes that “Both neck and body have continued thinning, evidently as the top edges of the hill figure continue their downward creep leaving the original line as a shadow on the slope above the head, neck, body and tail.”
Source: Historic England Archive
Superimposing the Marples sketch (highlighted in yellow) on the 1947 photo indicates that the Marples outline matches with the original line
shadow on the slope above the head, neck, body and tail
Donald Horne superimposed the 2025 current outline (highlighted in yellow) illustrating the horse “to be generally more slender, with a straight inside front leg, the existence of a wider tail and an ear as well as a much more slender face”.
The above photograph depicts the horse in 1968. A letter sent from Mr Clewley to the Broad Town White Horse Restoration Group explains how the horse looked in the early 1980’s “Our inspection showed that some of the body could be seen but most of the legs, head and tail had eroded in and could not be seen at all"
An early 1980's impression
Garry Gibbon's explanation for the 1947 shadow on the slope above the head, neck, body and tail suggests it is a miracle to see so much of the basic shape relatively intact e.g. the horse as we see it today is pretty much in line with the shadow on the slope above the 1947 head, neck and body.
Source: Historic England Archive
Historic sources of measurement do exist, however, quite often the origin and creation date are unknown and there is no exact definition of length and height to make accurate comparison. That said, it is interesting to note the following similarities in these measurements.
41.7ft
16.1ft
56.4ft
82.2ft
20ft
Donald Horne's analysis, Figure 17 top:page 13
Note height is base of hoof to top of head
57ft
23ft
90ft
25ft
Pattie Lawler photograph of the Simmonds plan including the sketch with measurements in feet (also provided by Mrs Maull)
Marples states "In size it is 78 feet long by 57 feet high approximately". Length and height are not qualified. Body & head measurements have been calculated based on square = 16.5ft
21.5ft
2025
Orthographic outline of Broad Town White Horse
Click to see
2025
Perpendicular outline of Broad Town White Horse
41.7ft
18ft
62.6ft
82.9ft
21.3ft
Donald Horne's analysis, Figure 17 bottom:page 14. Note height is base of hoof to top of head
Click to see
Late 1930's
Marples
49.5ft
57ft
78ft
Date
Height
see the
comment
for explicit
definition
​
Extreme length tip of nose to tip of tail
Head length nose to top of head
Comment
Right click on the thumbnail and select more tools to magnify the image.
Simmonds plan
Unknown
Calculated based on each full square on the plan equating to one rod, ie. 16.5 feet or 5.5 yards
1892
Plenderleath
61ft
Note Plenderleath states "It measures 86 feet in extreme length by 61 feet in height" length or height are not qualified
86ft
Unknown
Simmonds/Maull
80ft
46ft
36ft
Source
Body length chest to rump
Body height bottom of stomach to top of back
Curiously we know that Plenderleath stated that the “maker proposed to enlarge the horse by degrees” and we also know that both the Hacker’s audio recordings note that their father’s side of the family created the Hackpen horse (according to Plenderleath in 1835 by Henry Eatwell).​​​
