The Long Man of Wilmington is a colossal figure, some 235 feet tall, cut into the turf of the steep northern slope of Windover Hill on the South Downs of East Sussex. The outline shows a slim standing man holding a long staff in each hand, perfectly proportioned to appear correct when seen from below — a sophistication that has long fascinated observers.
The story
Its age and meaning are genuine mysteries. Once thought ancient — a Saxon or even prehistoric figure, variously read as a god, a pilgrim, a surveyor or a dawn-figure opening the gates of two worlds with his staves — it is now suspected by many to date only from the sixteenth or seventeenth century, the earliest record being a drawing of 1710. Folklore filled the gap with giants: the Long Man is said to be the outline of a giant killed on the hill, his shape marked where he fell, in some versions slain by a rival giant from across the valley. Restored and marked out in pale blocks in modern times, he remains one of England's most enigmatic hill-figures.