Cherhill

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Cherhill is a village in Wiltshire, England located on the A4 road between Calne and Marlborough and about 90 miles west of London.

It is known for the white horse cut into the chalk hillside in 1780, the Landsdowne obelisk on the Cherhill Downs, and the crop circles that appeared in the fields at the bottom of the Downs. The area around the Horse and obelisk is owned by the National Trust.

Cherhill White Horse seen from the village

Cherhill has a population of around 650 people with a mixture of housing ranging from thatched cottages to newly built detached houses. It has a church, school, pub, village hall and cricket team.

Cherhill is located in the Wiltshire North parliamentary constituency and governed by Cherhill Parish Council, North Wiltshire District Council [1] and Wiltshire County Council [2].

The Cherhill Gang were a notorious group of highway men who operated in the 18th century on the London to Bath main road (now A4) which passes through the village — they were noted for their robbery technique of attacking carriages of the wealthy Londoners whilst naked to shock the passengers into handing over their money and so that they could not be identified.

Cherhill parish forms part of The Oldbury Benefice together with Compton Bassett, Yatesbury, Heddington and Calstone Wellington.

The nearest train station is Chippenham station, 7.5 miles away, and the closest motorway access is junction 15 of the M4 which is 9 miles away.

[edit] Cherhill White horse

The Cherhill White horse was cut out of the hillside in 1780. Due to chalk being washed away and weeds growing on it, it has been restored several times. The most recent restoration took place in 2006.