Devizes Wiltshire White Horse

Devizes Wiltshire White Horse

In part 4 of our series on visiting the Wiltshire White Horses, this week it was the turn of the Devizes Wiltshire White Horse.


About Devizes Wiltshire White Horse

The Devizes Wiltshire White Horse is the youngest of the horses. Designed by Peter Greed, it was carved by some 200 local people into bank field at Roundway hill in 1999. It was created to celebrate the millennium. For more info on the new dig visit Wiltshire White Horses website.

Apparently this was not the first white horse to be carved near Devizes. Back in 1845 a horse was cut into the west side of Roundway Hill underneath Oliver’s Castle. Sadly, after years of neglect, the original horse disappeared around 1922, reclaimed by the land, what a shame.

When did we visit:

We visited on a Sunday morning early September. It was pretty quiet at this white horse, with only 4-5 cars parked at the top. We had the white horse pretty much to ourselves most of our visit.

How to get to the Devizes White Horse:

The white horse in located just outside the historic market town of Devizes at Roundway.

We followed the A361 from Avebury toward Devizes. If you’re travelling this way then:

  • Go straight across the first and second roundabouts
  • Pass the petrol station on your right
  • At the Travelodge turn right and directly right again onto Folly Road
  • Follow Folly Road round and up the hill
  • You will see the White Horse on the right as you drive up the hill
  • There is plenty of parking at the top for cars and vans Motorhomes/vans we’d recommend parking in the layby at the top and NOT turn left into the car park as there are quite a few potholes in the car park.

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What We Liked About This Site:

The views on a clear day from the Devizes White Horse are outstanding, looking out across to Bishops Canning and the Pewsey Vale. This is a peaceful location with several benches at the top of the field looking down over the horse and Pewsey Vale.

Views From Devizes Wiltshire White Horse
Views across Pewsey Vale from Devizes White Horse

Whilst we sat in beautiful sunshine we were lucky to spot a bird of prey hunting in the field below us. Sweeping across the recently harvested field, the bird soared over our heads and behind us into the copse of trees. There was a noisy, hungry chick calling out from the nest.

This horse isn’t the easiest to view or take photos of from close up. The field isn’t very steep, which results in the horse being quite flat when standing next to it. That said, it’s still a lovely place to stand above the horse and look out across the landscape.

Devizes Wiltshire White Horse
Close Up of Devizes Wiltshire White Horse

Points to note:

Folly Road leading up to the Devizes White Horse is narrow. Not quite passable for two cars, however there are several pull ins to help traffic pass, so just keep an eye out and use these when needed.

There is a FREE car park and layby at the top. Plenty of space and right next to the gate to enter the field where the horse is located. Just drive in slowly as there are quite a few deep potholes.

If you take your dog then watch out for cattle that graze in the field. If you spot them put your dog on lead just to be on the safe side. We always advocate being responsible dog owners so that we can all enjoy these lovely walks and trails. When we visited there were cows snoozing in the sunshine at the far end of the field, but they were well away from the White Horse.

Trip highlight

As soon as we went through the gate into the field where the Devizes White Horse was, Coco sniffed out a nice soggy cow pat. Within 30 seconds she was rolling like a pig in muck 🙁

  • It was proper wet sloppy just how she loves it – OMG honestly she’s a nightmare.
  • She looked very pleased with herself and thought we were praising her but actually we were squealing and shouting noooooooooo!
  • As if that wasn’t enough she decided to share the cow pat LOVE – the Spaniel shake had us all jumping around the field trying to avoid her. Coco clearly thought this was a great game.
  • Dave got the last laugh as he spotted a water trough and dunked her straight in it. Harness and dog wash complete we then marched her around the field drying off on lead to stop her rolling in more lovely cow pats.

Useful information:

Nearby:

Wiltshire has so much to offer visitors, you really are spoilt for choice. Here are just a few suggestions to tempt you to visit our lovely county:

  • Devizes historic market town is just a few minutes drive from the white horse. It has a wealth of history and architectural heritage with more than 500 listed buildings and a large Market Place in the heart of the town.  
  • Visit the Wadworth Brewery shop, pubs and maybe join their tour around Devizes. You can sample their famous 6X and maybe see the Shire horses that still deliver to pubs in the town.
  • Caen Hill Locks – The 16 locks that form the steepest part of the Caen Hill flight are a scheduled ancient monument on the Kennet and Avon canal. There are 29 locks in total over a 2 mile stretch of water. The well kept tow path makes this a beautiful walk.
  • Wiltshire Museum which has award-winning galleries that feature gold from the time of Stonehenge and tell the story of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.
  • Walk a section of the Wansdyke – read more about what this is and where to find it

We hope you enjoyed our review of Devizes Wiltshire White Horse. Let us know in the comments below if you visit this white horse and found our article useful. We’d love to see pics of your visit.


Related Posts:

Have you seen our other White Horse articles?


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