The Lost Eric Ravilious Hill Figure Book.

During the year of 1939, Eric Ravilious toured Dorset, Sussex, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire, recording chalk hill figures for a proposed children’s book for Puffin. It was customary then to have a mock-up of a proposed book, and Ravilious had indeed produced one by 1942.

In the August of that year, while serving as a war artist, Ravilious travelled first to Reykjavik (Iceland), before arriving at RAF Kaldadarnes on September the first, to hear of a report that a Lockheed Hudson had not returned from a patrol. At first light the following morning, three aircraft left the airfield to search for the missing Lockheed, with Ravilious joining one of the crews. Sadly, after four days, they too were recorded as missing in action, with ‘death presumed’.

For decades the mock-up of the book – preliminarily titled ‘White Horse’ – was thought to have disappeared with him, however it has recently, and wholly unexpectedly come to light (for the story of this discovery, see ‘White Horse – dummy Puffin book by Eric Ravilious’ at the Wiltshire Museum website ).

The text of the proposed book was to be taken from an existing publication (Downland Man, by H.J. Massingham), and although Ravilious had completed the watercolours for the book, he was unable to complete the lithography process that would have enabled a posthumous publication. Fortunately for us, the following series of six watercolours were completed (black and white photographs of which are featured on the mock-up pages), and to this day are amongst his best known works.

The Cerne Abbas Giant

Starting with the famous (some might say infamous) Cerne Abbas Giant, which for some unknown reason, Eric Ravilious depicted in red as opposed to its usual stark white. Given the date of the painting, this could have been an early attempt at camouflaging the figure in an attempt to foil any German aviators who would have used them as landmarks.

Although the camouflaging of all hill figures did indeed take place, usually employing brushwood, or re-turfing the case of the Wilmington Giant (more of which below), it’s possible that an attempt was made to blur the lines of the Cerne Abbas Giant using Dorset’s red soil (which can be seen in the lower left foreground).

The most recent archaeological evidence suggests a late Saxon period date for the figure, but there is some confusion, with another date indicating a 17th century construction. It has been suggested that it was cut during the Saxon period, and then recut during the 17th century by a landowner called Holles, though this interpretation is contested, and another explanation was put forward, that of the figure being a depiction of Holles himself, cut into the hillside by disgruntled tenants.

Interestingly, Ravilious seemed as fascinated by the fence-posts and barbed wire as he was the main subject.

There is a great deal more toing and froing about the origins and meanings of this figure; if your interest is piqued, there is a pretty comprehensive Wikipedia page, which is an excellent starting place. The figure measures 180 feet (55 metres) tall and 1967 ft (51 metres) wide.

The Westbury Horse

The Westbury Horse stands tall on Westbury Hill, below the ramparts of the Iron Age hillfort of Bratton Castle. In this depiction by Eric Ravilious, the horse seems to be keeping an eye on a steam train making its way out from Westbury Station. Above it lie the ramparts of Bratton Camp, an Iron Age hillfort. These were often miss-named ‘camp’ as in the minds of antiquarians they were so substantial that only the Romans could have constructed them.

Two of Ravilious’ most famous paintings feature this horse, however the horse in the other one (Train Landscape – see below) wasn’t in fact painted by Eric Ravilious at all. There will be a separate article about this remarkable image soon.

The existence of this geoglyph (to use the technical term) was first recorded in 1762, and it measures approximately 180 ft (55 m) tall and 170 ft (52 m) wide.

Chalk Figure Near Weymouth

‘Chalk Figure near Weymouth’, this rather jaunty figure on horseback is more properly known as the ‘Osmington White Horse’, and is said to depict King George the Third, who was known as a regular, keen visitor to nearby Weymouth. Ironically, because the origins and purpose of this hill figure is well recorded, it is the one about which the least can be said.

It measures 280 feet (85 metres) long and 323 feet (98 metres) high, and was cut in 1808.

The Vale of the White Horse (The Uffington Horse)

The Uffington White Horse is provably the oldest hill figure in the British Isles, being dated to the late Bronze Age, or early Iron Age. At first glance it seems Ravilious chose an intriguing perspective to capture the horse from, but that’s possibly because we are so used to seeing the Uffington Horse from the sky. This is in fact the view from a flat topped hill just below Dragon Hill road. The lines of the Downs here have been exaggerated somewhat, with Ravilious seemingly unable to resist succumbing to the flow of the chalk hills, and adding to their rotundness a little. It’s very understandable – I’ve often taken pictures of the Downs here, and in Sussex, and wished more of them would fit in the frame.

The date for its construction – between 1380 and 550 bp- was obtained by employing a method of dating called optically stimulated luminescence. Though the details of this method are complex, it essentially measures the time elapsed since the material under examination (in this case the silt from the lowest levels of the cut) were last exposed to light. The result – approximately 3,000 years – is a good match for the construction of the hillfort above it. A more complete view of the horse can be obtained from the vale below, in the vicinity of Great Coxwell, Longcot, and Fernham, amongst others.

The Uffington White Horse measures 360 feet (110 metres) long and has a maximum height of 130 feet (40 metres).

The Wilmington Giant

Variously called ‘The Long Man of Wilmington’, ‘The Long Man’, ‘The Wilmington Giant’, but known locally simply as ‘The Giant’, this chalk figure is easily lost from sight unless viewed head on, either from the Eastbourne/Lewes train (see below), the A27, or from the perspective depicted by Ravilious. This is due to it being positioned in a concave part of the hillside, shrouded by slopes on the east and west sides. Ravilious apparently always referred to the geoglyph as the Wilmington Giant, remaining unconvinced it was a male, and depicted it a total of three times: in this image, in a wood engraving, and in his famous ‘Train Landscape’, though in this instance it was covered over later by his wife Tirzah (more of which below).

Though indeed long, measuring some 235 feet (71.6 metres) in height, by using a clever trick of perspective, the designers of the giant constructed it to appear in proportion when viewed from below. For most of its life it was a chalk outline, but for the past few decades the outline is marked by lime-washed breeze blocks.

Train Landscape

This is the picture we all thought we knew, but is very different from the one Eric Ravilious originally laid down. After his death, his wife Tirzah Garwood, convinced it wasn’t his best, made a number of alterations. I’d always had my suspicions, as the Downs depicted in this image didn’t really match the contours he’d laid down in his ‘The Westbury Horse’ painting. The horse also looked very different, and the hillfort above had mysteriously vanished.

During conservation work conducted in 1979, it was discovered that originally the upholstery was of a very different pattern and colour (creamy white, with horizontal stripes) and the view out of the window, though still chalk downs, was of the chalk downs behind Eastbourne, East Sussex, and the chalk figure, though framed by the same window, was the Wilmington Giant. Fortunately the conservator took a Polaroid of the original before covering it again.

This isn’t the end of the puzzle, however, as the pencil sketch cover of the ‘White Horse’ mock-up book depicts a scene similar in almost every respect to the version of ‘Train Landscape’ we all know and love.

I’m currently working on a digital reconstruction of the conservator’s Polaroid, which should be completed very soon. If you’d like to keep up with events as they unfold, I can thoroughly recommend signing up for the Rather Good Art newsletter below.

Care for a 10% discount?

Sign up to our free newsletter for information about new releases, articles about your favourite artists, and frequent sales.

Unfortunately due to the cost of local manufacture, the discount will not apply to books, calendars and jigsaw puzzles.

SUBSCRIBE!

Success! Your 10% discount code is SUBSCRIBED. Please enter it at checkout.