Long Man of Wilmington

The Long Man of Wilmington stands on the steep southern slope of Windover Hill in East Sussex. It is a giant figure cut into the grassy hillside, 235 feet tall, facing the valley below. The figure holds two long staffs and appears in proportion when seen from a distance. Locally it was once called the Green Man. The slope rises above the village of Wilmington, six miles northwest of Eastbourne.

The figure’s origins are uncertain. Early drawings from 1710 and 1766 show it with different tools and a possible helmet. Archaeologists once thought it might be Neolithic or Iron Age, but a 2003 dig suggested it was made in the 16th or 17th century. Some now believe it could be a Tudor or Stuart satire or a Reformation image. The Long Man shares its status as a scheduled monument with the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset.

Visitors walk up Windover Hill to stand beside the figure. The restored outline uses white-painted breeze blocks set into the turf. On clear days the view stretches across the South Downs. The site hosts Morris dancing on May Day and pagan gatherings at seasonal festivals. A nearby long barrow adds to the sense of an ancient landscape. The figure remains one of only two major human hill figures in England.