Rechalking the giant

There are some places that remind us how intimately intertwined humanity is with the land and its history. The Cerne Abbas Giant is one of these places.

Located in the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, three hours southwest of London, England, the Giant is a large, naked male figure carved into a chalk hillside. He stands about 180 feet high and brandishes a club in one hand, with lines around his waist that could represent a belt or an animal skin. The giant is both a significant local landmark and a subject of intense historical and archaeological interest.

The Giant’s visibility is not constant. “He’s made from chalk cut into the living land,” The National Trust explains. Like a shy spirit, his outline gradually fades with sun, rain, and the growth of the grass. At some times, he's bright and sharp. At others, only a ghostly silhouette peeks through.

The Giant and his shifting visibility have fascinated residents and visitors for decades. In 1925, novelist and poet Thomas Hardy remarked that the figure was “always green,” not stark white like other chalk figures. Hardy was inspired by the Cerne Abbas Giant and incorporated it into his works. It played an important role in the local folklore of “his Wessex,” a fictional region representing southwest England. It adds to the mythical quality of the landscape that serves as the backdrop for his stories.

Gently grazing with the help of sheep

Keeping the Giant from vanishing under the grass is a task that calls for delicate care. Traditional mowing and heavy machinery are a no-go on this fragile land. Instead, the National Trust and local farmers orchestrate a gentler method: sheep grazing.

Each spring, and often again in late summer, a small flock of sheep is brought up to nibble the grasses. Their soft mouths and light hoofprints thin the grass without damaging the delicate turf. 

After the sheep are done grazing, the National Trust rangers and volunteers step in, armed with little more than their hands and brushes. They painstakingly clean the trenches of sheep droppings and trim the edges by hand. This modest, hands-on approach ensures the monument’s integrity remains intact. 

The Giant is visible for miles around. The only time he was covered up was during the Second World War, to prevent German bombers from using him as a landmark.

Centuries of history and mystery

The National Trust has cared for the Giant since 1920. Historically, in addition to trimming the grass, the figure needed a more thorough re-chalking every 25 years or so. However, thanks to climate change causing more frequent and heavier rainfall, which accelerates erosion, the Giant must now be refreshed every seven to ten years.

In 2019, the Giant underwent a two-week makeover, with the next time estimated between 2026 and 2029. Each re-chalking is done only when necessary and is as minimal as possible, keeping the Giant visible while preserving archaeological truth.

The local community feels a sense of guardianship over the figure. A resident volunteer from 2019 wrote: 

"The last clean-up was in 2008, and we inhabitants of Cerne Abbas were thus delighted when the National Trust was minded to revisit this year in anticipation of the centenary.  The activity this month took two weeks.  The first four days involved widening and straightening the lines and digging out around 5 centimetres of surface chalk and soil...  The other days were given over to installing and compacting the fresh chalk.

...The finished product is a joy to behold.  In today’s turbulent and troubled times... the Cerne Abbas Giant will continue to put a smile on the faces of all who behold him." (cernevalley.co.uk)

The scale of this task is humbling. Imagine packing seventeen tons of chalk by hand into a 460-meter outline, spanning the entire figure. The chalk is tightly pressed to resist being washed away by rain. It’s not done by machines, but by the hands of volunteers and National Trust staff, wielding picks and shovels, laboring for days on the steep hillside under the hot sun. It's a labor of love that demonstrates their commitment.

The exact age and origin of the Giant are unknown. The earliest recorded mention dates back to 1694, in a local churchwarden's account book, which notes a cost of three shillings for repairing him. That suggests the figure was already well established by that time.

But many people believe he's much older—possibly prehistoric. According to The New Yorker, archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie argued in the 1920s that the figure’s proximity to nearby earthworks suggested he was from the Bronze Age, which extended from approximately 2300 to 800 BCE.

Why was the Giant carved into the chalk, and what did he mean to the people who created him? Speculation ranges from Roman regiments and an ancient depiction of Hercules (a theory supported by researchers from Oxford University), to pagan rite-goers who revered him as a fertility symbol, to the work of a Christian hermit known as Saint Eadwold and connected to the earliest monks residing in the area when the Cerne Abbey was founded in 987 CE, to a caricature meant to mock Oliver Cromwell, a politician and soldier who led parliamentary forces in the English Civil Wars. 

We'll likely never know the truth for certain. Yet, all debates aside, he endures because people care about him.

Why preserving the Cerne Abbas Giant matters for future generations

“Isn’t he wonderful?” said Diana Kimber, a Cerne villager who was lending a hand. “He’s an important symbol for our area. We wouldn't lose him for anything.” (The Guardian)

The Cerne Giant stands for more than tourism or aesthetics. He’s a bridge across time, a living inheritance passed down from one generation to the next. He links each new generation of caretakers to all those who did the same job in the past.

The work needed to preserve the Giant is a literal reminder that history isn't a static archive. Each generation has a duty to participate in the work of memory, doing their part to refresh, reimagine and even recreate the past.

It may well be that the physical task of maintenance keeps the debate over the Giant's origins alive, and encourages inquiry, critical thinking, and imaginative coexistence with the unknown.

More detailed arguments about the origins of the Giant are found on the Cerne Abbas Historical Society website.