Marlborough White Horse

General Information

National Grid Ref SU 1830 6822

The Marlborough can be found south west of Marlborough itself on the outskirts of Preshute on Granham hill. It is on a very low and gentle northfacing slope which makes viewing difficult, as does the small size of this horse 58’ by 71’. This figure suffers from foreshortening and undoubtedly the best view is then from the air. It can be seen from the A4 although badly obscured by trees, so the best ground view is from the area around the running track / tennis courts in Preshute. Parking can be had near the church and the short walk to the horse is signposted tennis courts. Here the horse can be well seen above a line of bushes and the horse can easily be visited from here. This figure is in good condition, the chalk rather greyish small pieces (1"), the legs slightly overgrown. The body is about 6’ in height and the legs about 1’ wide. The figure is fenced to keep people out and prevent damage to this figure.

History.

Like all the 19th century horses the history is well recorded, it was cut in 1804 by the pupils of Mr Gresley’s school. The design being that of William Canning, son of Thomas Canning of the Manor house in Ogbourne St. George. The construction was rather crude , the turf was removed and the space filled with lumps of chalk, the horse was scoured every year. The horse had two legs and lacked an eye and following the death of Mr Gresley in 1830 the horse was neglected until 1873 when a former pupil Captain Reed organised the repair of the horse. This must have been the time when the horse gained an eye and two more legs, the figure also became more defined and a better representation of the original horse.