The Long Man

We've been out and about in the Ashdown Forest rather a lot recently, so today I decided that Little dog needed a change of scenery for her daily perambulation. There is a range of hills a few miles to the south of my home called the South Downs (a strange name as they are all ups). They start near Winchester in Hampshire (King Alfred the Greats Capitol city of Wessex) and run eastwards for approximately 100 miles to Eastbourne where they drop abruptly into the English Channel at Beachy Head.

Wheat fields following the escarpment of the South Downs in East Sussex


We, or rather I, (Little dog doesn't get a vote) decided to pay these magnificent hills a visit as we haven't been there since the beginning of the year when it was cold and frosty. Today is a beautiful sunny day with large cumulus clouds filling the sky, so I thought that this would be a good time to pay our respects to 'The Long Man' and hopefully take some half decent photographs. After a very pleasant drive through the country lanes of East Sussex we arrived at our destination, where all hell breaks loose as Little dog desperately attempts to get out of the car and begin her walk.

The Long Man is a 70 metre tall figure cut into the chalk escarpment with both arms outstretched and holding a long stave in each hand. He is situated on the north side of Windover hill overlooking the peaceful little village of Wilmington with it's Norman church and old Benedictine priory. There is a lot of conjecture as to who carved the figure. Originally it was thought to be from the bronze age as there is a Long Barrow nearby and a few miles away on Mount Caburn stands an ancient hill fort. Another theory is that the benedictine monks may have carved it, but this is thought unlikely as the figure is naked.

The Long Man Summer and Winter


The earliest written record of this figure goes back to 1710 when it was known locally as the Green man because the outline was just an indentation in the turf of the hillside. It was renovated by the Sussex Archaeological Survey in 1874 making the figure more visible by covering the outline with yellow bricks, these were later replaced by white concrete blocks in 1969. It is thought that during the renovation work the direction of the feet were changed, because an earlier record states that they both pointed outwards giving the appearance that the giant was walking down the hill. This was later confirmed by geo-physical survey.

Wilmington viewed from Windover Hill

Across the wheat fields towards Firle Beacon

Little dog and I spent a good couple of hours walking and taking photographs around the Long Man and she was very well behaved throughout, probably because I was standing on her throat whilst attempting to take my photographs (only joking no animals were harmed in the making of this blog).
Before heading for home we enjoyed a nice cup of tea and a fight over some hob-nob biscuits together. If anybody is out and about in East Sussex, the Long man is thoroughly worth a visit and if that doesn't inspire you then there are some really quaint Pubs in the local villages all along the foot of the Downs which sell excellent ales and food (that's my bit of free advertising for the East Sussex Tourist Board and Licensed Victuallers Association).