Long Man of Wilmington

Those who have read this blog before may recall previous mentions of some of the sights in the area. One of those I always intended to check out was the 'Long Man of Wilmington', about 12 miles away on the other side of Eastbourne.

My wife and I celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary and thought we'd take the kids out for an adventure to see our long friend and have a picnic. Here are some photo's from the outing.

History about Longman: The lack of firm historical evidence still leaves many theories abounding about his history. Many Sussex people are convinced that he is prehistoric, other believe that he is the work of an artistic monk from the nearby Priory between the 11^th and 15^th centuries. Roman coins bearing a similar figure suggest that he belonged to the 4^th century AD and there may be plausible parallels with a helmeted figure found on Anglo-Saxon ornaments.


Click on the image to see the big chap a bit clearer as he is quite a way in the distance. This was taken at the car park where we started our trek.

As normal with these sorts of features on the landscape, pagans visit the place at certain times of the year. Although there is no evidence to show this has any connection to pagans, druids and the like. I think they just want an excuse to wail and have an unusual bbq.


There are few historical references to the Long Man The oldest was a drawing made by a surveyor named John Rowley, in 1710.


The best bit of all I guess is taking in the fabulous Sussex views. Lush vegetation as far as the eye can see.