Broad Town White Horse

Broad Town White Horse is carved facing west on a long, grass-laden, 45° steep slope (450 metres above mean sea level) above the Little Town Farmhouse that is situated half a mile outside the village of Broad Town. and is located on the most western limit of the same escarpment where Uffington White Horse is cut, overlooking the farthest end of the Vale of the White Horse. and is "composed of fine compacted chalk." Although best viewed from the Little Town farm track, the B4041 and the village of Broad Town itself, Barry Leighton of the Swindon Advertiser similarly claimed: "Broad Town could have laid a decent claim to being the most enigmatic of our magnificent mares – largely because you had to be quick just to catch a glimpse of her – flitting in and out as she does from behind bushes and trees along the Wootton Bassett to Marlborough B40[4]1." Visiting Broad Town White Horse can be problematic for visitors. One writer claims that, as there are no designated parking spaces for the horse, it is best for tourists to park their vehicles in the village and walk to the horse from there. A footpath from the farmhouse leading up to the white horse features dangerous steps, and the Broad Town White Horse Restoration Society asks visitors not to use them. The society only use the steps for maintenance of the horse, and, being private land, cannot accept responsibility for accidents. It is also possible to reach the horse using footpaths on top of the hill; however, parking becomes once again a problem when using this route. ==Origins==

The origin of Broad Town White Horse is uncertain, although there are multiple stories concerning its origin. The most common story, originating from Reverend Plenderleath, writing in 1885, According to this story, the horse originally measured 86 feet long and 61 feet tall, but this size were not intended to be the horse's final proportions, as Simmonds had intended "to enlarge it by the degrees" each time he scoured the horse, so that each time he scoured and maintained the horse, the horse's size would grow until it "assumed a really impressive aspect." ==History and maintenance==

During World War II, the horse was successfully camouflaged to avoid the attention of the German air force; this was achieved with hedge trimmings that were covered with turf and soil. The scouring included over a tonne of powdered lime used to restore the horse's white appearance; rainfall turns the lime powder into a hard crust which "gives the horse another year of life." ==Iconography==

The horse serves as an icon for the village, and Leighton has described the horse as having served "for more than a century as a dazzling emblem or logo for the village below." The horse appears in the logo for the village's primary school, In 2015, wildlife artist Joanna May donated her painting of a hare besides the white horse to a Devizes charity auction; she said "Wiltshire is loved for being the area of the White Horse and also for the hare being synonymous with it." The white horse is part of several tours, including the 90-mile walking tour 'Wiltshire's White Horse Trail', better known as simply the White Horse Trail, which visits all eight of the canonical white horses in Wiltshire. ==See also==