Cerne Abbas Giant Dorset

Dorchester is close to two historic sites, Maiden Castle to the south of town and Cerne Abbas to the north.

The origins of Maiden Castle are thought to be prehistoric, but the Cerne Abbas Giant is believed by archaeologists and historians to be either pre-Roman, Romano-British or late Saxon, though the first mention of it is only in the late 17th century. The most recent theories are indeed that the figure is more likely from the 1600s or late Saxon.

The Cerne Giant is on the left

The Cerne Abbas Giant is a hill-figure carved into the chalk hill with the 2-foot trenches also filled with crushed chalk.

The priapic figure is 180 feet tall, brandishes a club and has a disproportionately small head. The club has led to the comparisons with the Greco-Roman god Hercules.

The figure seems connected with local fertility rites and it was thought that women lying on the aroused, 36-foot member of the figure would increase their chances of giving birth, though this practice is now discouraged by the new owners, The National Trust.

The figure is cut in to the chalk

Access – Getting There

The Cerne Giant is close to the charming village of Cerne Abbas, off the A352 Dorchester-Sherbourne road, with its Tudor cottages and ruined abbey.

By public transport, there are Damory Coaches 216 buses from both Dorchester and Sherbourne to Cerne Abbas on weekdays. Maiden Newton train station is 6 miles distant, while Dorchester West train station and Dorchester South stations are both 8 miles away.

Figures cut into the chalk in the south of England are a fairly common sight. Other figures include the Cherhill White Horse, the Westbury White Horse, also in Wiltshire, the Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex, cut in the 1700s and the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire, thought to be the oldest chalk figure in the UK.

nationaltrust.org.uk/cerne-giant (National Trust)
Cerne Abbas, Dorset, DT2 7AL
OS Grid Ref: ST666016