GiantFamous
The Cerne Giant
He still keeps watch, club raised, over the valley.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Huge chalk figure on a steep hillside
- Legend from
- Antiquarian record / local tradition
- Tone
- Curious
A giant who terrorised the valley, killed, they said, and outlined where he fell.
A 55-metre naked man with a club is cut into the chalk above Cerne Abbas. Nobody agrees on who he is. Local traditions recorded by antiquaries call him an ancient British god, or say he was cut around the body of a real giant who terrorised the countryside until local people killed him. Others claimed he mocked Cerne's last abbot, or Oliver Cromwell. National Trust sediment analysis in 2021 pointed to a late Saxon origin. He has long been linked with fertility, and couples hoping for children are said to visit him.