A 164 foot tall white horse - about the same height as Nelson's Column - will tower over the English countryside in Kent, the "Garden of England."
It will be Southern England's equivalent of Northern England's "Angel of the North" statue but twice as tall (though I think the Angel of the North is better).
It will measure 411 hands from hoof to shoulder and be 33 times the size of a real horse.
The white horse is the symbol of Kent and appears on Kent's flag.
Horsa was a famous Anglo-Saxon who was the brother of Hengest, the ruler of Kent (then a country in its own right) 1500 years ago. Both Hengest and Horsa fought King Vortigern, a Celtic warlord, and Horsa was killed during the battle.
Hengest was captured in another battle by Eldol, Duke of Gloucester and subsequently beheaded by Eldol's brother, Eldadus, the Bishop of Gloucester.
Both Hengest and Horsa are buried in Kent, and the English word "horse" takes its name from Horsa - hence the white horse being the symbol of Kent.
Giant white horse will tower 164ft over the Thames Estuary after winning the race to become 'Angel of the South'
By Paul Harris
11th February 2009
Daily Mail
Don't make the mistake of calling Ebbsfleet a one-horse town.
Not when the horse in question will stand nearly as tall as Nelson's Column and be visible from space.
This is the £2million statue that will loom proudly over a great swathe of countryside in the Garden of England - so big it needs planning permission before it can be put out to graze.
On the hoof: When built, Mr Allinger's design will result in a horse standing on all four hooves at 33 times life-size
Artist Mark Wallinger with his winning design of the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project, which has been dubbed The Angel of the South
It will be the country's largest public art installation when it takes up position in the Ebbsfleet Valley - a horse for a kingdom that has yet to be built.
The valley is an ambitious redevelopment zone in the Thames Gateway area of Kent, and the horse has been commissioned to put Ebbsfleet firmly on the map.
The white horse, which is the Kent county symbol, will tower 164ft from the underside of its horseshoe to the top of its ear.
Neigh bother: The artist with a scale model of the sculpture
Mr Wallinger's sculpture will be twice the size of Antony Gormley's Angel of the North in Gateshead
It is the work of artist Mark Wallinger, who won the Turner Prize two years ago by filming himself dressed as a bear.
The flag of Kent
Britain has dozens of white horses on its hills, the oldest of which dates from around 1,000BC. This one, however, will be the first to stand proud of the landscape.
Already dubbed the Angel of the South, it was picked over designs including a giant wing, 26 interconnecting steel polyhedrons, a tower of cubes projecting a laser beam into space, and a cast of a house interior atop a pile of rubble.
Assuming Gravesham Borough Council does grant planning permission, work on the horse will start in the next 12 months and could be finished by 2012.
The designs the horse beat: Above Daniel Buren's cubes pierced by laser beam
Rachel Whiteread's house on a 'recycled mountain'
Richard Deacon's 'nest' of polyhedrons
dailymail.co.uk
It will be Southern England's equivalent of Northern England's "Angel of the North" statue but twice as tall (though I think the Angel of the North is better).
It will measure 411 hands from hoof to shoulder and be 33 times the size of a real horse.
The white horse is the symbol of Kent and appears on Kent's flag.
Horsa was a famous Anglo-Saxon who was the brother of Hengest, the ruler of Kent (then a country in its own right) 1500 years ago. Both Hengest and Horsa fought King Vortigern, a Celtic warlord, and Horsa was killed during the battle.
Hengest was captured in another battle by Eldol, Duke of Gloucester and subsequently beheaded by Eldol's brother, Eldadus, the Bishop of Gloucester.
Both Hengest and Horsa are buried in Kent, and the English word "horse" takes its name from Horsa - hence the white horse being the symbol of Kent.
Giant white horse will tower 164ft over the Thames Estuary after winning the race to become 'Angel of the South'
By Paul Harris
11th February 2009
Daily Mail
Don't make the mistake of calling Ebbsfleet a one-horse town.
Not when the horse in question will stand nearly as tall as Nelson's Column and be visible from space.
This is the £2million statue that will loom proudly over a great swathe of countryside in the Garden of England - so big it needs planning permission before it can be put out to graze.
On the hoof: When built, Mr Allinger's design will result in a horse standing on all four hooves at 33 times life-size
Artist Mark Wallinger with his winning design of the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project, which has been dubbed The Angel of the South
It will be the country's largest public art installation when it takes up position in the Ebbsfleet Valley - a horse for a kingdom that has yet to be built.
The valley is an ambitious redevelopment zone in the Thames Gateway area of Kent, and the horse has been commissioned to put Ebbsfleet firmly on the map.
The white horse, which is the Kent county symbol, will tower 164ft from the underside of its horseshoe to the top of its ear.
Neigh bother: The artist with a scale model of the sculpture
Mr Wallinger's sculpture will be twice the size of Antony Gormley's Angel of the North in Gateshead
It is the work of artist Mark Wallinger, who won the Turner Prize two years ago by filming himself dressed as a bear.
The flag of Kent
Britain has dozens of white horses on its hills, the oldest of which dates from around 1,000BC. This one, however, will be the first to stand proud of the landscape.
Already dubbed the Angel of the South, it was picked over designs including a giant wing, 26 interconnecting steel polyhedrons, a tower of cubes projecting a laser beam into space, and a cast of a house interior atop a pile of rubble.
Assuming Gravesham Borough Council does grant planning permission, work on the horse will start in the next 12 months and could be finished by 2012.
The designs the horse beat: Above Daniel Buren's cubes pierced by laser beam
Rachel Whiteread's house on a 'recycled mountain'
Richard Deacon's 'nest' of polyhedrons
dailymail.co.uk
