White Horse, Uffington, Oxfordshire

Photograph taken May 1990 © Crown copyright. Historic England Archive ref: nmr 4502/29

An aerial view of the Uffington White Horse. It is a chalk hill figure dating from the Iron Age or possibly late Bronze Age and is 374 feet long. The horse was traditionally scoured every seven years under the jurisdiction of the local lord in a 3-day festival. This site is managed, maintained and owned by the National Trust.

Location

Oxfordshire Uffington

Period

Prehistoric (to AD42)

Themes

"Wills, Shaw and Friese-Greene Ready to Film". This was a publicity shot for the foundation of the Aerofilms aerial photography company. It was taken at the London Aerodrome, Hendon. Francis Lewis Wills was a former Royal Naval Air Service Observer and co-founder of Aerofilms. Claude Friese-Greene, holding the cine-camera, was technical director for Aerofilms in its early days, but is best known as a pioneering cinematographer. We know very little about Shaw, the pilot, probably an AirCo employee.

White Horse, Uffington, Oxfordshire

Location

Period

Themes

Tags