5 Best Sights in The South, England

Alum Bay Glass

In addition to being famous for sailing and its connections to Queen Victoria, the Isle of Wight is also renowned for its glassmaking. Local craftspeople have given live demonstrations of glassblowing here since 1972. The perfume bottles, vases, bowls, doorknobs, ornaments, and other items they create are available for sale in the showroom.

Cerne Abbas Giant

This colossal and unblushingly priapic figure, 180 feet long, dominates a hillside overlooking the village of Cerne Abbas. The giant carries a huge club and may have originated as a pre-Roman tribal fertility symbol. Alternatively, historians have tended to believe he is a representation of Hercules dating back to the 2nd century AD. Recent research suggests he may be a 17th-century gibe at Oliver Cromwell as there is nothing in the historical record before 1694 that mentions the figure, but other recent studies suggest the giant was first made by the Saxons between AD 700 and 1100.

The figure's outlines are formed by 1-foot-wide trenches cut into the ground to reveal the chalk beneath. The best place to view the figure is from the A352 itself, where you can park in one of the numerous nearby turnouts.

Cherhill Down

Four miles west of Avebury, Cherhill Down is a prominent hill carved with a vivid white horse and topped with a towering obelisk. The horse, the second oldest chalk "white horse" in Wiltshire, is one of a number of hillside etchings in the county, all but two of which date back no further than the late 18th century. This one was put there in 1780 to indicate the highest point of the downs between London and Bath. The views from the top are well worth the half-hour climb. The best view of the horse is from A4, on the approach from Calne.

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Old Mill

This 15th-century building with some 13th-century features became England's first paper mill in the early 16th century and is now a hotel and atmospheric pub. It makes a pleasant destination for a 20-minute walk along Town Path southwest of the town center.

Silbury Hill

Rising 130 feet and comparable in height and volume to the roughly contemporary Egyptian pyramids (about 2400 BC), this is the largest man-made mound in Europe. Though there have been periodic excavations of the mound since the 17th century, its original purpose remains unknown. The viewing area, less than 1 mile east of Avebury, is open only during daylight hours, but there's no direct access to the mound itself.