TQ5403 The Long Man of Wilmington is a mysterious geoglyph which has always given rise to contention, conjecture, and controversy. While some facts are known such as his location on Windover Hill and his height of 92 metres which makes him the tallest representation of the human form in Europe, much about him is unknown including his origin, his symbolic meaning and his intended purpose.
Although there is abundant evidence of prehistoric human activity in the nearby area to the Long Man such as flint artefacts, tumuli and ditches, it is now not generally assumed that the long Man is part of that Stone Age assemblage but rather that he probably dates to the 16th or 17th centuries. The results of archaeological investigation in 2003 by Professor Martin Bell, in conjunction with Aubrey Manning’s Open University programme Landscape Mysteries, suggested that the Long Man dates to the 16th or 17th centuries AD.
Prior to 1993, it was thought that the earliest representation of the Long Man was a drawing dated to 1776. The drawing was made by the artist William Burrell on a visit to the nearby Wilmington Priory. The Burrell drawing gave rise to the view that the staves held by the Long Man could be a scythe and a rake but the more recent discovery of an older drawing has resulted in this view being largely superseded.
In 1933, a 1710 drawing of the Long Man was discovered by the surveyor John Rowley in the Devonshire Collections at Chatsworth House. This drawing is the oldest drawing known at this time. A possible war helmet along with two hand-held staves could suggest a war-god and this, taken with the great size of the Long Man, could be viewed as a warning to incomers to tread carefully.
The fact that the Long Man is devoid of reproductive organs would suggest that he is not a fertility symbol. A scene filmed for Undress the Nation, on the 2nd July 2007, showed a stunt where the Long Man was feminised. The presenters, Trinny and Susannah, with 100 other women, dressed in white, boiler suits and then positioned themselves in such a way as to give the impression that the Long Man was a woman. Although the stunt caused no permanent damage to the Scheduled Ancient Monument, the owners, Sussex Archaeological Society, apologised for any offence caused by their actions.
On the night of the 17th June 2010, a large, painted appendage, rivalling that of the Cerne Abbas Giant, was attached to the Long Man, but depending on individual sensibilities, this was viewed as either an act of vandalism or as a humorous prank.
As seen from the air, the Long Man has an elongated shape but when viewed from ground level his proportions look realistic. Clearly, the original creators of the Long Man showed great skill in depicting a giant sized figure on the curved surface of Windover Hill. Much is not known for certain about the Long Man and, indeed, it may never be known for the creators have become part of a hinted at history which has left only the Long Man as their legacy but without the accompaniment of written records by which to interpret him. Rev A A Evans expressed it nicely when he said, “The Giant keeps his secret and from his hillside flings out a perpetual challenge.”
Andrew Diack, (BA Hons)
TQ5403 : The Long Man of WilmingtonTQ5403 : Sheep grazing near the Long Man of WilmingtonTQ5403 : Terracettes on the Long Man of Wilmington
TQ 542 036 [100m precision]