Cerne Abbas giant
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The Cerne Abbas giant is a chalk carving of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas to the north of Dorchester in Dorset, England.
The 180 feet (55 metres) high, 167 feet (51 metres) wide figure is carved into the side of a steep hill and is best viewed from the opposite side of the valley or from the air. The carving is formed by a trench 1 foot (0.3 metre) wide and about the same depth which has been cut through the grass and earth into the underlying chalk. In his right hand the giant holds an enormous knobbed club 120 feet (36.5 metres) long.
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Above and to the right of his head is an earthwork known as the "Trendle" or "Frying Pan". Medieval writings refer to this location as 'Trendle Hill', leading to the conclusion that the giant was probably only carved about 400 years ago. The nearby Uffington White Horse, however, was recorded by medieval records.
The earliest written reference to the Giant was made in 1694 in a record for payment in the Cerne Abbas churchwarden's accounts of 3 shillings towards the re-cutting of the giant. This was followed by references in 1742 and, in 1751, John Hutchins in his Guide to Dorset wrote that the carving had only been done the previous century. It is now believed that it was probably made by servants of the Lord of the Manor, Lord Holles, during the English Civil War. There has been speculation that the figure is a parody of Oliver Cromwell, who was sometimes mockingly referred to as "England's Hercules" by his enemies.
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Very much a phallic symbol because of the distinct erect penis and testicles, for hundreds of years it was local custom to erect a maypole within the earthwork about which childless couples would dance to promote fertility and even today childless couples are known to visit the site in order to copulate in the hope that they might have a child.
A local legend says that a real giant was killed on the hill and that the people from Cerne Abbas drew round the figure and marked him out on the hillside.
Recently, a group of archeologists using special equipment found that part of the carving had been allowed to be obliterated (the free arm should have held a depiction of an animal's skin, giving credence to the theory that the giant was a depiction of a hunter).