The Cerne Abbas Giant

The Cerne Abbas Giant is perhaps the most well-known of the chalk figures of England. Approximately 60 have been etched on the landscape with less than a third being dug out in antiquity. The Rude Man of Cerne with his 5m erection, stands proud above the rest, in notability.

The Cerne Abbas Giant stands 180 feet tall. Picture originally from the National Trust (2016) website (image now removed).

The Cerne Abbas Giant seen from the air in ca. 1991 from Papworth (2020j). Original caption reads: The Trendle is just visible as a rectangle above the Giant’s head on the crest of the down.

To keep him visible, to public view he needs ‘scouring’ and re-chalking approximately every seven to eight years. In centuries past the people of Cerne Abbas and surrounding villages, came together to accomplish the task. And after? – why there was merriment, dancing and games around the maypole, in the Trendle above. Nowadays, under the National Trust’s benign ownership he gets his facelift on a regular basis.

National Trust volunteers scouring the Giant in 2019. Original caption reads “Volunteers helping to re-chalk the Cerne Abbas Giant” from National Trust (2021b).

Various theories have been put forward as to the origin of the Geoglyph: was he an Iron Age fertility symbol, a Roman representation of Hercules, or a parody of 17th-century politician Oliver Cromwell?

However, as there is no mention of the figure in a 1540s survey of the Cerne Abbey lands, nor in a 1617 survey conducted by the English cartographer John Norden, most archaeologists, lean towards a post-medieval date, for the creation of the Cerne Giant. The accepted orthodoxy was that it was first dug out, sometime in the 1500’s similar to the Long Man of Willmington. However a significant minority still took an alternate view that the figure was created in the Iron Age or even late Bronze Age like the Uffington Horse.

While the origins and significance, of the figure and the meaning attached to it by the people that built it, are cloaked by the mists of time, the giant has become a beloved fertility symbol. According, to local folklore, couples who make love on the aforementioned appendage, are guaranteed to conceive.

Despite the original meaning and usage of the figure being unknown, scientists have worked hard to discover when the turf was original removed. One complication is that the figure has to be ‘re-chalked’ every few years so that it remains visible. The process involves removing any invading herbage and then pounding chalk quarried from nearby, into the trenches that make up the figure. Therefore scientists needed to study the very base of the deposit.

As Papworth (2020l), explains the project is a very long time in coming to fruition: “Minutes of the National Trust meeting 3rd February 1994... Action: to organise a meeting between all the interested parties and together build a research project to enable us to get a date for the Giant. After four years of consultation the research design was created and agreed.

It would include a detailed contour survey of Giant Hill, a review of the local landscape archaeology and documentary evidence…. but particularly excavations across the deeper stratigraphy, clearly visible from a build-up of sediments at his feet.

This would be the best place to get the samples to obtain an optically stimulated luminescence date (OSL) …but the funding failed…. The research design document stayed in the files….. It remained as evidence of what might have been.”

LiDAR image of Cerne Giant and Trendle earthwork, where a maypole was erected and celebrations may have taken place, to accompany the seven-yearly scourings of the figure. From Papworth (2020i), original caption reads: The processed LiDAR image of the Cerne Giant with the Trendle earthwork above him clearly outline. A rectilinear structure, probably building footings can be seen in the centre of the earthwork and top left what look like prehistoric rectilinear field boundaries approaching the enclosure. On the Giant, the pronounced earthworks from soil settling on his horizontal lines can be seen on his elbows and feet as lines of yellow and his nose, recreated in 1993, glows bright yellow.

Papworth (2020l) continues: “22 years later and we approached another centenary. This time the Giant’s centenary. I asked again and Hannah the General Manager said ‘yes, let’s do it …. This is the Cerne Giant’s acquisition centenary year!”

In March 2020, the archaeologists traveled to the hilltop site in Dorset, to begin their investigations of the Cerne Giant. As indicated by the LiDAR results, they dug trenches in the areas of greatest soil settlement: his elbows and feet. They record the layers as they dug. These they related to known scourings of the Giant until they reached horizons, beyond, known history. Here, just above the untouched bedrock, they took samples of soil, that had not seen the light of day since the Giant was first created.  These OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) samples can give an age for the last, exposure to sunlight, of the quartz grains in the soil sample.

Archaeologists at work attempting to find an age for the Cerne Abbas Giant. Clockwise from the top left archaeologists seen trenching the left and right feet down the length of the Giant’s shaft, Papworth (2020e); Martin Papworth recording trench profile during the excavation, National Trust (2021a); Cerne Giant excavation sites, left and right elbow and feet, original caption reads: showing the sites of the 4 excavations clockwise from bottom right trenches A B C and D (photo John Charman Cerne Historical Society) Papworth (2020i); archaeologist labelling OSL samples, original caption reads: Prof. Phillip Toms, Academic Subject Leader in Environmental Sciences at the University of Gloucestershire, labels samples. From BANR (2021); Archaeologists Mike Allen and Julie Gardner bag soil samples to find tiny snails to give palaeoenvironmental evidence, BANR (2021). 

Papworth (2020g) describes the excavation of the four trenches (A – D): “The diggers assemble from the four trenches.

They gravitate towards Trench B. where Carol is investigating the sole of the Giant’s right foot.. Nancy rises up from the left foot (Trench A) and Pete and I pull ourselves out of our excavations and slide down the hill from the elbows. C is carved into the club wielding right arm and I am at D, the outstretched arm.

How do our trenches compare? We sip tepid coffee from cooling thermos flasks. The sun is sinking.

Yes, we each have the three compacted chalk layers 2019, 2008 and 1995 pummelled by steel tampers once wielded by National Trust rangers, volunteers and wardens. They crush the top of a 0.3m deep cutting, filled with ‘kibbled’ fragments, placed there perhaps in two phases 1979 and 1956 courtesy of E.W Beard, contractors of Swindon. They first proved their worth as the re-chalkers of the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire (another National Trust property). The Ministry of Works recommended them.

Further down, below a rammed layer lies the chunky chalk. I have it 0.2m deep but the others have lost much of theirs. Cut away by the kibbled events. Below this is the thin crust which caves into the soft silty chalk… we all have this up to 0.1m deep.

Carol says this scrapes away onto the more solid pasty chalk. I mention the bluey brown film on the top of this and we all nod sagely.

Peter interjects “but what of the lower chunky chalk”.

We are amazed… beneath the ‘pasty’ layer there lies a greater and deeper chunky chalk with lumps just as large as in the upper deposit…but this time… mixed with flint nodules. When this is dug out…. it is up to 0.3m deep and probing through this we hit proper geological chalk.”

So nine layers were found in total with a combined depth of ca. 80cm.. much, much deeper than soils found on chalk slopes which are typically of only 20 – 30cm in depth. This was unexpected and caused much (professionally suppressed) excitement amongst the archaeologists. Over the next couple of days, Martin Papworth drew and recorded the sections for each trench and Mike Allen, collected soil samples (hopefully) containing snails to gain information on the palaeoenvironment. On the final day (20^th March 2020), Philip Toms extracted the OSL samples and the trenches were backfilled.

The curious feature, below the Giant’s outstretched left hand were also investigated: “Mike was augering the low grassy mound of the severed head. I went over and inspected his soil column. Definitely an archaeological feature, we would have to do some geophysics before deciding whether further excavation was justified.” Papworth (2020k). Results, so far, have not been forthcoming.

What happened next is familiar to us all, but still remains, a surreal, unprecedented experience: the worldwide pandemic began its fast climb to a horrific fist peak.

Consequently, soon after the samples were taken COVID19 hit home in the UK, in earnest: Martin Papworth from Current Archaeology (2021): “As we drove away from the site on 20th March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first stage of COVID-19 restrictions, closing pubs, restaurants, and hotels – but we did not appreciate how much more would change. By the following Monday, our OSL samples had reached the laboratories of Gloucester University and were ready to be analysed, but with the announcement of full lockdown, there they have sat ever since.”

Whilst the big institutions, like universities furloughed their staff, Mike Allen was a private contractor, working from home. His soil samples were with him at home. Therefore, he could set about analysing them unlike the OSL samples professor Toms from the university of Gloucestershire, had collected.

Throughout the spring of 2020, Allen washed the soil samples and laboriously plucked out hundreds of half-millimetre-sized snail shell fragments from the mud. These he identified to species based on minute differences in whorl patterns, lines, and hair pits.

Snails are not typically used as a dating technique, but Allen can roughly estimate when a geoglyph was formed based on historic snail migration. Around the first century, Romans imported certain fleshy snails to Britain to eat as escargot, whereas later snail species hitched a ride on hay packed into medieval merchant ships.

In the giant’s earliest layer, Allen found two mollusc species regarded as medieval immigrants – Cernuella virgata and Candidula gigaxii. These snails were not present in the soil that predates the Cerne Giant. So, Allen concluded the figure was probably early medieval or later.

Snail shells identical to those above were found in the lowest and oldest sediments collected from Cerne Giant, from Discover Magazine (2020). Original caption reads: Remnants of snails of the Cernuella virgata species (whose shells are seen here) suggest the Cerne Abbas Giant first appeared on a Dorset hillside in England’s early medieval period. (Credit: H. Zell/Wikimedia Commons).

The soil samples did give interestingly give some important palaeoenvironmental information, which was their original purpose.

Allen says “We can divide our samples into those that are early and may pre-date the Giant, those that are early and contemporary with the Giant, and those that are later (and obviously still contemporary with the Giant). Of the species we identified in the samples, the majority are typical of open short-grazed calcareous downland similar to the pasture we see around the Giant today. However, some samples yielded shells belonging to snails that do not thrive in these dry habitats. There appears to have been a possible phase after the Giant was carved on the chalk hillside when the slope may have been covered in long, unkempt, and ungrazed grassland and shrubs, such as hawthorn and blackberry, which may have possibly partly obscured the figure. In a subsequent phase, though, a community of land snails liking short, dry, grazed grassland seems to return, suggesting that this lush environment did not last.”

A more precise date for the Cerne Abbas Giant’s construction would have to wait over a year until the end of the first lockdown and subsequent reopening of university laboratories.

The above six paragraphs have been extracted from interviews and reportage of Allen’s analysis from Discover Magazine (2020), Allen (2020) and Current Archaeology (2021).

Up to this point in the tale of when the Cerne Abbas Giant was created, the Medieval period had not been a favourite in terms of a likely era for its construction. The problem was that the historic documentation reporting the Giant’s presence on his Dorset hillside, was sparse and quite late in date. However, I must point out that ‘absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’. Many Medieval chronicles are only known from references in the extant literature or small fragments. Many are entirely missing or even unknown. It is therefore entirely possible that references to a remote and obscure region such as rural Dorset have disappeared.

I will try to list those that we do know of to assess whether a Medieval origin for the Cerne Giant is a reasonable possibility.

The Cerne Giant as a Medieval, Saxon Hill figure

Accounts of the village of Cerne Abbas as a resistant centre of pagan religion and worship, predate the sources normally cited by hundreds of years. Goos (2013) collects various texts to support his theory that Helith was an Anglo-Saxon God.

The first text concerning Cerne Abbas is by Goscelin (ca. 1099). According to Goos (2013), “Goscelin (also called Gotselin or Jocelyn), was a Benedictine monk and writer of many biographies of English saints. Born in the north of France, he was brought to England likely in 1053 by Hermann, Bishop of Salisbury. To collect material for his biographies, he travelled a lot through England, visiting many cathedrals and monasteries. He died about 1099.”

Goscelin Historia minor de vita S. Augustini (in Wharton (1691)) writes in extremely difficult Medieval Latin:

“Ibi quoque oratorium in perennem memoriam dominicae visionis molitus est in nomine Domini salvatoris. Inde etiam nonasterium in honorem principum Apostolorum Petri dedicatum Cernelium est appellatum, quod constat monachorum choro decoratum. Illum autem fontem Augustini nomine consecratum credentibus esse saluberrimum, hie unum docebat miraculum, teste provincia palam declaratum.”

Goos (2013) does not attempt a translation, however, as the text is so short I attempted one. Several difficulties were encountered. For instance, ‘nonasterium’ is not a Latin word, it should read monasterium. The mistaken first letter (m) is simply due to early English typefaces having an extremely thin left hand rising stroke for the start of the M. Secondly, Illium of course means Troy, but in the Wharton, original the word is ‘Illum’ which means ‘it is’. Thirdly the meaning of the word ‘choro’ has changed subtly over the centuries. Where once its meanings included praise, today it translates as dance! Here is my best guess:

There too is an oratory [small chapel or prayer room] in perennial memory of the vision roused in the name of salvation. Then even a monastery founded in honour of the Apostle Peter called by name Cernelium [Cerne Monastery] by the monks. If we believe the source, one removed from Augustine of Canterbury it was in this district that the miracle of the fountain was performed.

Although I have cited Goos (2013), the basic scholarship on early ecclesiastical texts was carried out by various 14-18^th century learned men: early Historians if you will. These were then often collected in turn by learned societies of England such as the Society of Antiquaries (London) and county equivalents such as the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club (DNHAFC).

In fact the Latin text above may have been drawn by Goos (2013) from this latter source, as it is identical, including the mistaken ‘n’ in monasterium and the misspelling of illum as ilium. Unfortunately, it seems that the DNHAFC (1901) were unable to translate the Latin either, as below their identical text, they append the comment: “Goscelin was a picturesque writer.” This almost certainly indicates that it was indecipherable to their worthies too.

The DNHAFC (1901) source for the works of Goscelin is almost certainly Warton (1691) as he seems to be the earliest transcription from the original as Hayward (2004) points out: “The works on Augustine also survive in a shorter format: Historia minor de vita S. Augustini, ed. H. Wharton, in Anglia sacra, London 1691, ii. 51–71.”

Goscelin also wrote a second text on the subject in Liba Major de Vita S. Augustini (in Mabillon (1668)):

“Ibi plebs impia tenebris suis excaecata, et divinam lucem exosa, non solum audire nequibat vivifica documenta, verum tota ludibriorum et opprobriorum tempestate in sanctos Dei debacchata, longe proturbat eos ab omni possessions sua, nee manu pepercisse creditur erfrenis audacia. At Dei nuntius juxta dominicum praeceptum et apostolorum exemplum, excusso etiam pulvere pedum in eos, dignam suis mentis sententiam, non maledicentis voto, qui omnium salutem optabat, sed divino judicio, et Heliae typo atrocibus injecit : quatenus Sanctorum contemptores tarn in ipsis quam in omnibus posteris suis debeta paena redargueret, qui vitae mandata repulissent. Fama est illos effulminandos prominentes marinorum piscium caudas sanctis appendisse ; et illis quidem gloriam sempiternam peperisse, in se vero ignominiam perennem retorsisse, ut hoc dedecus degeneranti generi, non innocenti et generosae imputatur patriae.”

In English, this reads:

Here the sinful people dazzled themselves by darkness, and hate the divine light, not only in what is spoken, but also in what is written. Truth was totally ridiculed and God’s Saints were scorned and were booed. They took away all their property and inheritance, no hand or idea was saved. But the news of god’s commandment and the example of the apostles, who shook off the dust of their feet against them, because they were worth their punishment, yet they were not injured, because they wished them all salvation and they were consigned to the divine judgment, so that Helio (Heliae) and his followers irrespective of their holiness would know the scope of their penalty, both for themselves as for their posterity, because of their rejection of the precepts of life. And it is said that they who came out of water by the fish, were desirous for sanctity and they have received now eternal holiness, because they were able to dispose themselves from the permanent stigma, in spite of the fight which they were imposed of by the country who rejected frankness and generosity.

Here we see the first mention of the God that the pagans of the region worshipped: Helio. Whether the Cerne Giant is connected to this God is an open question. What exact, source Goscelin used is unknown, however we do know the dates between which it was written. This is because Augustine of Canterbury, was previously the prior of a monastery in Rome when Pope Gregory the Great chose him in 595 AD to lead a mission. These were known as Gregorian missions, in this case Augustine was sent to Britain to Christianize King Æthelberht and to carry the word of the Lord to the populance generally. He accomplished the first task successfully, but the second task of converting the Saxon, populance proved far more difficult as the incident at Cerne shows. Augustine died in 604 at Canterbury. The chronicle of his life must therefore have been written between 605 and 1091. We know that this document existed and Goscelin consulted it from Alston (1909): “In 1098 he went to Canterbury, where he wrote his account of the translation of the relics of St. Augustine and his companions, which had taken place in 1091.”

Portrait labelled "AUGUSTINUS" from the mid-8th century Saint Petersburg Bede, though perhaps intended as Gregory the Great. Wikimedia Commons. 

Writing a little later William of Malmesbury (1125) records virtually, the same story of Augustine at Cerne. Only a short excerpt is included here: 

Sed loco illo virtus hesit demonis conflata invidia qui tantis animarum lucris doleret. Aggrediuntur ergo virum et sotios furiatis mentibus incolae, et magnis dehonestatum injuriis, ita ut etiam caudas racharum vestibus ejus affigerent, impellunt, propellunt, expellunt.

Translated:

So Augustine took on the county I have named, and increased the number of Christians by taking frequent plunder at the Devil’s expense. But here his virtue met a check. For the Devil’s envy was aroused at such a wholesale winning of souls. The locals accordingly assaulted the man and his companions in a transport of rage, insulted him with sore injuries, even attaching ray fish tails to his clothes and pushed him on and away.

A notable omission is the name of the deity, whom the Saxons worship. Instead Walter of Malmesbury substitutes the word Devil. Some have asserted that William of Malmesbury did so because he wanted to demonize the pagan God. However, removing Saxon names and Latinizing them was his normal practice he simply wanted to make a point by making his writing conform to the ideas and customs of the Latin Church. The original is housed at Magdalen College Oxford, and is the oldest autograph in Britain. It is notable that there are distinct similarities between the writings of Goscelin and Walter of Malmesbury, with some scholars arguing that they both used the same source which has disappeared in the depths of time.

Page 11 from Malmesbury’s De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum. Creative commons license included in picture.

The next source that we come to chronologically is Walter of Coventry (1293), an otherwise unknown monk probably of the diocese of York. He writes:

In Dorsetensi pago sunt abbatiæ Kerneliensis, Middiltunensis virorum; Sceaftoniensis feminarum; in quo pago olim colebatur deus Helith; sed prædicans ibidem verbum Dei Sanctus Augustinus vidit mentis oculo Divinam adesse præsentiam, hilarisque factus ait, “Cerno Deum, Qui nobis Suam retribute “gratiam:” eventus vel potius verbum Kernelliensi loco indidit vocabulum, ut vocaretur Kernel, ex duobus verbis Hebraico et Latino; quod Hel Deus dicatur Hebraice. Ibi succedentibus annis Edwoldus frater Edmundi regis et martyris vitam heremiticam solo pane et aqua trivit: post vero religiose actam vitam magna sanctitatis opinione ibidem sepelitur. Cui succedens Aedwardus homo prædives cænobium eo in loco Sancto Petro construxit.

Translation: In the county of Dorset are the abbeys of Cernel [Cerne] and Middleton [Milton]; and the nunnery of Shaston [Shaftesbury]; and in this county the God Helith was once worshipped; but preaching the word of God in that same place, St. Augustine saw in his mind’s eye a divine presence, and having become overjoyed he said, ‘I discern God, Who will restore His grace to us:’ this event or rather word gave its name to the location of Cernel, such that it is called Cernel from two words such that it is called Cernel from two words, one Hebrew and one Latin; because El is what God is called in Hebrew.

Although the last supposition of the origin of Cernel [Cerne Abbas] for the village name, is ludicrous, we see here another reference to the deity worshipped: Helith. The spelling may be different, but the likelihood of two Saxon Gods beginning with the letter H, being worshipped in the same, small Dorset village seems remote.

The next source we have for Cerne Abbas and its pagan worshippers is John Leland (1549). In fact it was Leland who discovered Walter of Coventry’s manuscript in 1538. Stubbs (1872) explains the circumstances of Leland’s discovery and his usage of it thus: “The indefatigable Leland, on his journey of investigation into the antiquities of his country, between the years 1538 and 1544, discovered, unfortunately he does not tell us where, a large manuscript of historical collections, on one leaf of which was the inscription "Memoriale Fratris Walteri de Coventria." The book, he saw at once, was mainly a compilation from Geoffrey of Monmouth, Henry of Huntingdon, Marianus Scotus, and Roger of Hoveden: but he saw also that it contained a good deal of matter, especially on the events of the years 1170 to 1177, and 1201 to 1225, which was not derived from the authors he mentions, and which therefore he regarded as being most probably the work of the person whose name the manuscript bore. On this account he inserted a notice of Walter of Coventry in his Commentaries on the writers of Britain.”

Furthermore, he states: “This manuscript, since Leland discovered it, has had an uneventful history. The great antiquary seems to have possessed himself of it, and to have made his extracts from it at his leisure.” 

One of his extracts from Walter of Coventry reads: “Deus Helith colebatur in pago de Cernel, tempore Augustini, Anglorum apostolic.”

Translated: “The god Helith was worshiped in the village of Cernel in the time of Augustine, apostle of the English.”

John Leland by Thomas Charles Wageman (Public Domain via Wikipedia). 

Our next source is William Camden (1551-1623). Son of a middle-class artisan, he attended St. Paul’s School and Magdalen College, Oxford and developed antiquarian interests. Returning from Oxford to London without a degree (for whatever reason) he became usher of Westminster School in 1575. This position allowed him to travel extremely widely throughout England during school recesses and collect antiquarian materials. The result was the publication of Brittania (1586) a topographical and historical survey of, all Great Britain and Ireland. The work was wildly popular and ran to many editions, with Camden adding more material throughout his life. In In 1593 Camden became headmaster of Westminster School. He held the post for four years, but left when he was appointed Clarenceux King of Arms. By this time, largely because of the Britannia's reputation, he was a well-known and revered figure, and the appointment was meant to free him from the labour of teaching and to facilitate his research.

William Camden, attired for his Royal duties as the Clarenceux King of Arms, during the funeral procession of Elizabeth the first. Wikimedia commons.

With so many editions and reprints of these editions and the additions and amendments that Camden made himself it is difficult to know what Camden’s original Latin text was. I believe the closest to the original reads:

In huius sinus occidentalem angulum frome nobile huius tractus flumen evolvitur, sic vulgus dicit, Anglo-Saxones vero, teste asseiro, frau dixerunt, unde fortasse cum sinus ise Fraumouth olim diceretur, crediderunt posteri Frome esse flumini nomen. fontes hoc habet ad Evarshott prope occiduum huius comitatus limitem, unde in ortum aquas agit per Frompton, cui nomen impertiit, et rivulum a septentrione admittit per cerne monasterium defluentem, quod aedificavit Augustinus ille Anglorum Apostolus cum Heil gentilium Anglo-Saxonum idolum ibi comminuisset, superstitionumque tenebras fugasset.

Translation:

Into the west angle of this bay falleth the greatest and most famous river of all this tract, commonly called Frome, but the English-Saxons, as witnesseth Asseruis, named it Frau, whereupon, perhaps for that this bay was in old time called Fraumouth, the posterity ensuing tooke the rivers name to be Frome. The head thereof is at Evarshot neere unto the west limit of this shire, from whence he taketh his course eastward by Frompton, whereto it gave the name, and from the north receiveth a little river running downe by Cerne Abbay which Augustine the Apostle of the English nation built when he had broken there in peeces Heil, the Idol of the heathen English-Saxons, and chased away the fog of paganish superstition.

A second translation of the same portion of the text, translated into English by Gibson (1695) reads:

Into the west corner of this bay, Frome, a famous river of this county, dischargeth itself; for so 'tis commonly call'd, tho' the Saxons (as we learn from Asserius) nam'd it Frau, from whence perhaps, because this bay was formerly call'd Fraumouth, latter ages imagin'd that the river was call'd Frome. It has its rise at Evarshot, near the western bounds of the shire, from whence it runs Eastward by Frompton, to which it has given its name, and is joyn'd by a rivu∣let from the north that flows by Cerne Abby, which was built by Augustin the English Apostle, when he had dash'd to pieces the Idol of the Pagan Saxons there, call'd Heil, and had reform'd their superstitious ignorance.

The use of the phrase “as witnesseth Asseruis”, initially made me excitedly, think that during his antiquarian travels, Camden must have located and read a text of which I was unaware or lost. In a way, I was right on both counts.

It seems that original text that Camden used to construct his section Descriptio Angliae et Walliae subs. Dorsetshire in Britannia, was by the ninth and early tenth-century Welsh Bishop Asser of St. David’s and Sherborne. The text was known as Vita Ælfredi regis. This document was in the collection of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton of Ashburnam House, London until a fire destroyed it, in 1731 and was known as “Cotton Otho A.xii”.

Luckily the manuscript had been previously copied by Matthew Parker and printed (1574). As Martin (2016) points out “Camden's edition, as it is derivative almost entirely from Parker's printed text” and “Whether William Camden knew it or not, by reproducing Parker's edition almost wholesale, he was producing an edition that would be steeped in Parker's ideological conceits.”

Three interesting facts emerge from these two texts. Firstly the use of a different name for the Anglo-Saxon deity worshipped at Cerne Abbas: Heil.

Secondly this is the first time we have seen any claim possibly relating to the removal of the Cerne Abbas Giant: “he had dash'd to pieces the Idol of the Pagan Saxons there”. This claim, however, may just be an embellishment of Camden’s or his translator, Gibson (1695).

Lastly, the claim that Cerne ‘Abby’ was built by Augustin the English Apostle, is patently false, as the Abbey was founded in 987 AD by Æthelmær the Stout a benefactor of the Benedictines.

It is noteworthy that Richard Gough, editor of the 1789 edition of William Camden's 1637 work Britannica, linked the Giant with a supposed minor Saxon deity named by Camden as “Hegle”. This quote is drawn from Koch (2006). 

My next source is Dr Richard Pococke the Irish Bishop, who visited Cerne Abbas saw the Cerne Giant in 1754. His account is recorded in a secondary source by Brayshay (1996): “In October 1754, Bishop Pococke again visited Dorset.. He described the town of Cerne Abbas as: ‘a large poor town being nearly a mile in circumference. They make malt, and are more famous for beer than any other place in this country; they also spin for the Devonshire clothiers. Pococke made brief notes on the site of the Abbey and the few standing remains that were visible. Finally, he described the Giant: ‘A low range of hills ends to the north of the abbey, on the west side of which is a figure cut in lines by taking out the turf showing the white chalk. It is called the Giant and Hele, is about 150 feet long, a naked figure in a genteel posture, with his left foot set out: it is sort of a Pantheon figure. In his right hand, he holds a knotted club; the left hand is held out and open, there being a bend in the elbow, so that it seems to be Hercules, or Strength and Fidelity, but it is with such indecent circumstances as to make one conclude it was also Priapus. [in other words it had a large erect penis] It is supposed that this was an ancient figure of worship, and one would imagine that the people would not permit the monks to destroy it. the lord of the manor gives some thing once in seven or eight years to have the lines clear’d and kept open.’ 

Next I come to a report on a lecture given by Stukely (1764) and appended to Hutchins (1774), reads thus: “Dr. Stukeley read, and delivered in, a minute of the observations made by him on the Giant of Cerne Abbas, in Dorsetshire, read to the Society the 16th of February last. He observes it is an immense figure of an Hercules, armed with his club, cut out of the turf of a sloping chalk-hill. It required a good share of skill in opticks to make it appear with any tolerable degree of symmetry in that situation…

Stukely, went on to discuss the possibility that the Cerne Giant represented the Phœnician Hercules.

The great British King Eli, surnamed Maur, and the Just, father of Imanuensis, King of the Trinobantes, and of Cassevelan, [Cassivellaunus was a powerful warrior king of the Catuvellauni tribe] who headed the Confederate Britons to oppose Caesar in his invasion of Britain, is intimated, the Doctor thinks, in this figure of the Giant at Cerne Abbas, to which the people there give the name of Helis.”

Incidentally Castleden (1996) quotes Stukely as remarking “Stukeley suggested that “local people know nothing more of [the Giant] than a traditionary account of its being a deity of the ancient Britons”. Perhaps Stukely should’ve delved more deeply into the local lore during his 1723 visit.

This source also appears as an appendix to my next source.

The next source I need to bring to light is Hutchins’ The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset (1774). In the context of the Cerne Giant, this book is notable for its first, widely available, illustration of the Giant.

An image of the Cerne Giant by Hutchins, from the Gentleman’s Magazine (1764). This version clearly shows the Giant’s penis, with his glans clearly connected to the penis shaft. This is a clear contradiction to the belief of modern archaeologists, that the  Giant’s vital organ has become ‘more engorged’ over the centuries and engulfed his navel.

 

A ‘censored’ version of the which was printed in Hutchins (1774). Notice the penis is missing but the letters between the Giant’s feet are shown.

With direct reference to the Cerne Giant Hutchins states: “On the south side of a very steep hill, called Trendle Hill, a little N. of the town, is the figure of a giant, cut in the chalk; his left hand is extended, and his right erected holding a knotted club. The outlines are two feet broad and as many deep. Between his legs are certain rude letters scarce legible given here as copied Aug. 1772. It is plain there were never more than three.” [here Hutchins (1774) records the dimensions of the Giant in a table]. He goes on:

“Some affirm them to be a proof of the great antiquity of the figure, which they refer to Saxon times. Over these are three more figures probably modern. If these are intended for a date, we may read 748, and suppose the figure represents prince Cenric, son Guthred king of Wessex, who was killed that year. The Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester do not say on what occasion, or where. If they are to be taken as to be a modern date of repair (perhaps 1748), and the letters below do not stand for Ano, might we, without a Stukelian conjecture read the word IAO, and suppose the figure to represent the supreme Deity?

It has been reported to have been made by lord Holles’s servants, during his residence here: but it is more likely that he only caused it to be repaired; for some people who died not long since, 80 or 90 years old, when young knew some of the same age, that averred that it was there beyond the memory of man.

There is a tradition, that a giant, who resided hereabouts in former ages, the pest and terror of adjacent country, having made an excursion to Blackmore, and regaled himself of several sheep, retired to this hill, and lay down to sleep. The country people seized this opportunity, pinioned him down, and killed him, and then traced out the dimensions of his body, to perpetuate his memory. Fabulous as this story is, it is perhaps proof of the great antiquity of this figure. It extends over near an acre, as does the White Horse of Berkshire, which is 150 feet from the head to the withers. It seems to have been executed by persons who were not unacquainted with the rules of proportion observed by statuaries and painters, who anciently allowed seven or eight heads to the length of the human body. It is repaired about once every seven years by people of the town, by cleaning the furrows, and filling them with fresh chalk. Scouring the White Horse a custom and festival solemnized from time immemorial, by a numerous concourse of persons from the adjacent villages. If there ever was a particular day in the year for this purpose here, the memory of it is now lost, and the operation performed just when the towns-people think fit. Most antiquaries think that is a monument of high antiquity, and make little doubt but that it was a representation of the Saxon god Heil; fo that it must be more ancient at least than 600 A.D., soon after which time the Saxons were converted to Christianity.

Dr Stukely was of singular opinion, that it was the figure of Hercules, and that the Saxon god Heil was no other than the Phœnician Hercules, or Melicarus, who brought hither the first colony, and that this figure was not so much an object of religious worship, as a memorial. The club in our giant’s hand seems to have led him to imagine this. He supposes this enormous figure might be cut by the Britons in compliment to Eli surnamed the Great, on expelling the Belgæ. Here is a wood called Hell-wood to this day.

The late learned Mr. Wise, who from an excess of delicacy declined to illustrate this singular monument, supposes it of a much later date than the two figures of white horses in Berkshire and Wilts, and Whyteleaf Cross Bucks, which he refers to Saxon times. Mr. Aubrey, in his Monument. Brit. says that before the civil wars, on Shottover Hill near Oxford, was the effigies of a giant cut in the earth, as the White Horse is.

On the top of the hill has been an ancient fortification, 110 feet square, with a rampart of earth, and a ditch only on the N. side; in the centre area hollowed. On the N. point of the hill is a barrow.”

This text throws up a, number of, interesting questions:

• First, Hutchins’ link of the Trendle to maypole erection, is an interesting point as it links the site to residual pagan celebrations, which continued to within living memory
• The maintenance of the figure, throughout the centuries, and the record of the letters between the Giant’s feet shows that it was still held in reverence by the local people and was a ‘living figure’ in that to some other group (Churchmen?) it was still an irritant that needed annotating
• The sentence “It has been reported to have been made by lord Holles’s servants, during his residence here.” What Hutchins didn’t realize was that by simply stating this rumour, he had start a string of suppositions that persist to this day. Modern phrases like ‘urban myth’, ‘conspiracy theory’ and ‘fake news’, spring to mind. This is a second subject I’ll return to later.
• From the memory of local octogenarians and nonagenarians, we can calculate a date for the time when the giant was constructed at a minimum. 1774 – [10 years for people that ‘died not long since’ (+ 80 x 2) + 2 more generations for ‘beyond the memory of man’ (80x2)] or 1774 - 330 years =  1444 AD as a minimum age.
• Hutchins’ recording of the 6 letters between the Cerne Giants feet open a window to the idea that the figure may have been subject to a drift in form or surrounding motifs, over time. This is a theme that I’ll examine when I look at later sources.
• Most antiquaries of the 16^th century and earlier believed that the Cerne Giant was Saxon God Heil, with Hutchins putting the date of construction as 600 AD due to the Saxon pagans being converted to Christianity after this date. Unaccountably this sensible theory was almost utterly forgotten by the 20^th/21^st century. This is perhaps the most surprising fact of all!

The next source I want to look at, is a much later one by March (1901). His article gives details of the Giant and Maypole of Cerne. The maypole set up, every May 1^st, in the square enclosure or “Trendle” above the Giant’s head. He explores the history of maypoles in both a European and local context and states that the Cerne maypole was taken down in 1635, anticipating the Long Parliament’s ordinance of April, 1644, that all maypoles were to be taken down.

However, it was subsequently re-erected: “But, after the advent of Charles II., the maypole was set up again and had a long life. Robert Childs, the present sexton, well remembers it. “It was made,” he says, “every year from a fir-bole, and was raised in the night. It was erected in the ring just above the Giant. It was decorated, and the villagers went up the hill and danced round the pole on the 1st of May."

The fact just mentioned deserves especial notice. Cerne had been a busy town, and had some sort of market-place, as well as a village green. But the maypole was set up in neither of these places, but nearly half a mile away, on the top of a very steep hill, “in the ring just above the Giant." This ring is of a rhomboidal shape, an approximate square, each side measuring about 120 feet, or according, to, Hutchins, 110 feet.

On the opposite side of the valley, on Black Hill, is another "square camp." Two similar camps were excavated by the late General Pitt- Rivers, and of these that at South Lodge is 150 feet square and that on Handley Hill 108 feet square.

No iron was found in them, but bronze implements and weapons in abundance, with tools of horn and flint, and fragments of pottery that revealed a continued occupation into Romano-British times. Now, if exploration has assigned such rhomboidal camps to the Bronze Age, it has proved with equal certitude that a very large proportion of the barrows of Dorset also belonged to that period of civilization.”

March now turns to the topic of the Giant, he goes on:

“Has the Cerne Giant a like affinity? Or is it mediaeval, or even modern? But it cannot be modern, because William Stukeley described it as ancient in a paper, not hitherto published, but now given as an appendix, which he read to the

Society of Antiquaries in 1764. Footnotes: The Cerne Giant is not mentioned by Stukeley in his works, “Itinerarum Curiosum” 1724; “Palseographia Britannica” 1743; “Itinerarum Curiosum Centuria” 1776.

“And, assuredly, few persons can believe that it is mediaeval, the work of monks, though they failed, or were not permitted, to demolish it. Probably they pointed to it as a symbol of the Paganism that Christ came to subvert, and were content to put their mark upon it, as they would carve a cross on a cromlech, to arrest its power for evil by means of a holy signature, which Hutchins saw in August, 1772, and carefully copied (see figure C).”

March’s Figure C – the letters formerly between the Giant’s feet. Figure D is a True Ray, probably a Skate, the tails of which were allegedly pinned to Augustine and his followers backs by the inhabitants of Cerne around AD 900.

On the question of the letters formerly between the Giant’s feet March says: “The figures can hardly form part of a date. They are not Roman numerals, and Arabic letters were not introduced until the XV. century. The formula, I.H.S., was also of late introduction, and would be altogether inappropriate.

The Giant has usually been repaired every seven years, and was last set in order in 1887 by Jonathan Hardy, now 69 years of age, under the direction of General Pitt- Rivers. It is difficult to believe that the original form of a signature has been exactly preserved by those who were totally unacquainted with its meaning.

Speculation, therefore, though easy, is unsafe. But of the letters that were drawn by Hutchins, the first is J. ; the second precisely resembles the sign for Saturn in use prior to the XIV. century or it may be H. ; and the third may be D. So that the signature would read : Jehovah [or Jesus], Saturnum [or Hoc] Destruxit, God has overthrown this idol [or Saturn]. Saturn was the god of agriculture and growth, the devourer of his own children, the fabled author of circumcision, who bore an implement in his right hand, whose festival was celebrated with riotous merriment, and to whom human sacrifices were offered. Combined with such a conceit may have been a monkish play on the word Satan.”

The penultimate source I want look at is Lethbridge (1957). T. C. Lethbridge (1901-1971), was an English archaeologist and parapsychologist. A specialist in Anglo-Saxon archaeology, he served as honorary Keeper of Anglo-Saxon Antiquities at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology from 1923 to 1957. He claimed that Iron Age hill figures existed below the turf, at Wandlebury Hill on the Cambridge chalk downs. His excavations there caused significant controversy within the archaeological community, with most archaeologists believing that Lethbridge had erroneously misidentified a natural feature as a group of hill figures. Lethbridge's methodology and theories were widely deemed unorthodox, and in turn he became increasingly critical of the archaeological profession. After he published Gogmagog The Buried Gods in 1957, his career ended abruptly. He was dismissed from his post after quarter century of diligent work at Cambridge university.

Lethbridge’s book describes his excavations at Wandlebury in detail. These culminated in a vast tableau of figures emerging from the chalk turf. He backs up his work with research into local history and folklore and concludes that the three figures are an Iron Age. In the second part of the book he attempts to synthesise what is known of the hill figures of Britain.  This thoughtful and wide-ranging literature review naturally included the Cerne Abbas Giant.

Lethbridge however, is not satisfied with these written, primary and secondary sources and consults aerial photographs of the Giant. Whether these were connected to those collected by the Royal Airforce during World War II, I have been unable to ascertain. Whatever their source, Lethbridge was (as far as I am aware), the first person to note the presence of a cloak, descending from the Giants left arm. Even more interestingly was the fact that, by his careful examination of these aerial images, he came to believe that a second figure could be discerned further out, beyond the Giant’s cloaked left arm.

Hand-drawn sketch by Lethbridge (1957) of the cloak and possible second figure on Trendle Hill, Cerne Abbas. Original caption reads: Fig. 12 - Sketch composed from the study of several air-photographs and direct observation of the Cerne Giant. This shows lines which must almost certainly be a missing cloak and others which may indicate a second figure. (This is a freehand sketch and not a measured drawing).

Whether these faint marks on the hillside are actually the remains of another chalk-cut figure or figures is hard to judge. One thing is certain however, the ‘cloak’ especially has generated a lot of interest as seems more than plausible. In fact, many an account or blog posting mentions it, without giving any source reference. The faint outlines of the possible, second figure is never mentioned by academics or archaeologists. I find that sad and quite telling, in terms of Lethbridge’s reputation in the world of archaeology today.

The final source I want to look at is surprisingly not an academic one, nor is it data collected by an archaeologist. Instead I am going to cite a ‘citizen scientist’. In an article in The Independent by Gillie (1994) claims were made that marks below the Cerne Giant’s left had represent a severed human head. Excerpts from the article:

“The Cerne Abbas giant, a naked relic of ancient British heritage, may once have worn a cloak over his shoulder and carried a severed head in his left hand. New studies of the soil around the giant have found disturbances which suggest that the figure has changed considerably since it was cut into the chalk of a Dorset hillside about 2,000 years ago.

Rodney Castleden, an independent archaeologist who is head of humanities at Roedean School, near Brighton, has spent two years studying the figure. With the help of the physics teacher, Michael Ertl, he built an electrical apparatus similar to that used by the police to search for bodies.

'The apparatus measures electrical resistance of the soil. A high resistance shows that the soil has been disturbed,' Mr Castleden said. 'The readings have been consistent from year to year and show a lot of disturbance under the giant's left arm. The lines I have found could represent a cloak or animal skin which was a common feature of figures that have survived from this period.'

Evidence of soil disturbance suggests that the figure may have had additional features which have been lost. A small knoll, some 40cms high, under the left hand could once have been a representation of a severed head, Mr Castleden believes.

Mr Castleden's studies have not only raised new questions about the giant, they have also settled some old controversies. During Victorian times the giant's penis became discreetly veiled by the natural growth of shrubbery. Scholars believe that when the penis was subsequently re-excavated it was extended by some two and a half metres. This has now been confirmed.

'Originally the giant had a navel but it became incorporated into the phallus when the figure was recut. I have made a trial run down the phallus and obtained electrical measurements indicating a join,' Mr Castleden said. 'The phallus is probably not part of a fertility cult as some scholars have suggested. Figures were often depicted in this period with an erect phallus and it was probably seen more as a sign indicating good luck or prosperity.'

'A severed head would fit with an Iron Age god, a guardian of the tribe returning from battle with the head of an enemy. The figure is in the centre of territory once occupied by a tribe called the Durotriges, an area which is roughly equivalent to present day Dorset. There is an ancient holy well near by. The Celts were keen on sacred springs and so it is an obvious place to create an image of a guardian God,' he said.

Mr Castleden is meeting with the National Trust, which owns the site, and the county archaeologist in August to consider whether they might undertake a small excavation of the site. The trust will then have to consider the delicate question of whether to restore the penis to its proper length and whether, or not to cut back the turf to reveal the cloak and any other items that are confirmed by excavation.

This investigation, despite being carried out by a non-professional, has garnered a great deal of interest. Again, as with the Lethbridge observations, one part of the story, that of the severed head, has entered into modern folklore, almost as fact. The other details however, were completely ignored. Additionally, the origin of the data, which may, or may not indicate the Cerne Giant holding a grisly trophy, is never given.

Concluding thoughts

1. Contrary to scholarly opinion, there are sources going back to the end of the 6^th century (Augustin of Canterbury via Goscelin), that mention Pagan worship of a deity at Cerne Abbas.

2. The first mention of the hill figure cut into the turf at Cerne Abbas, goes back to Wise (1742). However, the legend that Lord Holles’ servants cut it clearly indicate the Cerne Giant was extant in around 1642. My calculation derived from Hutchins indicate that the figure was in existence before ca. 1440 from the memories of local villagers.

3. The Pagan God worshipped at Cerne and the hill figure, was variously known as Heliae, Helio, Heil, Helith, Hele, Hegle and Helis. If we think of the Christian concept of the Trinity, the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead, may it not be possible that the Saxon pagans venerated a God with different aspects and thus, different names?

Goos (2013), delves into the possible meanings of these names. His section on etymology is so thorough, I repeat it here with but light edits:

Heliae

There are several possible origins for this variation of the deity’s name;

The biography of the Carmelite monk Robert Bale, native from Norfolk, England, who died in 1503, carries the title: “Historia Heliae Prophetae”. Heliae is also the Roman form for Elijah, which originally is derived from Greek Helios. It is unlikely though this meaning is meant here, because a heathen Anglo-Saxon deity hardly would be named after a Greek word for sun.

Helio is supposedly a correct modern translation if the Latin HELIAE. Connecting that to Old English, it might point to

hÚ-l u, hÚ-l-o, which means health, fortune, wealth, safety, deliverance; or to héa lic, excellent, strong, lofty. But it is also possible that it points to ‘Helia‘ as nouns ending with an ‘a’ are in Old English masculine.

It is possible that ‘HELIAE’ is an ecclesiastical Latin form for an Old English name. Perhaps the most likely is that it is a corruption of Old English hæle: ‘man, brave man, hero.

It could derive from the Middle English word heil which is defined as below:

heil (a) Health, welfare, good fortune; in quert and ~, whole and sound;

heil (b) a person’s health or good fortune drunk to with wine; drinken..~, to drink (a person’s) health. 

Helið

This variation would seem to have a couple of possibilities as to what it is derived from. It may derive from or related to Old English hæleþ which is defined as follows.

hæleþ, heleþ, es; m. A man, warrior, hero [a word occurring only in poetry, but there frequently]

Additionally, the Old-Saxon helið derives from proto-Germanic *haluð- which means Hero, warrior, free man.

It could be related to Middle English hél which is defined as follows:

hél (a) Healthy, cured (b) in good condition, prosperous (c) whole, complete. 

Helith

Helith is simply a variation of Helið being the modern version of the Middle English name.

Helid-, Cald-OHG. helith, helidh, helid = hero in the meaning of strong, powerful, outstanding, lofty, sublime, tall..

Hel(e), Heile

Hel(e), Heile is most likely related to Old English hál which is defined below.

hál ; adj. Whole, hale, well, in good health, sound, safe, without fraud, honest; often used in salutation

It evolved into Middle English as hél (see definition above). Hál is related to the following Old Saxon words hê-l and hêl which could have been drawn on by the Middle and early modern English authors for the name.

a. hê-l* OS., sign, omen, OHG. heil Germ. *haila-, *hailam, hail, luck, omen, MND. hêil

b. hêl OS., Adj.: hail, healthy, uninjured, whole (Adj.); anfrk. *heil; Germ. *haila-, *hailaz, Adj., healthy, unhurt; idg. *kailo-, *kailu-, whole.

 Helis

In 1764 William Stukely wrote that people in the area called the Giant “Helis”. Another writer stated that up until the 6th century, the god Helis was worshipped. Helith and Helis may be bastardisation of the ancient version of the name for HERCULES – HETETHKIN, a not verifiable name for a ‘local Hercules’.

Goos (2013) finishes with the conclusion: “Almost all of the words that these names possibly come from PIE *kailo- “ whole, uninjured, of good omen” which gave us our words ‘holy,’ ‘heal,’ ‘health,’ and ‘hail.’ As to what form the original name of the deity took and which word the original name derived from is anyone’s guess. The earliest form given is Heliae, but Helith would seem to be the most common form, and as the text is in Latin Heliae may be changed a great deal from an Old English original.”

Here I diverge from Goos, as it may be that as mentioned earlier, the Saxon God worshiped in the region, and possibly more widely in southern Britain had a, number of, aspects woven into one. Thus, the local Pagans may have given answers analogous to: the Lord God, Jesus, the son of God, the Holy Father etc. It is also known that Augustine, at least spoke through interpreters. It is not unreasonable to suppose that some of the subtleties may have been lost in translation.

I would therefore add, strong, hero, fortune and deliverance to the root meanings of the Saxon deity’s name.

4. Scholars agree that as there is no direct evidence of the Cerne Giant existed prior to 1642. In a contra-argument I bring forward the actions of none other than the Christian church. The Abbey was founded in 987, approximately 400 years after the Saxon tribes of the region had been converted to Christianity.

The first abbot, Ælfric of Eynsham is regarded by Blair (2003) as "a man comparable both in the quantity of his writings and in the quality of his mind even with Bede himself." The reasons that the Catholic Church in England appointed one of its rising stars to be the abbot of a small, remote abbey in far-flung Dorset bears, looking into.

Ælfric, is justly famous as a prolific writer in Old English of hagiography, homilies and biblical commentaries. This facility as it pertains to our exploration of the origins of the Cerne Abbas Giant centres on a sermon he gave, while abbot entitled De falsis diis, ('on false gods'). The sermon is noted for its attempt to explain the traditional Anglo-Saxon beliefs within a Christian framework through Euhemerization. Although Ælfric's sermon was based to a large degree on the sixth-century sermon De correctione rusticorum by Martin of Braga, the themes it seeks to address gives us a window into the extant beliefs of British Anglo-Saxons in the late 10^th century.

In the sermon he preaches that the worship of natural elements, (“Animism”), the worship of the sun, the moon, stars, fire, water and earth as gods, were the teachings of the devil. The only conclusion one can draw from the construction and delivery of this sermon is that animism was widespread and long-lasting. In fact, although the church was always working towards the destruction of heathen practices, change came about at a variable rate and with differing success. It seems that the people of Cerne and of the populance more widely across England, were not willing to quickly abandon the customs and traditions their people had had for generations. Therefore, Ælfric must have felt that there was acute need in his local congregation, to rebut their lingering pagan beliefs, by way of his sermon.

I therefore, believe the Giant was extant on the hillside above Cerne Abbas, at this time and furthermore that the Church did what it always did with problems it couldn’t solve: ignore them. Recall the recent child abuse cases within the Catholic Church. Alternatively, this could have that period identified by Allen (2020) when the Cerne Giant was grassed over.

Lastly on this topic, I want to address the ‘Why’ question, by which I mean why did the local Saxons (if it was them), construct the Cerne Giant?

A very thoughtful article in The Independent by Keys (2021) may provide may provide an answer as to  why the Saxons of 7^th century created the Cerne Abbas Giant. I have taken the liberty of editing his text lightly, for the sake of narrative consistently:

“That was one of the most important periods of English history was the mid-to-late 7th century.– the era that witnessed much of the Anglo-Saxons’ transition from paganism to Christianity. The cultural and political struggles that accompanied that transition were often accompanied violence as the two ideologies grappled for the soul of the Kingdom.

The transition from paganism to Christianity was a politically fraught and often an antagonistic process during which traditionalists – loyal pagans sometimes ostentatiously championed their cause.

It is therefore conceivable that the vast hillside artwork was created during one of two local pagan resurgences which occurred between AD642 and 655 and again between AD676 and 685.

The Cerne Giant is, located in, what was the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex. Initially, that kingdom’s joint rulers converted to Christianity in 635 – but one of them died soon after and, when the surviving one died seven years later, his son reverted to paganism.

In the 640s and early 650s, Wessex was conquered and controlled by England’s most powerful pagan ruler, the king of the Midlands-based Mercia. Christianity temporarily returned to Wessex, and was snuffed out again between 676 and the early-to-mid 680s. But by 685, Wessex was Christian again –  and indeed launched a genocidal campaign against pagans on the neighbouring Isle of Wight.

Although the Cerne Giant was conceivably an expression of pagan reaction to Christian pressure, it is certain that the local population continued to venerate the vast figure for several centuries (see comments on Ælfric above).

Indeed, there are medieval and Tudor accounts of legends suggesting that the people of Cerne were loyal devotees of a great pagan deity or idol, apparently known as Helith, Heil or Helio (which would broadly translate as “powerful hero”). It is therefore possible that that deity, idol or venerated “hero” was indeed the great hillside giant.” 

The Cerne Giant as an English Civil War ‘joke’

The suppositions that the Cerne Abbas Giant was created in the 17^th century depend on the word of one man. This theory originated in the 18th century account of John Hutchins, who noted in a letter of 1751 from John Hutchins to the Dean of Exeter that the steward of the manor had told him the figure “was a modern thing, cut out in Lord Hollis' time.” However Hutchins (1774), also suggested that Holles could perhaps have ordered the recutting of an existing figure.

Lord Holles ca. 1640 by Edward Bower. Wikimedia commons.

It has been speculated that Holles could have intended the figure as a parody of Oliver Cromwell: while Holles, the MP for Dorchester and a leader of the Presbyterian faction in Parliament, had been a key Parliamentarian supporter during the First English Civil War, he grew to personally despise Cromwell and attempted to have him impeached in 1644. Cromwell was sometimes mockingly referred to as "England's Hercules" by his enemies: under this interpretation, the club has been suggested to hint at Cromwell's military rule, and the phallus to mock his Puritanism.

Other unfounded/unsourced stories and theories, proliferated in this early era of antiquarians, and right down to the present day. Briefly these are:

• That Lord Holles’ servants cut the figure of the as a representation of Denzil Holles himself. “A further tradition local to Cerne was that the Giant was created by Holles' tenants as a lampoon aimed at Holles himself.” Castleden (1996),
• Another 18th century writer dismissed it as "the amusement of idle people, and cut with little meaning, perhaps, as shepherds' boys strip off the turf on the Wiltshire plains." (from Castleden (1996)).
• Harte (1986) theorises, from local stories (source unknown), that the Giant was cut in 1539 at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries as a "humiliating caricature" of Cerne Abbey's final abbot Thomas Corton, who amongst other offences was accused of fathering children with a mistress. The erect penis it was said, represent Corton’s lustful ways, the club his vicious tendency in revenge when slighted and his feet pointing away from the village that he had justly been cast out.
• The Heritage Gateway website (2012) stated that Cerne Giant may have been of Celtic origin. They compare the Giant stylistically to a representation of a Celtic god (Nodens) on a skillet handle found at Hod Hill, Dorset. The handle almost certainly dates from between AD 10 to AD 51. From this the theory is put forward that the Giant dates approximately the same period as the handle and was made by the Durotriges [tribe] to represent a god of fertility and hunting. Their original source is unknown.
• Piggott (1938) developed the theory that due to the giant's resemblance to Hercules, it is a creation of the Romano-British culture, either as a direct depiction of the Roman figure or of a deity identified with him. It has been more specifically linked to attempts to revive the cult of Hercules during the reign of the Emperor Commodus (176-192), who presented himself as a reincarnation of Hercules: Castleden (1996). 

Whether any of these suppositions held any grain of truth was unknown, maybe the Cerne Giant would turn out to be Iron Age? Maybe it was Bronze Age, like the Uffington Horse? Or could it be Medieval as the vast swathe of collected information from the late 7^th to the 18^th century seemed to indicate? This last possibility, seemed to present-day archaeologists most unlikely. So, everyone waited with baited breath for the results from the Optically Stimulated Luminescence results of Martin Papworth and team.

The last thing I would like to point out, is that the earliest known written reference to the Cerne Giant, is a 4 November 1694 entry in the Churchwardens' Accounts from St Mary's Church in Cerne Abbas, which reads "for repairing ye Giant, three shillings” (see Darvill et al. (1999)).

The fact that the church was now paying for repair of the Cerne Giant is extremely surprising as for centuries they had been intent on eradicating all vestiges of paganism and its symbols. Even more surprising is that this fact is passed over by every researcher on the subject I have read.

This apparent reverse in policy is contained within the phrase “the church” above. It wasn’t the same church of course! During the reign of Henry VIII, due to the Catholic Church’s refusal to allow him annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragorn, Henry broke with the Catholic Church. This period in history is known as the Reformation. Henry past the act of Succession and the Act of Supremacy, which essentially declared himself the supreme head of the Church in England. Thus the Church of England was formed.

After Henry’s death, Protestant reforms made their way into the church during the reign of Edward VI. But, when Edward’s half-sister, Mary, succeeded the throne in 1553, she persecuted Protestants and embraced traditional Roman Catholic ideals.

After Elizabeth I became queen in 1558, however, the Church of England was revived. The Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion became important texts that outlined moral doctrine and worship principles.

The Puritan movement in the 17th century led to the English Civil Wars. During this time, the Church of England and the monarchy were quelled, but both were re-established in 1660, with the re-establishment of the monarchy under Charles II.

However, political turmoil once again engulfed England upon Charles’ death as he had no legitimate offspring. Therefore, his brother James II of England and James VII of Scotland took the throne. His reign is now remembered primarily for struggles over religious tolerance. In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a crisis; the first on 10 June was the birth of James's son and heir James Francis Edward, threatening to create a Roman Catholic dynasty and excluding his Anglican daughter Mary and her Protestant husband William III of Orange from the line of succession. Thus, parliament invited William of Orange to assume the English throne; after he landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, with an army of 14,000, James's army deserted, and he went into exile. With the Bill of Rights passed in 1689, no Catholic could hold the English throne, nor could they marry one and henceforward the Church of England held sway.

Since the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, and ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688, the Church of England saw itself as the successor to the Anglo-Saxon and medieval English church. While the thoughts of the Church hierarchy went unrecorded in the matter of promoting the nation’s common Anglo-Saxon heritage, their actions speak louder than their unrecorded words: they encouraged and in the case of the Cerne Giant paid for repair of, any link back to our Saxon ancestors. Thus the scouring of the Cerne Giant, and many other public occasions were reinvented as descending from Saxon Merry England alongside the post-Restoration reintroduction of festivals dislocated from religion by the Reformation, and banned from the churchyard by Puritans.

As Edwards (2005) theorises: “Whatever the actual origin of the Cerne Giant, the churchwardens of 1694 would not be paying for the refurbishment of the figure unless its believed identity conformed to church beliefs. The church authorities would not have been paying for the restoration if they thought the figure's origin (as now commonly considered) was Pagan Celtic, Roman Catholic, a Roman Hercules, or a cartoon Cromwell.”

The true date of construction of the Cerne Giant

Martin Papworth (2021b) presented the team’s results on his blog after the press release:

“In the end there were 5 Optically Stimulated Luminescence dates. Each from a different soil sample selected from stratigraphic layers.”

The fourth sample came from the lowest chunky chalk layer which fills a cutting through the earliest hollow scraped into the natural chalk. The mid date for this is late 10th century, about the time that Cerne Abbey was founded. However, at the earliest it could be mid-7^th century (but the 5th sample shows that it cannot be that early) and the latest early 14th century. Here are his section drawings with OSL sampling points marked:

Papworth (2021b), showing the location of the earliest OSL dated sample. Original caption:  Trench C right elbow.

“The fifth and last date was taken from the colluvial soil that filled the original cutting scraped into the natural chalk hillslope. This sample yielded a central early 10th century date and had a more accurate date band from the beginning of the 8th century to the beginning of the 12th century.”

Papworth (2021b) 5^th sample: Trench B right foot. 

Papworth continues: “What do we make of these data? Very unexpected. It raises again the medieval references which talk of the locals of Cerne worshipping a Saxon god Helith before the Abbey was founded but this seems unlikely in 10^th century Dorset in a society which was largely Christian at that time..

The dates and stratigraphy seem to show a time of abandonment and then recreation but this bottom chunky chalk layer is still medieval and still potentially Saxon so we have to imagine the Giant and the Abbey side by side in the landscape and perhaps he was used as a lesson in the landscape by the monastic community.

He may have worn trousers then as our LiDAR shows the continuation of the belt across the penis and we might suggest that his most noticeable asset was created in the later 17th century when puritanism was on the wane.”

He may have been hidden after the Dissolution of Cerne Abbey after 1540 when brightly decorated interiors of medieval churches were whitewashed over.”

To me, Papworth and Toms’ most interesting results were those from sample 4, giving a date range of 650-1310 AD.  These fit nicely with Keys (2021) Saxon resurgences of 642-655 and 676-685 AD. Although Papworth points out that the OSL date of sample, whilst giving the oldest date range, is unlikely to be correct, I have a serious question regarding this interpretation. As sample 5 “was taken from the colluvial soil that filled the original cutting scraped into the natural chalk” and the layer above was a “chunky chalk layer” it may be possibility that colluvium infiltrated through the interstices in these blocks. Therefore, a younger date for the lowest sample, number - 5 - is a possibility due to this migration of sediment. Consequently, the sample from slightly higher: sample 4, dated >650 AD, may be of a more accurate age for the creation of the Cerne Abbas Giant.

Nowadays with the hullabaloo of these dramatic results receding, journalists far less frequently approach the worthies of Cerne Abbas for their comments on the age of their Giant, which archaeologists brought forth from the earth. In early morning one can view him alone, from the little carpark on the A352. His eyes look away from you, up the valley, as if cogitating on far away thoughts. Is it possible he is remembering the day when the Saxon populance gathered to joyously dig and immortalise his memory by tying him to earth?

 

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Further Reading

Anon. (1887). Dorset County Chronicle, 28 April and 23 June.

Anon. (1908). Western Mercury, 8 August (quoted in Scott, 1918, 119).

Anon. (1924). The Giant of Cerne Abbas, Country Life, 18 October.

Anon. (1979). ‘Other Cerne Giants’, Dorset County Magazine, No. 77 (June).

Bettey, J. H. (1981). The Cerne Abbas Giant: the documentary evidence. Antiquity, vol. 55, Issue 214, pp. 118 - 119

Camden, W. (1603) Asserus de Ælfredi Rebus Gestis In Anglica, Normannica, Hibernica… etc.

Cornelius, K. (2021). Tiny Snails Help Solve a Giant Mystery, at: https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/cerne-abbas-giant/ accessed 11/07/2021

Crawford, O. G. S. (1929) The Giant of Cerne and other hill-figures." Antiquity 3, no. 11: 277-282.

Gerard, T. and Coker, J., 1732. A Survey of Dorsetshire: Containing the Antiquities and Natural History of that County. With a Particular Description of All the Places of Note, and Antient Seats, which Gave Light to Many Curious Parts of English History, Extracted from Doomsday Book, and Other Valuable Records. And a Copious Genealogical Account of Three Hundred of the Principal Families. With Their Arms Fully Described and Curiously Engraved on Six Folio Copper-plates. To which is Prefix'd a Map of the County. J. Wilcox, at the Green-Dragon, in Little Britain. London. [Author was actually John Coker].

Grinsell, L. (1980). The Cerne Abbas Giant: 1764–1980. Antiquity, vol. 54, Issue 210, pp. 29 – 33

Legg, R. 1978. Dorset and Cerne’s God of the Celts, Dorset County Magazine, No. 66 (April).

Lukis, W. C. 1883. Family Memoirs of Rev. William Stukeley. II (Surtees Society).

Malefijt, A. de Waal (1968). Homo Monstrosus, Scientific American, 219, pp113–18.

Marples, M. 1949. White horses and other hill figures (London).

Mead, R. (2021). The Mysterious Origins of the Cerne Abbas Giant. The New Yorker [print edition of the May 24, 2021, issue, with the headline “A Giant Mystery.”] Online at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/24/the-mysterious-origins-of-the-cerne-abbas-giant accessed 31/07/2021

Palmer, R. K. (1979). Is that empty left hand clue to Giant? Bournemouth Evening Echo, 17 August.

Petrie, F. (1926). The hill figures of England (London).

Pitman, G. (1978). Letter entitled ‘Navel’ in Dorset County Magazine, No. 70 (September), 27.

Plenderleath, REV. W. C. (1885). The white horses of the West of England. 1st edn.

Scott, M. H. (1918). Turf monuments of England, Proc. Bath branch of Somerset Archaeol. & N.H. Soc. 1914—18; giant, 118—20.

Smart, T. W. W. (1872). The Cerne Giant, Jour. Brit. Archaeol. Assoc. xxvill, 65—70 (reprinted in C. Warne, Ancient Dorset, 1872, 319).

Sterckx, C. (1975). Le Giant de Cerne Abbas, Antiquite Classique (Bruxelles), XLIVX, 570—80.

Sydenham, J. (1842). Baal Durotrigensis (London).

Thompson, M. W. (1960). The first Inspector of Ancient Monuments in the Field, Jour. Brit. Archaeol. Ass. (3rd S). XXIII, 103—24.

Udal, J. S. (1922). Dorset Folklore, 154—9 (1970 reprint).

Underdown, D. (1979). The Chalk and the Cheese; Contrasts Among the English Clubmen, Past and Present, 85, p25–48.

Waring, E. (1977). Ghosts and Legends of the Dorset Countryside (Tisbury).