National Trust archaeologists surprised by likely age of enigmatic Cerne Giant – but some mystery still remains

  14th May 2021

Scientific analysis by a University of Gloucestershire lecturer means that the National Trust can for the first time reveal the likely age of the Cerne Giant, Britain’s largest and perhaps best-known chalk hill figure.

Generations have speculated about the age and meaning of the club-brandishing giant hewn into a Dorset hillside. Was he a depiction of the legendary demi-god Hercules, an ancient fertility symbol, or even the soldier and statesman Oliver Cromwell? Another theory holds that the figure was carved around the body of a giant who was slain by local people after he terrorised the countryside.

Now, after state-of-the art sediment analysis jointly funded by the National Trust, the University of Gloucestershire, Allen Environmental Archaeology and the Pratt Bequest, National Trust archaeologists have concluded the giant was probably first constructed in the late Saxon period. Find out more on the university website.