Alton Barnes White Horse

Alton Barnes White Horse is a chalk hill figure of a white horse located on Milk Hill some 1,000 metres north of the village of Alton, Wiltshire, England. The horse is approximately 180 feet high and 160 feet long, and was cut in 1812 under the commission of local farmer Robert Pile. Pile instructed inn sign painter John Thorne to design and cut the horse, although Thorne conned Pile by leaving with his advance sum while employing local reisdent John Harvey to cut the horse instead. It is based on another white horse hill figure in Wiltshire, the Cherhill White Horse, and is the second biggest of nine white horses in Wiltshire.

One of the county's best-loved and most iconic white horses, it remains a tourist attraction and has been regularly maintained throughout time, with numerous groups or individuals scouring the horse throughout its life. More recently, the horse was illuminated by candles every Winter Solstice for over ten years, as well as in a lantern parade to celebrate the horse's 200th birthday in 2012. The horse has also been transformed into a zebra on April Fools Day on two occasions.

Alton Barnes White Horse is located on the southern, 35° slope of Milk Hill, also known locally as "Old Adam," the tallest hill in Wiltshire with a 295 metre high peak. The horse is sited on the ridge which connects Milk Hill to Walker's Hill, overlooking Pewsey Vale; the land is part of the Pewsey Down Nature Reserve. The figure is visible for 22 miles, but particularly good road views of it can be seen from the Honey Street canal bridge, the Alton Priors road, and the Lockeridge road which approaches the white horse itself. One of the furthest views of the horse on a clear day is said to be from Old Sarum near Salisbury. The horse can be reached via a footpath from a nearby parking space and from atop the hill. A fence is erected around the horse to prevent damage from wildstock and tourists. The figure is located near two Iron Age hill forts, located atop Milk Hill and the nearby Walker's Hill, and the Adam's Grave long barrow.

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