The Cerne Giant is a naked, club-wielding figure 180 feet tall cut into the chalk hillside above Cerne Abbas, Britain's largest chalk hill figure and its best known. He has been read as a likeness of Hercules, a mockery of Oliver Cromwell and a fertility aid; in 2021 National Trust archaeologists used sediment analysis to conclude he was most likely first cut in the late Saxon period. Above him lies the Trendle, a rectangular earthwork thought to be Iron Age and still used by Morris dancers on May Day, and the chalk grassland around supports rare plants and butterflies such as the marsh fritillary. The Trust has cared for the Giant since 1920, has bought 340 acres around him to restore for nature, and keeps visitors off the figure to limit erosion. Reviewers pair the Giant with the village and its pubs. One tip from regular visitors: the viewing area in the car park gives the clearest sight of him, since he vanishes once you are up on the hill.
