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| Dept 56, Dickens Village White Horse Bakery, 56.59269 |
Memories of a Hill Horse
My best memories are generally shutter flash moments of something new and beautiful, unexpectedly revealed. I’ll never forget one of these moments in England, about 15 years ago. It was a clear, warm day. We were driving on a small road somewhere between Bath and London, when I happened to turn my head, then jerked back in surprise. In the distance, on a hill, was the shimmering drawing of a white horse. We pulled the car over and got out, simply in awe. I don’t know where we were exactly, and I don’t remember the details of the horse. I just remember how I marveled at its presence. Years later, when I first started collecting Dickens Village pieces, I was perusing a catalog of buildings. I noticed the figure drawing on the sign of the White Horse Bakery. Though the building had been retired, I knew I had to find one. I did, and the modest little bakery is still one of my most highly-regarded pieces.
English White Horse Drawings
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Uffington Horse, Oxfordshire Photograph copyright © Dave Collier of Mugshots |
The Uffington Horse in Oxfordshire, however, is the oldest horse figure in England. Recent tests indicate that it probably dates from 1200 BC-800BC, which makes it Bronze Age. It is extraordinarily graceful, with highly-stylized curving lines, about 365 feet long. No one knows the purposes of this horse, or other ancienthill carvings. It may have been a symbol of a horse-goddess Rhiannon, or of the sun god Belinos, who was associated with horses. Most other hill drawings are recent, many from the 19th century.
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| Osmington Horse, Dorset |
The hill figure that might most closely resemble the horse on the sign of the White Horse Bakery is the Osmington Horse in Dorset, east of Weymouth. Cut around 1808, this figure measures 320 feet high and 280 feet long, the largest of the hill horses. It is also one of only four horses that faces to the right
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| New Devizes White Horse, Wiltshire |
The new Devizes White Horse is also a close match to the White Horse Bakery, but was actually created in 1999 in honor of the milenium, eleven years after Department 56’s release of the White Horse Bakery! The original hill figure, the “old” Devizes White Horse, had almost disappeared through neglect. When this new cutting was made , the basic shape was maintained, but the new figure faced right instead of left.
For an in-depth exploration of English white horses, you may wish to begin at this website: http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/faqs.html
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| White Horse Inn in Duns Tew |
English White Horse Inns
I have not been able to find a White Horse Bakery in England that resembles the Dickens Village model. However, I did find two White Horse Inns that shared certain characteristics of the Bakery. The first is the White Horse Inn in Duns Tew, between Oxford and Banbury. The Inn, a 17th century coaching house, is made of gray stone and has a central front door, flanked by windows, with dormer windows above. The inn’s symbol is the profile of a white horse, reminiscent of the one on the sign of the Dickens Village bakery. http://www.whitehorsedunstew.com/index.html
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| White Horse Inn Sutton Coldfield |
The second White Horse Inn is near Sutton Coldfield, which is north-east of Birmingham. A building has been on its site since Georgian times, and the present building has interesting paneled windows that evoke a memory of the White Horse Bakery. http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thewhitehorsecurdworth/
1 comment:
Thanks for the explanation of "the white horse".
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