England’s best views: White Horse Hill

These Berkshire chalklands can still be wild, says Simon Jenkins

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England's best views

White Horse Hill

Towards the Vale of the White Horse

‘There is a gentle rolling quality to the Berkshire chalklands yet they can still be wild and, above the Vale of the White Horse, mysterious. The White Horse may date as early as 1700bc, though it has been variously attributed to such figures as King Arthur and King Alfred.

 The galloping figure is 374 feet from nose to tail. Immediately below it is the remarkable geological feature of The Manger, so distinctive it has been thought manmade. Above the hill are the earthworks of Uffington Castle, one of a row of Iron Age earth forts along the downs.

The view north up the vale features wind turbines, waving for attention, while to the east can be glimpsed the steaming cooling towers of Didcot, now to be decommissioned. Will they, I wonder, be removed? ' 

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Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.

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