People living in Wiltshire have often taken advantage of the chalk downland to commemorate an event by cutting out a figure on a prominent escarpment, allowing the underlying calcium carbonate to show.

The eight Wiltshire White Horses are thought to be based on the Uffington White Horse, just over the border in Oxfordshire.

The first Wiltshire white horse is believed to have been cut on Bratton Down, near Westbury, to commemorate King Alfred's victory over the Danes at Ethandune (modern-day Edington) in 878 AD. But it was re-cut in 1778 by the steward to Lord Abingdon, who didn't consider the original looked equine enough.

Other horses in the area include those at Alton Barnes (1812), Broad Town (1864), Cherhill (1780), Hackpen (1838), Marlborough (1804), and Pewsey (1937).

In 1845 a horse was cut on Roundway Down, Devizes, just below a prehistoric earthwork known as Oliver's Castle, but it has since disappeared.

Then, in 1999, a committee was formed to commemorate the Millennium by cutting a white horse on land near Devizes belonging to farmer Chris Combe.

Volunteers cut the outline of the horse on a weekend which proved to be the wettest of the entire summer. But Devizes folk are not to be discouraged by a bit of wind and rain and the horse soon took shape on an escarpment overlooking the town.