Stretching 180 feet (55 meters) tall, the Cerne Abbas Giant is an arresting sight. This colossal chalk figure of a naked, club-wielding man with an erect penis has long been one of England‘s most mysterious and iconic hill figures. For centuries, antiquarians and historians have grappled with the questions of who created the giant, when, and for what purpose.
The giant is a so-called "geoglyph" – a large design or motif created by cutting away turf to expose the chalk bedrock beneath. Such hill figures are scattered across England, with famous examples including the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire and the Long Man of Wilmington in East Sussex. Many date back hundreds or even thousands of years, but their original significances have often been obscured by time.
The Cerne Abbas Giant is a particularly striking and anatomically detailed example. His facial features are distinct, with eyes, a nose, and a mouth clearly outlined. His right hand grips a knobbly club that stretches nearly as tall as the giant himself. Most notoriously, between his splayed legs, his erect penis juts prominently, measuring an impressive 36 feet (11 m) long.
This unabashed masculinity has led to much speculation over the giant‘s meaning and purpose. "Folkloric tradition has long associated the figure with fertility," explains historian Dr. Martin Papworth, an archaeologist with the National Trust. "Until the early 20th century, visitors – especially childless women – would spend the night sleeping on top of the giant‘s phallus, hoping to conceive."
But while the giant‘s virility may have been celebrated by locals, his origins have remained frustratingly opaque. "Antiquarians in the 18th and 19th centuries proposed all sorts of colorful theories about the giant‘s age and identity," says Papworth. "Some claimed he represented Hercules, the Greek divine hero renowned for his strength and sexual prowess. Others saw him as Helith, an obscure pagan Anglo-Saxon god. Still others insisted he was a caricature of Oliver Cromwell, created to mock the puritanical leader during the English Civil War."
These conflicting attributions stem largely from the scarcity of documented references to the giant before the late 17th century. The earliest definitive account comes from the Rev. John Hutchins, who mentioned the "giant obscene figure" in his 1751 History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. Hutchins claimed the giant had been cut in the reign of Charles II (1660-1685) as a joke aimed at Cromwell.
For many years, historians accepted this 17th century origin story for the giant. However, recent groundbreaking research has completely overturned this notion. In 2021, a team from the National Trust, the University of Gloucester, and the Cerne Historical Society undertook a novel scientific study on the giant.
By examining sediment samples from his chalk outline using a technique called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), they could pinpoint when those deposits were last exposed to sunlight. Astonishingly, the OSL results dated the sediment infill to between 700-1100 AD, placing the giant‘s creation squarely in the late Saxon period, likely the 10th century.
"This was a really exciting and completely unexpected result," enthuses Papworth, who was involved in the study. "It makes the giant much older than we previously realized – predating the earliest known documentary evidence by several centuries. It rules out those stories about him being a 17th century lampoon. The Cerne Abbas Giant is not just an antiquarian folly, but a real piece of living history stretching back over a thousand years."
The discovery raises intriguing new questions even as it answers old ones. What did the giant signify to his late Saxon creators? Was he a pagan god, a folk hero, a protective totem, or something else entirely? Unfortunately, with no surviving written records from the period mentioning the giant, we may never recover his original intended meaning.
However, Papworth sees this ambiguity as part of the giant‘s enduring appeal. "I think the mystery surrounding him is key to his charm and power," he reflects. "The Cerne Abbas Giant is a palimpsest, an emblem that has meant different things to different people across the ages. He‘s a fertility symbol, an object of curiosity, a source of local pride, and a visitor attraction all rolled into one."
Indeed, the giant today is a major tourist draw for the region, with thousands flocking to see him each year. Visitor numbers have only grown since the announcement of the figure‘s Saxon dating, with 2022 seeing a record 200,000 people make the trek to Cerne Abbas.
To help protect the giant from erosion and preserve him for future generations, he requires regular maintenance in the form of re-chalking his outlines every decade or so. This painstaking conservation work is carried out by a team of skilled National Trust rangers and volunteers.
"Looking after the giant is a big responsibility, but also a real privilege," says Martin Papworth. "He‘s an icon of the British countryside and an important part of our national heritage. The recent evidence of his great antiquity only makes that mission feel more vital. We want to ensure he endures for at least another millennium."
Thus, while the Cerne Abbas Giant may be an inscrutable enigma, he remains a beloved and quintessential symbol of England‘s rich history. His titanic presence has loomed over the Dorset hills for centuries, inspiring wonder, awe, and no shortage of bawdy amusement. Long may he stand watch, a testament to the fascinating mysteries still waiting to be unraveled in England‘s ancient landscapes.
