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Lost Gods of Albion: The Chalk-hill Figures of Britain: The Chalk Hill Figures of Britain
 
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Lost Gods of Albion: The Chalk-hill Figures of Britain: The Chalk Hill Figures of Britain (Hardcover)

by Timothy Darvill (Foreword), Paul Newman (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 216 pages
  • Publisher: Sutton Publishing Ltd; 2nd Revised edition edition (19 Feb 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0750915633
  • ISBN-13: 978-0750915632
  • Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 18.4 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,032,043 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
The 2nd revised edition on the origins of hill-figures has been newly illustrated and updated to incorporate radical new interpretations arising from the latest discoveries and researches, including the 1996 Cerne Giant conference.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Superb study of a fascinating subject, 15 Mar 2007
By S. Bailey "will work for books" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Lost Gods of Albion: The Chalk Hill-Figures of Britain (Paperback)
After Stonehenge, these chalk figures, cut through the turf to expose the white stone below, are probably some of the most famous landmarks in England. The main part of Newman's work is devoted to the more mysterious and probably older figures of giants, horses and some less readily identifiable; those whose recent provenance is well-recorded are given small space in an appendix.

This is a fascinating survey, not just because I am perennially intrigued by the pre-Christian history of Britain and long for some definite proof of our native religion, but also because Newman views these figures as part of a living landscape: the beliefs of seventeenth century antiquarians and twentieth century New Agers have, for him, as much relevence as the beliefs of whoever made the figures in the first place. Such liberality is cheering, as well, of course, as being an extremely practical attitude for getting done the labour-intensive work of keeping the figures cleared.

Newman largely tends towards the belief that the figures are of ancient provenance, while accepting that they almost certainly undergone varying amounts of modification down the centuries. Six figures (the Uffington, Westbury and Tysoe horses, the Cerne Abbas and Wilmington giants and the Chiltern crosses) are given special consideration, with archaeological, historical and historiographical detail. There are also chapters on the horse cult in Britain, the lost (or possibly never-extant) giant figures on Plymouth Hoe and their relation to giant figures around the City of London, and on Tom Lethbridge's work at Wandlebury Ring outside Cambridge (a cautionary tale on the evils of wishful thinking if ever there was one!).

Newman writes:

[T]he Gogmagog and Corineus fable is an example of a medieval reading superimposed on an artefact so old that nothing survives to clarify its origin. [p.111]

and ultimately, this is the problem with this subject. It can be shown to be probable that any one figure is ancient in origin, it can be shown to be possible that a horse cult did exist in some form in Britain, but more definite and detailed proofs will always be out of reach. Newman's forward-looking attitude seems in some ways to attempt to bypass this problem; we will never know the significance of these figures to the people who originally made them, but we know their importance to ourselves.

However, I would have been happier with this as a position had the various historical attitudes been more carefully documented. There is not one footnote reference in the whole book (there are three footnotes, but they are all parenthetical), and the bibliography is "select", so frequently that does not help with citations annotated by author's surname and (sometimes) year only. It would be virtually impossible to follow up many of Newman's references, for example page 107 where an apparently direct quote from the Aldermen of London is given no provenance whatsoever.

This annoys me, mainly because it has turned what would have been a very good and useful book into a coffee-table guide book. That I would still recommend it must show how good it could have been.
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