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<< Our Photo Pages >> Bush Howe - Hill Figure or Geoglyph in England in Cumbria

Submitted by DavidRaven on Sunday, 14 December 2003  Page Views: 16106

Multi-periodSite Name: Bush Howe
Country: England County: Cumbria Type: Hill Figure or Geoglyph
Nearest Town: Sedburgh
Map Ref: SD658978  Landranger Map Number: 97
Latitude: 54.374548N  Longitude: 2.527972W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
3

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Bush Howe
Bush Howe submitted by DavidRaven : The mythical hill figure of the Black Horse of Bush Howe. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Hill Figure in Cumbria

The first time I heard of the almost mythical 'Black Horse of Bush Howe' was at the impressionable age of fourteen, in the book 'Brigantia' by Guy Ragland Phillips. In it, he tells of an ancient hill figure, cut into the slopes of a remote valley in the Howgill Fells, near Sedburgh. This figure, reminiscent of the horses carved eons ago in French and Spanish caves was, he said, evidence of a surviving 'Dobbie Cult'.

A 'Dobbie' doesn't seem to be a horse though - more a 'big, black horrible misshapen thing that slips about', if glimpsed at all it's more likely seen out of the corner of your eye, before it vanishes. They are usually found by bridges or fords waiting to accost the hapless traveller. Some of the old houses around the village of Sedburgh, such as Bleaze Hall and Copplethwaite Hall have their own 'dobbies'.

For me the strangest part of the tale was it's inconclusiveness. Apparently, the locals can't decide if it exists or not! Not one mention of it is made in any of the guide books describing the Howgills and surrounding region. Over the last half dozen or so years I've made several trips to wander the hills and never seen anything like it.

The comedian, writer and keen walker Mike Harding lives round that part of the world. I emailed him from his website asking him if he knew anything about it. He told me that it's called 'The Black Horse of Busha' locally. He had heard of it's existence, gave us an idea of it's whereabouts, but said he'd never seen it himself. Guy Ragland Phillips made five visits to photograph the black horse. All failed. His first trip was scuppered by mists that descended as he tried to take a suitable shot. The second occasion he used up a whole reel of film in hazy sunshine. Not a single picture came out. His third attempt yielded just 'three very misty' pictures, the fourth was a 'complete washout'. His fifth try was along the valley bottom, following Long Rigg Beck then climbing White Fell. The instant he tried to take a phtograph the slopes clouded over. From that point onwards the weather was against him. He walked over to the top of Bush Howe and made a descent to where he thought it might be. After a slide down the hill on his rear he found himself on the Horses 'head'.

'There was nothing whatever to see except a waste of black stones, the dark Silurian shale of which the Howgills consist. No shape at all could be distinguished. The horse had slipped from my grasp at the last second ' he wrote.

He paced out the extent of the stone, finding it to be 140 yards long and 120 yards high. He told also of a thwarted Inspector from the Ministry of the Environment who, try as he might, couldn't get a decent photograph of the Horse. So, with curiosity aroused a trip to find it was planned!

29th March, 2003. An unusually warm spring day. An old friend with an interest in the weird and unusual had volunteered his company for a hike around the hills.

The fog burnt off in no time making the ascent of 'Winder' a sweaty slog, not helped by the previous nights excesses of beer and take-aways! Once on the tops a chilling breeze had us putting layers back on, but made the next two summits less demanding to reach.

On reaching the 'trig' point on the top of 'The Calf' the smooth grassy slopes spread out all around us, like a huge parched wilderness! No cars, no kids, airplanes, no man-made noise at all! Just the wind through the grass.The summit of Bush Howe was clearly visible in the distance (to the left of the trig point top in the pic.) After a hasty snack we set off at a run. Rain clouds and fog had begun to appear on the horizon in the west, moving up the valleys towards us.

We knew that the conditions could change in seconds up there, leaving no chance of finding anything. We rushed along the indistinct path to the peak of Bush Howe.

And found nothing!

Wandering the hill aimlessly, it would've taken an age to cover all the ground. We needed to view the slopes from the west, like Phillips had. The ridge went north before continueing around to the west, over Breaks Head to Fell Head. We ran as well as our packs would allow, all the time watching the fog and cloud creep slowly up the valley. We couldn't see anything that even vaguely resembled the sketch in 'Brigantia'.

The mist and cloud seemed to be stuck momentarily at the bottom of the valley. We had almost reached the end of the ridge when we spotted a large indistinct grey patch on the slopes of 'The Height of Bush Howe' (the hill adjacent to Bush Howe)...

It was the Black Horse! Unfortunately the slope was at an angle that prevented us from getting a clear photograph! We needed to get back to the other side of the valley where we had been originally. We consulted the map to plot it's location - the appropriately named 'Stranger Gill'! The clouds were now dark and ominous. We didn't think we'd make it in time...

The trek back seemed to take forever. As we neared the top of White Fell Head I could see the shape clearly and started to take shots at a frantic rate, hoping the rain would hold off. Reaching the summit we collapsed, threw off our rucksacks and took as many phtographs as we could. Some of them had to come out!

Unsure if we had long before an imminent cloudburst, I volunteered to climb down the sides of 'Stranger Gill' to the figure, so that Bill could get a few shots with me in for a sense of scale.

The closer I got to the figure, the harder it was to discern where it was! Before I knew it, I was standing on the Horse's 'back'! The shape didn't seem to be cut from the thin moorland turf. It just appeared to be a layer of evenly-sized rocks placed on the surface. I don't know what I had expected to find. Something more clearly defined perhaps? Less indistinct around the edges? Was it just naturally occuring scree or was it man made?

It's origins weren't the only things I found fascinating. Phillips said that the fact it was almost unrecorded was like a 'conspiracy of silence'.However local tradition tells of it's use as a landmark for navigation by smugglers on Morecambe Bay some 20 miles away. From where I sat on the Horse's back I could see the still waters of the bay shimmering in the sun.

Phillips also quoted an old poem reputedly from the Celtic kingdom of Rheged, the frontier of which lay somewhere near the hills in which the figure is found. The poem contained details of 'Du y Moroedd', or 'Black Moro' ('the black one of the sea') one of the three horses of Britain. He goes on to refer to the Welsh Triads describing an invasion of north Wales from the north, probably Cumbria, connected with this horse. The beast carried seven men from 'the Benllech of the North' to a place on the coast of Anglesey also called Benllech! He proposed this 'Benllech of the North' to be Bush Howe. He reckoned that a line could be followed, like a 'ley' right down the Long Rigg Beck valley and across the sea to very near Benllech in Anglesey! Hmmm! I couldn't quite see that far... So, it does seem as if it was known about in times past.

Enjoying the solitude of the empty valley and the warmth of the afternoon sun, I sat awhile before climbing the steep track-less hillside back to my colleague. As I passed the 'head' of the Horse I stopped, picking up three small stones as a small keepsake. Placing them in a pocket I turned to go. I took a dozen steps and stopped. It didn't feel right somehow. I threw them back.

Down on the slopes of Whin's End, three wild black Fell ponies watched as I made my way back to the summit of White Fell Head.

Back in Sedburgh, enjoying a pint in the pub beer garden, relaxing in the last of the days sunshine I recalled the sense of wonder I had felt reading of the Black Horse as a teenager. Over half my lifetime ago.

It's there. It is real. I still don't have a clue what it is, but I found it, eventually...
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Bush Howe
Bush Howe submitted by DavidRaven : The Black Horse of Bush Howe and Me. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bush Howe
Bush Howe submitted by DavidRaven : Another picture of the Black Horse of Bush Howe. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Bush Howe
Bush Howe submitted by JuliaPritchard : A picture taken of the Horse in the summer of 2023. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SD6597 : The Horse of Bush Howe by Karl and Ali
by Karl and Ali
©2012(licence)
SD6597 : On Bush Howe by Michael Graham
by Michael Graham
©2008(licence)
SD6597 : Bush Howe by Michael Graham
by Michael Graham
©2008(licence)
SD6597 : Descending Bush Howe by Michael Graham
by Michael Graham
©2008(licence)
SD6597 : Stranger Gill by David Brown
by David Brown
©2010(licence)

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"Bush Howe" | Login/Create an Account | 7 News and Comments
  
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Re: Bush Howe by JuliaPritchard on Thursday, 22 February 2024
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I live in the Hamlet of Howgill and the lane down to my mother's farm is where you get the best view of 'The Horse' on Bushaw (as I have always known it). Bushaw is a fell in it's own right, but listed on very few maps. Bushaw stands slightly to the north west of The Calf fell and adjacent to Fell Head and White fell. The name Bushaw could be derived from Brant Haw, a Scandinavian term for Black Stallion.

At close quarters the 'Horse' appears to be a large area of finely knit stone, firm and not worked down by time. It can be reached by walking up Blands Gill in the direction of The Calf. Blands Gill is another name for Chapel Beck; they are one and the same although listed as either on different maps.

An elderly Howgill farmer mentioned that in the days of his youth, towards the end of the 19th Century, a group of Howgill farmers would go up Bushaw once a year, to trim and tidy up the Horse to ensure it remained identifiable. Nowadays, it looks rather like a sitting duck, due probably to subsequent neglect and the elements. The best views from my mother's lane can be seen when the sun is shining in a certain position onto Bushaw or there has been a light dusting of snow.

The late Dr Noble Frankland a decorated RAF Vetaran and local historian who attended Sedbergh School reported that it might have been the site of tribal battle or a land-fall to the Vikings sailing up Morecambe bay and perhaps travelling overland from the direction of Milnthorpe, which was the head of navigable waters in Morecambe bay.

Another local man recalled that when he was a boy, just before World War I, the then Headmaster of Howgill school was instrumental in commissioning a Professor Boyde Dawkin from London to make investigations at Bushaw and to hold an archeological 'dig' there. His conclusions were similar to Dr Frankland. Remains of dwellings have been found at the foot of Bushaw, although the date of their origins remains as much a mystery as the construction of the 'Horse' However some huts were erected there, possibly in the 18th century and apparently for the protection of travellers.

So my knowledge of the 'Horse' seems to be the next chapter to David's history and the hill figure definitely seems to have been used as a landmark for navigation from Morecambe bay, some 20 miles away. The fact that David could see the "still waters of Morecambe bay when he was sat on the horses back" is testament to this.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Bush Howe by coldrum on Monday, 04 January 2010
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Photos of The Black Horse:

http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/finn/bb.htm

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Re: Bush Howe by coldrum on Monday, 04 January 2010
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The Black Horse is mentioned in the book Twilight of the Celtic Gods by David Clarke and Andy Roberts.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Twilight-Celtic-Gods-Exploration-Traditions/dp/0713725222
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Re: Bush Howe by 01Scott on Saturday, 29 October 2005
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Very good piece this. I have enjoyed many walks in the Howgills, but every time i get near to where the "horse" is i can never find or see it! Still it's an excuse to keep going out on the fells!
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Bush Howe by Anonymous on Saturday, 09 July 2005
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=54.374548N+2.527972W&spn=0.051940,0.068982&t=k&hl=en
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Bush Howe by Andy B on Sunday, 10 July 2005
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    Hello - no need to add these by hand. I can get the Portal to generate these links automaticallty.
    Thanks
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Bush Howe by DavidRaven on Wednesday, 29 December 2004
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I got an email from Joyce Scobie (the Chairman of the Sedbergh and District History Society) a few months back. She told me;-

"... school children in Howgill in the 1930's and 40's were given a day off every summer to go up and trim it to maintain the shape of a horse. "

... which to me lends credence to the idea that it is an artificially constructed, or at least modified hill-figure. She was given this information by an old lady (now sadly deceaced) who remembered doing this in her childhood.

I also spoke on the phone to Jack Dawson, village elder and former JP, a man of excellent reputation in the local community. He told me of a local legend he had heard, 80 years ago (!), that the horse was used by the Roman armies as a landmark on their way up the Lune valley, from Lancaster to Penrith and Carlisle.
He also recalled the pre-war practice by local farmers of having what he called an annual 'Boon Day'. A day off from work to meet at the site to tidy-up the outline of the figure.
Mr. Dawson also bemoaned the fact that no-one seems to care for the figure anymore. He was concerned about it's future.

Again, if the hard-working hill-farmers were bothered enough to have a day off to do this, surely the figure used to have a certain amount of importance to the people in the area?


I hope it doesn't slowly disappear under encroaching vegetation over time...
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