Watlington White Mark

About

Watlington White Mark is a chalk hill figure located on Watlington Hill, a mile from the village of Watlington, Oxfordshire. It is 270 feet tall and 36 feet wide, and is one of several hill figures cut into the Chilterns, alongside the Whiteleaf Cross, Bledlow Cross and Whipsnade White Lion. The site is owned by the National Trust.

The unusually-shaped White Mark was cut in 1764 by the local landsowner Edward Horne. Unimpressed that the village's parish church, St Leonard, lacked a spire, he commissioned the cutting of the spire-shaped figure into Watlington Hill so that, if viewed from a certain location (variously given as the window of his home, Greenfield Manor, or at a point on the Watlington to Oxford road), the figure aligned with the top of the church, giving the optical illusion that the White Mark was the church's spire. The Victoria County History describes the figure as a folly intended to resemble an obelisk, but the figure has also been described as a pyramid, triangle or stripe.

Huginn is scouting Watlington White Mark for you — this takes a few seconds the first time.