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The White Horse at Ebbsfleet, formerly the Ebbsfleet Landmark, colloquially the ''Angel of the South'', was a planned white horse statue to be built in the
Ebbsfleet Valley Ebbsfleet Valley is a new town and redevelopment area in Kent, South East England, and part of the Thames Gateway, southwest of Gravesend. Development is coordinated by the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. It is named after the valley of t ...
in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Designed by
Mark Wallinger Mark Wallinger (born 25 May 1959) is a British artist. Having previously been nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, he won in 2007 for his installation ''State Britain''. His work ''Ecce Homo'' (1999–2000) was the first piece to occupy the ...
to faithfully resemble a
thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
horse, but at 33 times life size, the colossal sculpture was to be high. Taller than the ''
Angel of the North The ''Angel of the North'' is a contemporary sculpture by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Completed in 1998, it is believed to be the largest sculpture of an angel in the world and is viewed by an estimated 33 m ...
'' in Gateshead and ''
Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
'' in St Helens, as a highly visible piece of public art, it was intended to highlight the Ebbsfleet redevelopment area and the
Ebbsfleet International railway station Ebbsfleet International railway station is in Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, east of London, England, near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. The station, part of the Thames Gateway urban regeneration pr ...
in particular. It would have been visible from both the A2 road and High Speed 1 railway line, which cross each other nearby. After a design competition was launched in 2007, Wallinger's vision of a white horse was selected in 2008 by a panel of representatives from each of the three founding patrons/developers of the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project Ltd (ELP Ltd) —
London & Continental Railways London and Continental Railways (LCR) is a property development company owned by the Government of the United Kingdom for developing former railway land. The company was originally established in 1994 as a private consortium to own European Pa ...
,
Land Securities Land Securities Group plc is the largest commercial property development and investment company in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust (REIT) when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is ...
and
Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...
— and four other art advisors appointed to the panel by ELP Ltd. Planning permission for the structure was granted by
Gravesham Gravesham ( ) is a local government district with borough status in north-west Kent, England. Its administrative centre and largest town is Gravesend, which was known as ''Gravesham'' in ancient times. Gravesham was formed on 1 April 1974 ...
Council on 15 April 2010. Though originally estimated at £2 million, costs increased to £12–£15 million according to Ben Ruse, a spokesman for the project based at London & Continental Railways offices in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and failed to be raised. The project was intended to be privately funded. As of February 2008, in excess of £1 million had been committed to the project by the founding patrons (of ELP Ltd) from London & Continental Railways who are "actively promoting the development of regeneration opportunities in Ebbsfleet", Land Securities "the UK's leading Real Estate Investment Trust" and from Eurostar. The project stalled for lack of funding in 2012 and ELP Ltd closed down on 19 April 2016.


Background

Prior to any design being announced, the sculpture was planned as a counterpart to Antony Gormley's ''
Angel of the North The ''Angel of the North'' is a contemporary sculpture by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Completed in 1998, it is believed to be the largest sculpture of an angel in the world and is viewed by an estimated 33 m ...
'' in Gateshead (with a stipulation that it be at least twice as wide and high, and visible from 20 miles away), and to mark one of six main "gateways" to London, hence the informal name ''Angel of the South'' being adopted early on for the formally named Ebbsfleet Landmark Project Ltd.


Design

The sculpture was planned to be made from concrete laid over a steel primary and secondary inner frame and supported by deep concrete foundations. At 33 times life size, it would have measured vertically from the ground to the tip of the ears, to the top of the back, and horizontally, from nose to tail. It was intended to be "a faithfully accurate representation of a thoroughbred racehorse in all but scale".


Location

Planned to be located at Springhead near Springhead Road, Northfleet, in a site designated as the proposed "linear park", the sculpture was intended to highlight the
Ebbsfleet Valley Ebbsfleet Valley is a new town and redevelopment area in Kent, South East England, and part of the Thames Gateway, southwest of Gravesend. Development is coordinated by the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. It is named after the valley of t ...
regeneration area, and
Ebbsfleet International railway station Ebbsfleet International railway station is in Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, east of London, England, near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. The station, part of the Thames Gateway urban regeneration pr ...
in particular, in a similar manner to the Angel of the North in Gateshead and
Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
in St Helens. From this location, it would have been visible from both road traffic on the A2 road, and from the High Speed 1 railway line; used by both
Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...
international services and Southeastern high speed services.


History


Design shortlisting

Gormley and other artists were invited to admit designs on 22 May 2007, by which time the intended site (a hill outside the new High Speed 1 station at
Ebbsfleet International Ebbsfleet International railway station is in Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, east of London, England, near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. The station, part of the Thames Gateway urban regeneration pr ...
, near Land Securities' Springhead Park residential development) had been announced. A shortlist was chosen on 28 January 2008 (comprising
Mark Wallinger Mark Wallinger (born 25 May 1959) is a British artist. Having previously been nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, he won in 2007 for his installation ''State Britain''. His work ''Ecce Homo'' (1999–2000) was the first piece to occupy the ...
,
Rachel Whiteread Dame Rachel Whiteread (born 20 April 1963) is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She was the first woman to win the annual Turner Prize in 1993. Whiteread was one of the Young British Ar ...
, Richard Deacon,
Christopher le Brun Sir Christopher Mark Le Brun PPRA (born 1951) is a British artist, known primarily as a painter. He was President of the Royal Academy of Arts from the time of his election in 2011 to December 2019. Le Brun was knighted in the 2021 New Yea ...
, and Daniel Buren). The artists were given three months from then to produce their proposals, which were displayed to the public from May 2008 at
Bluewater Shopping Centre Bluewater Shopping Centre (commonly referred to as Bluewater) is an out-of-town shopping centre in Stone (postally Greenhithe), Kent, England, outside the M25 motorway, east south east of London's centre. Opened on 16 March 1999 in a former chal ...
. Le Brun produced a winged disc; Buren a tower of 5 cubes; Deacon a stack of 26 different steel
polyhedra In geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. A convex polyhedron is the convex hull of finitely many points, not all on ...
; Wallinger a realistic sculpture of a horse and Whiteread a plaster cast of a house's interior atop an artificially-created mountain. In September 2008 the shortlist was reduced to three designs: Deacon's, Buren's and Wallinger's. The competition triggered public interest, and was the subject of a satirical series of cartoons in Steve Bell's '' If...'' series between 4 and 8 February 2008, and in May 2008. Locally it has been the subject of apathy or even hostility.


White Horse figure selected

On 10 February 2009 the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
announced that the winner was Wallinger's realistic sculpture of a horse. The statue was modelled on one of Wallinger's own racehorses '' Red Riviera''; which coincidentally won the 16:20 race at
Lingfield Park Racecourse Lingfield Park Racecourse (commonly referred to as Lingfield) is a horse racing course at Lingfield in Surrey, United Kingdom. It is owned by the ARC Racing and Leisure Group, formerly Arena Leisure Plc. Lingfield is best known as a winte ...
on the same day that the artist's sculpture won the competition. The sculpture's completion was originally planned to occur before domestic high-speed services to
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
began on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in 2009 and in time for the 2012 Olympics.


Planning permission granted

A planning application was submitted to Gravesham Borough Council's planning committee in January 2010, who voted unanimously to grant planning permission for the structure on 14 April 2010 despite opposition from local residents. The planning permission expired in April 2013, an application for renewal was submitted.


White horse of Kent

The White horse of Kent is a prancing white horse is an ancient symbol of
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and appears on the
Flag of Kent The Flag of Kent is the flag of the English county of Kent. It features the white horse of Kent on a red background, a theme used in several other Kent related coats of arms and logos or symbols. It is sometimes referred to as the Invicta Fl ...
. White horse
hill figures A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and r ...
are a common feature of England as a whole. The proposed statue has been referred to as both the ''White Horse of Ebbsfleet'' and the ''White Horse of Kent'' The white horse of Kent is typically depicted as prancing (or
rampant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest. The attitude of an heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure ...
in heraldry), rearing up on its hind legs and is also referred to as ''Invicta'', the ( motto of Kent). Kent County Council initially criticised the original design for not prancing like ''Invicta'' and proposed an alternative, but the entry was rejected by the competition's panel of representatives.


See also

*
Folkestone White Horse The Folkestone White Horse is a white horse hill figure, carved into Cheriton Hill, Folkestone, Kent, South East England. It overlooks the English terminal of the Channel Tunnel and was completed in June 2003. The horse was planned as a Mille ...
* ''
Angel of the North The ''Angel of the North'' is a contemporary sculpture by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Completed in 1998, it is believed to be the largest sculpture of an angel in the world and is viewed by an estimated 33 m ...
'' * '' Star of Caledonia''


Footnotes


References

* * * * * *


External links


ebbsfleetlandmark.com
- official website {{DEFAULTSORT:White Horse, The Gravesham