Westbury white horse ★☆☆

The poster child white horse of Wiltshire dates to the 18C

There has been a white horse on this hillside since at least 1742 (though locals would love to believe it dates to the 9C), though it used to look remarkably different—more like a bug-eyed wiener dog with a saddle and a disturbingly forked tail (there's an image in the "Photos" section).

The Westbury Horse (sometimes called the Bratton White Horse) was re-cut in (roughly) its current form in 1778 by Lord Abingdon's steward, Mr. George Gee. Minor changes accrued at each major restoration, notably in 1873 and 1903, and then in the 1950s a local cement company covered the entire horse in concrete.

While this has preserved the form of the horse—and its size, at 52 m (170 feet) long and 55 m (180 feet) high—the cement has a tendency to turn gray over time, and the horse is frequently repainted white. (If some of it looks whiter than others, it was likely repainting over large-scale graffiti, which happens from time to time.)