Cherhill, the Avata and the Bronze Age

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I visited Cherhill in October last year, a couple of days after picking up my Avata. With the box trailer, Big Meet and the Avebury video out the way, I have only now gotten around to editing this video.

Cherhill has over 3,000 years of history. It’s about about 2 mile to the west of Avebury, located in Wiltshire. I enjoyed the 1 hour walk up the hill, gaining just over 100 m (330 ft) elevation.

At the top, I spend time at Cherhill White Horse, Oldbury Castle and the Lansdowne Monument.

Note: links to each site on Drone Scene above.

LiDAR DTM model of the site …

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Further reading

Cherhill White Horse, the second oldest of Wiltshire’s iconic carved horse figures. The horse is a lovely destination for a countryside walk with splendid views over the pretty Wiltshire countryside! The Cherhill White Horse (sometimes called the Oldbury White Horse) is one of eight remaining White Horses in Wiltshire. Historically, there have been 13 chalk White Horses in Wiltshire, but now only eight remain. These eye-catching figures were made by cutting away the turf from grassy hillsides to expose the stark white chalk underneath, creating a precisely defined figure visible for miles around. This is a traditional English phenomenon, with white chalk figures (including horses and people) decorating hillsides across England – some dating back as far as 1000 BC. The White Horse here at Cherhill is the second oldest of the horse figures in Wiltshire. Cut in 1780, it was possibly inspired by Wiltshire’s oldest White Horse at Westbury. In turn, the Cherhill Horse inspired the design of the Alton Barnes White Horse. Today, the Cherhill White Horse is maintained by a group of volunteers who weed and re-chalk the figure every couple of years.

Oldbury Castle sits atop of Cherhill. It is multivallate hillfort, originally constructed in the Bronze Age in the form of a hill top enclosure consisting of a bank and ditch which surrounded an area of 6ha. In the Iron Age the defences were enlarged and deepened on the north west and east sides and extended to the south to enclose a further 2ha. It sits within open chalk downs.

The Lansdowne Monument is a slender stone obelisk built in 1845 by the 3rd Marquis of Lansdowne, the owner of Bowood House, in memory of his ancestor, Sir William Petty. It also served as a focal point or ‘eye-catcher’ on the edge of the Marquis’ Bowood Estate.

Hope you enjoy it :+1:

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Brilliant, just sat down from dinner and doing the pots, what a welcome surprise. Running out of superlatives now Chris @clinkadink, but brilliant yet again, loved it :clap: :clap: :clap: :heart:

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Thanks Andy @Onanist, definitely goes well with cleaning the dishes :laughing:

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Spot on that Chris, as always, love the scenery out that way, well done :clap:t2:

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So much to see and learn - thanks. Lots of effort with your climb and putting your video/film together, did you have lots of cuttings left in your computer? :grinning:

Thanks Chris - enjoyable.

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Thanks Rich. Let us know if you out that way, loads of great sites around :+1:

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Thanks Barrie. Yes, that climb took it out of me! I was knackered anyway, but having to narrate at the same time - ouch! :rofl:

Yes, quite a bit left, but that’s normally the way.

Glad you enjoyed it mate :+1:

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Yes I will do & the sooner the better, but, I think there’s still flight restrictions in place otherwise I’d go sooner rather than later, ( due to RIAT I think ) was going to go but changed my mind, as I’m in gloucestershire next wkd for brothers wedding :roll_eyes:

As soon as the flight restrictions are gone, we’ll hook up out there if you want ? I will grab us a nice meal if your up for it Chris, would love to go for a wonder around there.

Edit, yes it’s still in the red

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Tell me about it. Since last Thursday 6 July till next Monday 17 July. I’m going stir crazy!

The Red Lion in Avebury does good food and a great pint :wink:

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That’ll do nicely Chris, I’ll have a pint of coke, you can have a pint of vodka !
I might even push the boat out & have a pint of shandy :smiley:

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Nice one Chris!

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@clinkadink Another hugely entertaining and educational production Chris. Making full use of all the kit there. :heart: Great save on the commentary gaffs using captions and I loved the mix of drone footage… fast and slow. :clap: :joy: I always thought the Cotswolds were pretty flat but watching your last 2 vids I’m correctively enlightened. :+1: Awsome mate, keep 'em coming. :ok_hand:

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Great video Chris and nice to see some of my childhood stomping ground again :). It is about time they finished works the on the monument though, it has been wrapped up since 2013!
From what I can find they have a stay on works until March 2025 so sadly it looks like it will be a while yet.

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Thanks John :smiley:

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Thankls Col. This is what happens when you don’t fully research your site before leaving the house! :sweat_smile: Glad the tongue in cheek subtitle corrections worked though :wink:

Thanks for the feedback as always, I was trying to spice it up bit, mixing the camera drone with the fpv drone in this one - with some overly dramatic music … of course :clap:

However, Avebury and Cherhill is not in the Cotswolds, but the North Wessex Downs AONB. The Cotswolds does reach Wiltshire (south of the M4), but that is further west, at Castle Combe and down to Bradford on Avon. See the red boundary below, that’s the Cotswolds - whereas Cherhill is the located at the red “X” :+1:

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@clinkadink Haha, my geographic prowess is pants :face_with_spiral_eyes: :rofl: Not bad for an Ex International Transport Manager! :rofl::rofl:

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Cheers Martin. Yeah, the Lansdowne Monument has been like this for a good ten years. It is a bit of an eyesore and in a sorry state. I did film it and intended to include in the vid, but it was already getting quite long and I am not sure how much it would add - given its condition.

When they built the monument, they unfortunately decided upon Bath stone for the base - as it was local and plentiful. Bath Stone is limestone, making it easy to cut and square up. But what they didn’t consider was the wind at that elevation. The southern and western corners of the monument have been battered over the last 178 years. They are now trying to raise money to replace these corners with Doulting Stone, which is loads stronger and will easily cope with the elements. That said, it’s a shed load more expensive than bath stone.

It’s a shame, as the existing corners (what’s left of them), have loads history …

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But you can see why they need replacing …

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Just caught up - been on hols - enjoyed that. Avata does a great job of showing off the defence ditches and looked like good fun to film too.
All in all - another great production :clap: :clap: :clap:

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Thanks John, I had a lot of fun making this, albeit a tad shakey being my first proper outing with the Avata :grimacing: Hope you had a good holiday mate :+1: