Earth Ancients

The "mysterious" Long Man of Wilmington, one of Britain's most recognizable chalk figures, sits proudly on the steep slopes of Windover Hill in East Sussex.According to the Sussex Archaeological Society, the giant, depicted as a standing human figure holding two long staves dates back to at least 1710 when the surveyor John Rowley illustrated the figure.James Neal, who looks after the figure on behalf of this charity, says it is accompanied by "a lot of mystery"."No-one really knows the true origins of the outline of the figure. Some people think that it's Neolithic, some people think that it's Iron Age, Roman, the Druids claim him for their own as well," he told Secret Sussex. Neal said the figure was originally thought by some to be "an indentation in the side of the hill".This tallies up with Rowley's drawing which suggests the original figure was a shadow or indentation, rather than a solid line.Until the 19th Century when it was marked out in yellow bricks, the Long Man was only visible in certain light