Top 10 facts about the Rude Man of Dorset!
As a result of National Trust excavations in 2020, and the subsequent geophysical, land snail and auger surveys in 2023 and 2024, we have learnt much more about the Rude Man of Dorset, otherwise known as the Cerne Abbas Giant. In this blog, Michael J. Allen, editor of A Date with the Two Cerne Giants, offers up his top ten facts about this iconic hill figure.
By Michael J. Allen | 5 min read
1. How old is the Cerne Giant?
For centuries the date of the Giant has been debated in pubs, clubs, learned society, universities, and conferences and by the public at large. Speculation has ranged from him being prehistoric (Bronze Age or Iron Age, like the Uffington White Horse, or earlier), Roman, or a post medieval 17th century Giant. The Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex is AD 1550, so perhaps the Giant could be too?
Keyhole excavations in March 2020 allowed Prof Philip Toms of the University of Gloucester to take samples for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating from deposits associated with the Giant. The chalking of the Giant did not date, but the lowest and oldest deposits associated with him suggest that he’s 10th century, Saxon (or early medieval) … a surprise to the excavators, the National Trust, archaeologists and historians alike.
2. How many giants are there?
Surely there’s just the one white, club wielding, manly Giant? But no. Excavations and research showed that there are two, and probably three Giants, as he was redrawn and reconfigured on the Dorset hillside over a millennia.
3. Where did the Giant disappear to for 700 years?
The Giant was inscribed on the Dorset hillside in the 10th century, but the first record of him is 1694. No antiquarian, cartographer, or person of note, no members of the landed gentry or man of the cloth noted his presence in any of their writings. Yet many passed along the road from Sherborne to Dorchester – among them John Aubrey, Tudor antiquarian John Leland, father and son cartographers, the two John Nordens who mapped the area – none mention the Giant.
The Giant seems to have been hidden in plain sight during this time. The analysis of the land snails from soils associated with the Giant and taken during the excavation showed that he was built in an open, short-turfed grazed grassland, but that soon after his construction, grazing pressure was reduced.
4. How long has the Giant been a white chalk figure, and how is he kept so white?
Originally the Giant was outlined as a broad shallow cut exposing the white chalk. But as soil filled the cut and was scoped to refresh the Giant, more soil accumulated against the Giant. Soon this was 0.6m deep, so he was outlined as a deep trench (as seen in Eric Ravilious’ 1939 painting). Only in the mid 20th century did he take on his chalk-filled white form.
The National Trust rangers (previously called wardens) regularly weed and tidy the Giant, and seasonally he is grazed by sheep to keep the grass height down. Periodically he is also given a make-over. Originally the villagers would scour the Giant (dig out the old, weathered, dirty, and vegetation-infested chalk and replace with new). In 1956 and 1979 the National Trust employed contractors who built a trackway and hauled carts up the slope, removing and renewing the Giant with 45 tonnes of fresh chalk. More recently less chalk has been removed and replenished with fresh, and this has been done by a small army of National Trust volunteers.
5. Why was the Giant cut into the steep slope of the Dorset hillside?
The slope was steep, and can be seen from afar. Obviously whoever put the Giant there wanted him to be seen. Ideas abound, a marker, a muster point, I think not, but a sign and marker on the hillside … possibly … to what – see suggestions in A Date with the Two Cerne Giants.
6. Who is the Giant?
The new dates and new research rule out many common ideas of the identity of the Giant. Suggestions that he was a ridicule of Cromwell were always tenuous and now completely untenable. Could he be the Roman god Hercules? The pagan deity Helith? The Saxon saint Eadwold? All these suggestions are discussed in A Date with the Two Cerne Giants, and are the subject of new ongoing research.
7. Why is his phallus 2.9m longer now than in antiquity?
The Giant once had a navel, but now no longer … In their excitement workmen cleaning and restoring him in the earlier 20th century extended the phallus joining it to and incorporating his navel. An accident or purposeful joke?
8. Who owns the Giant?
The Giant used to be owned by the Pitt Rivers family, but they gave him to the National Trust to care for on 20th July 1920.
The National Trust has owned him for over 100 years. One of the reasons for the 2020 excavation, the new research and the scientific dating, was to celebrate the Trust’s centennial anniversary of their ownership (the scientific dates were unfortunately not available for that centennial due to Covid).
9. Is the Giant protected?
Yes, he lies in an area of SSSI whose nature is overseen by Natural England, and he’s a legally protected archaeological site. He is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and permission for any research and work on the Giant needs to be obtained from both the Secretary of State, via their agents Historic England, and from the land owners, The National Trust. Today he is fenced off in a large rectangular enclosure that includes a sub-square earthwork (The Trendle) on the hill top above his head, and sheep are seasonally allowed to graze him. This was only installed in 1979; prior to that he was contained in a much smaller tight coffin-shaped enclosure of wrought iron fences made by the local blacksmith in Cerne Abbas. The former coffin-shaped enclosure can still be seen both from the air and on the ground.
10. Where can I learn more?
The upcoming book, A Date with the Two Cerne Giants, reveals all, and tells you about many other chalk hill figures to boot. There are also a number of upcoming events focused on the Giant and this forthcoming publication:
- A conference on Saturday 28th September in Dorchester explores the Giant, other hill figures, and presents the opportunity to meet many of the authors and contributors of the book. Cerne Giant and other Wessex Hill Figures – Dorset Museum
- A lecture at the prestigious Society of Antiquaries on Thursday 17th October.
A date with the two Cerne Giants: results of the National Trusts excavation in 2020 – Society of Antiquaries of London (sal.org.uk)
- A lecture by Mike Allen and ‘An evening with Giant’ at Codford Woolstore, on Tuesday 17th September.
- The Cerne Giant rules the day at a conference of Wiltshire hill figures on Saturday 9th November in Devizes Town Hall.
CONFERENCE: White Horses, Badges & Giants: Hill figures of Southern England – Wiltshire Museum
A Date with the Two Cerne Giants is available for pre-order from the Pen and Sword Books website at a special pre-publication price for a limited time only.
Special Price: £19.96
Featured image credit: Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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