“For centuries, the Cerne Abbas Giant has been hard to miss,” said the BBC. The 55-foot chalk outline of a “naked, club-wielding man” cut into a hillside in the Dorset countryside is “one of the UK’s most instantly recognisable historic landmarks”.Following recent fundraising efforts, the National Trust purchased the land surrounding the figure to help preserve it for future generations. Its origins are unknown but scientific analysis of sediments published in 2021 revealed the giant was probably first cut in the late Saxon period, between 700 and 1100 AD. Every eight to 10 years, volunteers visit the hillside to restore the figure by packing fresh white chalk into his outline.
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