I hit 3,000-year-old art with a hammer

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  • Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
  • The White Horse, in Uffington, is one of the oldest surviving works of art in Britain: carved into a hillside in Oxfordshire 3,000 years ago. Every year, it's rechalked by volunteers co-ordinated through the National Trust, a line of maintenance going back to before England had written history.
    Thanks to all the National Trust team! If you're free over the August bank holiday and fancy helping out, here's the link! www.nationaltr...
    Thanks to Ian from IanVisits for giving the tipoff - he makes a cameo in this one! www.ianvisits....
    Camera by Paul (@cr3) - he also makes a cameo!
    Edit by Michelle Martin / @onthecrux - who doesn't make a cameo.
    🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
    (you can find contact details and social links there too)
    📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: www.tomscott.c...
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 2,2 тис.

  • @TomScottGo
    @TomScottGo  6 років тому +17679

    I was worried that the title of this video was clickbait, but no, I am literally hitting 3,000-year-old art with a hammer.

    • @halfaworldaway
      @halfaworldaway 6 років тому +1446

      It's still a little cheeky, Tom from a month ago.

    • @saul43842
      @saul43842 6 років тому +104

      Tom Scott i cant agree more

    • @Huntracony
      @Huntracony 6 років тому +344

      Something can be true and still be clickbait.

    • @MrSkinnyWhale
      @MrSkinnyWhale 6 років тому +81

      Huntracony true, but colloquially clickbait is used in a negative sense

    • @unniFI
      @unniFI 6 років тому +16

      four weeks ago

  • @Crob0506
    @Crob0506 4 роки тому +4320

    imagine being the 3000 year old person who made this, and seeing people still preserving your work

    • @GemA2Gen
      @GemA2Gen 4 роки тому +54

      i bet they didn't care that much for it to hope people would keep it up there for so long

    • @Jay_Hendrix
      @Jay_Hendrix 4 роки тому +197

      I'm imagining someone do that for any piece of my own art. I'd be moved in a way I couldn't describe really.

    • @maasbekooy901
      @maasbekooy901 4 роки тому +222

      "tf are you doing, I was bloody drunk that night. Don't preserve that shi"

    • @bilbert2736
      @bilbert2736 3 роки тому +16

      how are they gonna see it if they're not alive

    • @ijustchangedmyname
      @ijustchangedmyname 3 роки тому +16

      @@bilbert2736 This

  • @robburgess4556
    @robburgess4556 6 років тому +4206

    What's amazing is that, for over 3,000 years, it has never gone more than 25 years without being touched up. They couldn't even see what it was but they did it anyway. Remarkable.

    • @kikeinme
      @kikeinme 6 років тому +684

      What's also interesting is that somehow knowledge of its origin wasn't passed on while that was happening. Maybe there's some good historical reason for it, but that surprised me.

    • @russhellmy
      @russhellmy 6 років тому +140

      Hector Rodriguez the knowledge of its origin was passed on, but it's a secret.

    • @sirBrouwer
      @sirBrouwer 6 років тому +49

      Just having it would be a reason for other people to visite the place. So it has a economical motive.

    • @nightjarflying
      @nightjarflying 6 років тому +505

      It can be seen clearly from a couple of hill villages & a hill fort across the valley. The ritual of 'scouring' the White Horse every seven years is known by written reports to have been going on for at least 300 years & the White Horse is recorded in the 1,000 year old "cartulary of Abingdon Abbey". I think it's doubtful that the seven year scouring cycle has lasted 3,000 years, but it doesn't need to have been regularly scoured - the chalk lines are the surface of one metre deep chalk trenches, the land has been cropped by domestic cattle for millennia, & if there was a time that there wasn't cattle to do the job it would have been clearly visible during droughts when hill grasses die back.

    • @dryued6874
      @dryued6874 6 років тому +141

      Clearly it's a glyph to ward off eldritch evil which we're better off not knowing about.

  • @artemis_smith
    @artemis_smith 3 роки тому +1959

    There's something so viscerally human about this. New people arrive in an area, maybe don't understand the horse but they like it so they maintain it. They're replaced, and the replacements are replaced maybe a hundred times, but people still think it's cool, a neat part of the local culture and history, so they keep it going. I wonder if it will last another 3000 years. I hope so.

    • @thetessellater9163
      @thetessellater9163 3 роки тому +23

      Humanity is killing itself by burning everything that burns, so maybe only another hundred years before we become extinct too.

    • @artemis_smith
      @artemis_smith 3 роки тому +87

      @@thetessellater9163 why so negative?

    • @ashishkulkarnii
      @ashishkulkarnii 3 роки тому +6

      @@artemis_smith doesnt really matter to us, does it?

    • @Abhinav-qw1sy
      @Abhinav-qw1sy 3 роки тому +7

      the theseus ship theory, its called.

    • @artemis_smith
      @artemis_smith 3 роки тому +27

      @@ashishkulkarnii it may not matter to you but it's still really cool to me

  • @sebastiaomendonca1477
    @sebastiaomendonca1477 4 роки тому +1114

    Didnt expect to see Tom Scott, of all people, beating a dead horse

    • @dabydaby7653
      @dabydaby7653 3 роки тому

      Not original

    • @Nugcon
      @Nugcon 3 роки тому +41

      @@dabydaby7653 true he's really beating a dead horse

    • @BaconBurger1928
      @BaconBurger1928 3 роки тому +15

      @@dabydaby7653 cry about it

    • @Shotblur
      @Shotblur Рік тому +3

      ​@@dabydaby7653 Imagine being obsessed with originality in a world where nothing is original. Must suck

    • @WolfgangDoW
      @WolfgangDoW Рік тому +3

      Not dead, that horse is 3000 years old

  • @JBBrickman
    @JBBrickman 4 роки тому +5200

    Things you can do: hit the art with a hammer.
    Things you can’t do: fly a drone over it.
    ?.....

    • @thescreemregular5168
      @thescreemregular5168 4 роки тому +148

      The 3000 year old horse it used a uno reverse card

    • @coolvideos8864
      @coolvideos8864 4 роки тому +574

      The National Trust is very funny about drones at all there sites over the UK. You can understand why if you think about how many people would turn up to these sites and have them buzzing around above peoples heads etc.

    • @SofaKingShit
      @SofaKingShit 4 роки тому +171

      @Maximus Shinejil Rain is bad for it? Lucky for them that it lies basking in sunny England then.

    • @dorrisgonnawreckyou7111
      @dorrisgonnawreckyou7111 4 роки тому +38

      @@coolvideos8864 So glad to hear that. Amazing how loud drone's are even from super high up.

    • @molyoxide164
      @molyoxide164 4 роки тому +7

      Cool Videos well when your government controls you obviously yes ofc they’d try to find ways of entertainment, britains just drink at bars as their form of entertainment

  • @markog1999
    @markog1999 6 років тому +2411

    I really think the profound importance of this can't be understated. When you think of other structures this old - the pyramids for example, not only are they way more famous they were basically abandoned for most of history, not to mention pillaged. This strange chalk drawing on this hill has been continuously maintained for longer than the lifespan of multiple civilisations. Incereidible.

    • @Adamvs100
      @Adamvs100 3 роки тому +151

      I think I had a seizure trying to read how you spelt incredible

    • @Salmonwithfeet
      @Salmonwithfeet 3 роки тому +38

      And we British don't even give af about it when we see it like it's "just some old 3000 yrs old horse move along"

    • @genki2705
      @genki2705 3 роки тому +14

      They call it art, I bet the original "horse" looked completely different and what's left is junk compared to what it was.

    • @derekw104
      @derekw104 3 роки тому +74

      @@genki2705 strange claim

    • @genki2705
      @genki2705 3 роки тому +11

      @@derekw104 if an object’s parts are replaced over time, does it remain the same object?

  • @SeaBassVEVO
    @SeaBassVEVO 6 років тому +13773

    I'm doing this with the Mona Lisa tomorrow wish me luck please.

    • @intheairex
      @intheairex 6 років тому +285

      It’s not like people won’t call the police if you comment this

    • @drafmine4526
      @drafmine4526 6 років тому +505

      I think the police would just laugh hysterically if you called them for a youtube comment about smashing the mona lisa

    • @sciblastofficial9833
      @sciblastofficial9833 6 років тому +39

      what, you gonna smash paint on it or something

    • @SeaBassVEVO
      @SeaBassVEVO 6 років тому +17

      Akhil Ok sent a DM

    • @SeaBassVEVO
      @SeaBassVEVO 6 років тому +53

      SciBlast Official No I'm using a hammer on that sweet little bitchy smile

  • @Kevin-jb2pv
    @Kevin-jb2pv 2 роки тому +18

    The two most insane things to me are:
    1) That people have been preserving art for 3,000 years _even though they couldn't even really see what it was._
    2) Just how modern that horse looks. That could easily be the logo for some modern horse racing tournament or a city flag for a car company or something. I'm frequently surprised at how fluid and stylistic and pleasing to the eye a lot of ancient art looks.

  • @ashleycrow8867
    @ashleycrow8867 Рік тому +53

    I love the concept that so many people looked at this and thought "I don't know why that is here, I don't know who made it, but I wanna keep having that here" and decided to preserve it

  • @madbritishbelizian
    @madbritishbelizian 6 років тому +2155

    Welcome to Britain. We do weird stuff for no better reason then we've been doing weird stuff for 3000 years.
    I'm sure there was a point to the White Horse originally, but the point of it now is to be a thread connecting modern Britain to anciant Britain.

    • @frosty925
      @frosty925 5 років тому +20

      madbritishbelizian if you think your weird, look at Japan. They have all women in theater played by men

    • @madbritishbelizian
      @madbritishbelizian 5 років тому +143

      @@frosty925 So? That was a thing for hundreds of years in the UK as well. We also have a proud tradition of the Pantomime Dame

    • @ratlinggull2223
      @ratlinggull2223 5 років тому +57

      @@frosty925 Dude just like the ancient Greek ones, not surprised

    • @frosty925
      @frosty925 5 років тому +25

      Theres also penis festivals, but really all of humanity is generally very weird and stupid throughout history

    • @andrebartels1690
      @andrebartels1690 5 років тому +26

      Imho serving as a connection to the ancestors is a very good point for something. This time, it is not someone on a horse, but the horse itself.

  • @AbbreviatedReviews
    @AbbreviatedReviews 6 років тому +4282

    God that's so British... someone in a tower saying "Left, right, missed a bit."

    • @TheBanana93
      @TheBanana93 5 років тому +64

      I say "missed a bit" almost daily... it might be getting a bit old by now haha

    • @FortoFight
      @FortoFight 4 роки тому +41

      It's been 22 years and I'm yet to see someone do this, but I guess somehow it's a British thing to do.

    • @vodkawhisperer3923
      @vodkawhisperer3923 4 роки тому +7

      @@FortoFight exactly

    • @dougthedonkey1805
      @dougthedonkey1805 4 роки тому +26

      “Left, roight”

    • @TheEmeraldMenOfficial
      @TheEmeraldMenOfficial 4 роки тому +14

      DougtheDonkeyTV “Ya missed a bit, ya nutters!”

  • @EffinChat
    @EffinChat 6 років тому +1898

    "I hit a 3000 year old horse with a hammer to make it better"

    • @DominusCypher
      @DominusCypher 6 років тому +28

      Now that sounds like some old school RTS-gaming right there.

    • @Moinsdeuxcat
      @Moinsdeuxcat 6 років тому +18

      🎶 Hey Tom,
      Don't make it bad,
      Take a chalk roaaad,
      And make it better 🎶

    • @thehiddenninja3428
      @thehiddenninja3428 5 років тому +1

      Na na
      nanana na
      Na na
      nanana na

    • @rembrandt3277
      @rembrandt3277 4 роки тому +5

      The Engineer

    • @sealdrive9117
      @sealdrive9117 4 роки тому +2

      That sound kinda like necromancy
      Edit:offbrand necromancy

  • @EVILBUNNY28
    @EVILBUNNY28 3 роки тому +84

    I go past this horse every time I return home by train from University. It never ceases to amaze me

  • @Bubu567
    @Bubu567 3 роки тому +190

    "I Hit 3,000-Year-Old Art with a Hammer to improve it"
    Even more clickbait. Even more accurate.

  • @SeeASquaRE
    @SeeASquaRE 6 років тому +2622

    Hitting with a hammer to build Literally everything reminds me of old RTS like "Age of Empires".

    • @sisifo241
      @sisifo241 6 років тому +5

      SeeASquared literally what i thought haha

    • @Hedvaa
      @Hedvaa 6 років тому +103

      I just realised that this horse, is the 'Discovery' mark on the ground in campaign mode of Age of Empires 1

    • @bennylofgren3208
      @bennylofgren3208 6 років тому +11

      SeeASquared Woolala!

    • @fake123
      @fake123 6 років тому +93

      Careful not to hit the ground too hard, it might suddenly turn into a barracks

    • @Kolmaryn
      @Kolmaryn 6 років тому +25

      SeeASquared wololo

  • @bdf2718
    @bdf2718 6 років тому +1288

    3,000 years ago there were probably complaints about graffiti artists disfiguring fields with their tags...

    • @strangerdangrrr4052
      @strangerdangrrr4052 6 років тому +89

      White Horse Gang

    • @General12th
      @General12th 4 роки тому +4

      with their gamertags

    • @huitlang931
      @huitlang931 3 роки тому +24

      "Those god damn kids are out there with the chalk again"

    • @prodmowery
      @prodmowery 3 роки тому +1

      Megan Thee Stallion would approve

    • @jwalster9412
      @jwalster9412 2 роки тому +2

      The two kids who poored chalk dust ontonof a hill to annoy to locals: "this will be a great prank, it should be funny and they will probably clean it up by tomorrow."

  • @MrSamulai
    @MrSamulai 6 років тому +16237

    You are seriously running out of ideas.
    You are literally beating the deadest horse in history.

    • @piteoswaldo
      @piteoswaldo 6 років тому +1525

      One can argue that by beating the dead horse, he is keeping it alive.

    • @Nevir202
      @Nevir202 6 років тому +405

      Indeed, a horse that has been lying there for 3,000 years, but which is actually composed of crustaceans millions of years old.

    • @magnuspeacock5857
      @magnuspeacock5857 5 років тому +244

      @@Nevir202 sea _horses?_
      Sorry

    • @Nevir202
      @Nevir202 5 років тому +33

      Magnus Peacock Yes! 🤣

    • @drops2cents260
      @drops2cents260 5 років тому +174

      @MrSamulai
      > You are literally beating the deadest horse in history.
      That may be, but you can't deny that Tom did a smashing job!

  • @MrWoof-rg9uu
    @MrWoof-rg9uu 5 років тому +55

    So they keep art preserved by smashing it. Out of context, that sounds impossible, but in context, it sounds brilliant.

  • @magpievariety
    @magpievariety 4 роки тому +10

    That actually made me cry to realize people have come together to care for this for 3000 years.

  • @scythal
    @scythal 6 років тому +605

    h m m m m m
    I say, this is a groundbreaking piece of art!

    • @art1637
      @art1637 6 років тому +11

      Scythal i want to reply with a pun but it’s too hard

    • @roberttalada5196
      @roberttalada5196 5 років тому +4

      You win one internet.

    • @ec_money
      @ec_money 4 роки тому +5

      Chalk up another golden top comment

    • @alfonsrasmus4710
      @alfonsrasmus4710 3 роки тому +3

      You. I like you.

  • @alexstewart2
    @alexstewart2 6 років тому +390

    Why do I get the feeling that I'll still be watching Tom Scott in some format in 50 years time?
    He might not have the same interests as David Attenborough, or Stephen fry or any other of the British figureheads, but he has captured the British Spirit in much the same way.

    • @darryljones3009
      @darryljones3009 6 років тому +20

      *Looks up his age*
      Possibly.

    • @twrecks6279
      @twrecks6279 4 роки тому +1

      He's a little bit to woke honestly. Could go without all that.

    • @Lambda_Ovine
      @Lambda_Ovine 4 роки тому +2

      @@twrecks6279 What would be enough valid wokeness?

    • @twrecks6279
      @twrecks6279 4 роки тому +2

      @@Lambda_Ovine The less the better xD

    • @notgadot
      @notgadot Рік тому

      @@darryljones3009 how old is he?

  • @WholesomeLad
    @WholesomeLad 6 років тому +2649

    Camera pans to the side as he smashes the Mona Lisa with a hammer*

  • @corbeq9806
    @corbeq9806 3 роки тому +147

    Tom Scott in 2009: Can you remove your fingerprints with pineapples?
    Tom Scott in 2018: I hit 3000 year old art with a hammer 😎

    • @jwalster9412
      @jwalster9412 2 роки тому +6

      Tom Scott in 2022: I am human blimp.

    • @pro-storm4951
      @pro-storm4951 Рік тому +3

      Tom Scott in 3022: My head is in a jar

  • @sambarker7930
    @sambarker7930 4 роки тому +20

    I've known about this horse for many years, but I never knew it required constant upkeep

  • @skyeturner5003
    @skyeturner5003 6 років тому +721

    Technically correct clickbait, the best type of clickbait.

    • @logandunlap9156
      @logandunlap9156 4 роки тому +3

      if it’s correct, is it really clickbait?

    • @Yuzi22
      @Yuzi22 4 роки тому

      @@logandunlap9156 it's clickbait, but not a misleading one...

    • @Salmonwithfeet
      @Salmonwithfeet 3 роки тому

      It's just gripping, so not clickbait

    • @adhamhmacconchobhair4407
      @adhamhmacconchobhair4407 3 роки тому

      @@logandunlap9156 clicbate doesn't mean lying

    • @logandunlap9156
      @logandunlap9156 3 роки тому

      I mean clickbait is usually a half-truth.

  • @designworksdw1949
    @designworksdw1949 6 років тому +935

    They should take a photo every year because every time they do this i'm sure the figure changes slightly.

    • @mateuszbugaj799
      @mateuszbugaj799 6 років тому +192

      this could look like a real horse at the beginning

    • @marekmichalovic8711
      @marekmichalovic8711 6 років тому +36

      I wonder what did it look like back then? Something totally else?

    • @bavarianpotato
      @bavarianpotato 6 років тому +111

      Marek Michalovič most likely very similar. I mean, it's not really hard to keep it looking the same

    • @urban3921
      @urban3921 6 років тому +159

      The filled trenches are deep so there's not much chance of shape changing due to carelessness.

    • @OlanKenny
      @OlanKenny 6 років тому +39

      In Victorian Times it had a Prince Albert

  • @briangarrow448
    @briangarrow448 6 років тому +1420

    Talk about British persistence.

    • @Sacchidanand
      @Sacchidanand 6 років тому +5

      Brian Garrow, true.

    • @blobstar123blob4
      @blobstar123blob4 6 років тому +29

      I say, good sir, the stereotype is true!
      *Drinks tea and adjusts monacle*

    • @EliteXtasy
      @EliteXtasy 6 років тому +2

      Is that even a British stereotype?? As a Brit also, I've never heard of such a thing and google comes up with nothing. Who's talking about it?

    • @bennylofgren3208
      @bennylofgren3208 6 років тому +2

      EliteXtasy That was what you were supposed to do - talk about it. 😃

    • @briangarrow448
      @briangarrow448 6 років тому +11

      EliteXtasy- Of course it is! Keep Calm and Carry On,
      Dunkirk, Keep a Stiff Upper Lip, etc.

  • @kalebb7170
    @kalebb7170 4 роки тому +19

    Okay this might be the most interesting thing you've shown. Idk something about ten thousand generations of people coming together to preserve something is really really really special.

  • @theshab4769
    @theshab4769 3 роки тому +21

    The largest/oldest work of XTC fan art ever recorded

  • @maxximumb
    @maxximumb 6 років тому +4290

    What a smashing place and a cracking video. You really crushed it. I bet you were shattered after all that work. Was Matt with you? Or was he off horsing around somewhere?
    One question, how many time was the phrase 'Stop... Hammer time' uttered?

    • @juicem5732
      @juicem5732 6 років тому +77

      Kill me. XD

    • @wuketuke6601
      @wuketuke6601 6 років тому +50

      STOP... Hammer time

    • @knightshousegames
      @knightshousegames 6 років тому +164

      Nailed It.

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 6 років тому +202

      It's great how we Brits all club together for a smashing good cause. Let us chalk this up as another win.

    • @SteveInScotland
      @SteveInScotland 6 років тому +87

      That cracked me up! I was in pieces! Chalk that up as a job well done!

  • @amfoy5919
    @amfoy5919 6 років тому +337

    My only question is; how many similar pieces of art were made throughout history and completely lost to time? If it takes about 30 years for them to vanish, there could be any number more that have just vanished...

    • @martinhowser4094
      @martinhowser4094 6 років тому +8

      AMFoy : like that giant with the big todger?

    • @lucylambert3113
      @lucylambert3113 6 років тому +5

      there's a few around like the big lion near Whipsnade Zoo that was made in victorian times

    • @TheMcal9909
      @TheMcal9909 5 років тому +6

      @@martinhowser4094 Cerne Abbas Giant, its in Dorset. about 300 years old.

    • @c2h680
      @c2h680 3 роки тому +19

      I wonder if it would be possible to detect any overgrown ones using the same method they used to test the age, if they were preserves for a decent length of time before being abandoned traces of them might remain.

    • @user-sd6jz9tf8w
      @user-sd6jz9tf8w 3 роки тому +2

      i don't know if it is the same technique but you need to search "nazca lines peru"

  • @derpimusmaximus8815
    @derpimusmaximus8815 6 років тому +95

    I like to think the guy in the tower communicated guidance to the workers in this format:
    "To me"
    "To you"
    "To me"
    "To you"

    • @Droooooo0
      @Droooooo0 6 років тому +16

      RIP :(

    • @msclrhd
      @msclrhd 6 років тому +26

      So they were the chalkle brothers?

    • @Kris_T_
      @Kris_T_ 6 років тому +1

      Come on now Barry

  • @davidstewart5811
    @davidstewart5811 3 роки тому +4

    I have seen this horse in many films and wondered about the history. It is a real tribute to ourselves as humans that we take the time and effort to maintain items like this for our posterity.

  • @NoobFish23
    @NoobFish23 6 років тому +3

    How is this not the basis of some horror story. This is a literal 3000 year old tradition being carried on for some unknown reason. There is so much you can do with this!

  • @zappawoman5183
    @zappawoman5183 6 років тому +61

    "It's not what a horse looks like, it's what a horse be!" - Terry Pratchett, from the Tiffany Aching books.

  • @cjxgraphics
    @cjxgraphics 6 років тому +52

    "Why do you do this?"
    "I don't know, it's just what we've always done."

  • @brianartillery
    @brianartillery 6 років тому +77

    The annual scouring of the site was done by local people. Originally, it was possibly the inhabitants of the Uffington Castle Hill-fort, which is sited a bit further up the hill from the Horse. In more recent times, the scourers were rewarded with what might be described today as a 'Barbecue and a piss-up'. In this area too, about 1.5 miles south-west, along the ancient track known as the Ridgeway, can be found the equally ancient chambered tomb known as 'Wayland's Smithy'. Folklore tales say that if your horse has lost a shoe, then leave a silver coin on the tomb's capstone - and the god Wayland will magically replace the shoe. The White Horse was also used on the gatefold sleeve of one of Swindon band XTC's best albums, 'English Settlement'.

  • @teipeu9033
    @teipeu9033 5 років тому +10

    This is the sort of thing that would be great on a sunny day with a group friends as something to do while chatting. A better version of having a TV on in the background.

  • @Grabnok
    @Grabnok Рік тому +2

    I think this kind of solves the conundrum of The Ship of Theseus.
    It is not the same horse. It never will be the same horse. Time erodes everything and nothing will ever be the "same" as it was before.
    But we can make it stick around a while longer by preserving it. It will never be the same chalk that the horse was made from, but it is still loved and it is still here.

  • @NateandNoahTryLife
    @NateandNoahTryLife 6 років тому +235

    10 tons of chalk... that could keep one class of third graders occupied for at least a half hour.

    • @art1637
      @art1637 6 років тому +11

      Sorry for correcting but....
      5 minutes*

    • @malloysfootagearchive8919
      @malloysfootagearchive8919 4 роки тому +2

      art nah, 20 tons of chalk for only three seconds

    • @calliboya8090
      @calliboya8090 4 роки тому +1

      Sorry for correcting but....
      tonnes*

    • @thomasherrin6798
      @thomasherrin6798 Рік тому

      @Omega Technologies Inc Tons are imperial and Tonnes are metric, they are not the same, a short ton (U.S.) is 2000 lbs, a long ton (U.K.) is 2240 lbs and a tonne (Metric - Worldwide) is 2204.6 lbs (Divide lbs by 2.2 for kilos)!?!

  • @iulianion5565
    @iulianion5565 6 років тому +258

    Soo ppl just maintained a chalk horse 3000 years just bc they did

    • @art1637
      @art1637 6 років тому +41

      Iulian kinda
      Horse was cool, so they protected it

    • @lars1588
      @lars1588 4 роки тому +12

      It's the most British thing you could do.

    • @ricemango7502
      @ricemango7502 4 роки тому +12

      @@lars1588 mate the lads that built that werent modern brits, not even the same ethnic group

    • @lars1588
      @lars1588 4 роки тому +3

      @@ricemango7502 True.

    • @otterno.1128
      @otterno.1128 3 роки тому +13

      @@ricemango7502 Debatable, modern day English people will have ancestors from the ancient Britons, as they interbred with the invading Anglo-Saxons

  • @oneofmanyjames-es1643
    @oneofmanyjames-es1643 6 років тому +70

    As a history student, when I saw the title I got worried, but when I saw it was the White Horse I thought 'oh phew that's fine'

    • @franzluggin398
      @franzluggin398 6 років тому +7

      Initially read that as "the White House", was confused.

    • @LeMustache
      @LeMustache 6 років тому

      Franz Luggin // Nice. So I'm not alone

    • @damonferrara3637
      @damonferrara3637 6 років тому

      Same here.

    • @fds7476
      @fds7476 4 роки тому

      Everyone's gotta have his little ISIS moment, eh boys?

  • @QophSilrahq
    @QophSilrahq Рік тому

    I love that nobody knows how or why the horse is there, but for thousands of years, they've just continued to contribute to its upkeep. The horse became its own religion.

  • @mulgerbill
    @mulgerbill 4 роки тому +6

    And all the world is football shaped-
    It's just for me to kick in space-
    And I've got 1,2,3,4,5...
    I'm so glad this lovely example of English Settlement persists

  • @andrineslife
    @andrineslife 6 років тому +139

    I remember finding out this was a real thing after reading Terry Pratcett's Tiffany series and being so excited - it is still so cool to me!

    • @thomasyates3078
      @thomasyates3078 6 років тому +42

      T’aint what a horse looks like. It’s what a horse be.

    • @p1rgit
      @p1rgit 6 років тому +7

      came here to say that! :D good for ya! (and tom says he does not like terry pratchett...i forgive him. and secretly hope that maybe after this horse episode someone will give him this tiffany book and he might like it... lil bit... or not. no need to be all alike.)

    • @skellious
      @skellious 6 років тому +10

      Did you read the adult Discworld books as well? Nanny Ogg knows of another chalk figure... xD

    • @qwertyTRiG
      @qwertyTRiG 6 років тому +11

      Skellious The Cerne Abbot Giant is also real. And he does have a great big tonker.

    • @crispyrolls93
      @crispyrolls93 6 років тому +5

      I loved those books. I'm currently reading I shall wear midnight.

  • @BiBoetzke
    @BiBoetzke 6 років тому +212

    I would really like to know how the creators of the horse would react would anybody have told them that their art piece (that was probably created for religious reasons) would still be maintained after so long without anyone knowing why and not worshiping their gods.

    • @p1rgit
      @p1rgit 6 років тому +7

      like any graffity artist finding their work maintained and nearly worshipped after coupla millennia... :)

    • @andrewsuryali8540
      @andrewsuryali8540 6 років тому +15

      Not worshiping their gods? Oh, yessss, heheh, suure, heh. Yes, like you young'uns well know the old ones are just superstitious baloney. Heheh. Now be off to yer nice li'l cottage there and don't mind the torches t'nite. We, uh, we work hard ta keep the 'lectric bills low 'round here. Yeesss. And the howlin's from the Willoughby mutt, so don't mind that either. Heheh. Yesss..

    • @kantina4765
      @kantina4765 6 років тому +12

      @@andrewsuryali8540 you're cooked mate get a job

    • @howardchambers3163
      @howardchambers3163 5 років тому +2

      BiBoetzke it’s more likely a big sign saying “this is ours, piss off”. It’s pointed at another hill fort/ enclosure across the valley.

    • @TorianTammas
      @TorianTammas 4 роки тому

      BiBoetzke - Very simple for them it had meaning and was important. They would wonder why we do it as we don't understand.

  • @1973Washu
    @1973Washu 6 років тому +24

    'Taint what a horse looks like, it's what a horse be.' ~ Terry Prattchet

  • @roastedfroggy4262
    @roastedfroggy4262 4 роки тому +69

    3000 years ago:
    The high white horse gang at midnight: dammnit Jim. told you to bring 15 bags a time not 50.
    Jim: sorry boss what do we do now?
    Boss: it's ok lad we'll blend in..we'll go now. You and Jonny make an art with it by sunrise..make it a community art project of some sort. Fool them for a while. Maybe sit in front of it pray it for a while when the cops arrive
    3000 years later:
    Tom scott:

  • @StasConstantine
    @StasConstantine 6 років тому +3

    how proud the creators of this work of art would be knowing that 3000 years later a group of volunteers are contributing their time to preserving it

  • @AlexAlex
    @AlexAlex 6 років тому +253

    Tom Scott found Hammered in field

    • @darrenr49
      @darrenr49 6 років тому +12

      Tom Scott Hammering Horse in Field wut

    • @drops2cents260
      @drops2cents260 5 років тому +5

      @Alextran
      Obviously, there has been some horseplay.

    • @robertwilloughby8050
      @robertwilloughby8050 4 роки тому

      Some of the Park Benches with Matt might count.....

  • @PhilBoswell
    @PhilBoswell 6 років тому +59

    As Douglas Adams would have said "…the secret is to bang the rocks together, guys!"

  • @CantSniff
    @CantSniff 6 років тому +498

    Tom Scott:
    fine with hitting 3000 year old art with a hammer,
    Not okay with getting mud on his knees...

    • @Engineer9736
      @Engineer9736 6 років тому +77

      It’s to protect your knees from the sharp rocks..

    • @gmh3
      @gmh3 6 років тому +69

      as someone who has spent hours at a time on my knees smashing rocks i can attest that even if the ground is perfectly smooth you still want something soft and spongy under you

    • @falconJB
      @falconJB 6 років тому

      No one else seems to be having that problem in the video.

    • @SECONDQUEST
      @SECONDQUEST 6 років тому +3

      He's not a savage

    • @traktortarik8224
      @traktortarik8224 6 років тому +5

      I’ve never found sitting on my knees in grass to be difficult, but maybe there’s bits of chalk there

  • @Emilytea
    @Emilytea 6 років тому +10

    Aaaaaand that's all it took to get me crying today

  • @Spartan265
    @Spartan265 2 роки тому +1

    I wonder how the person or people who made this originally would feel seeing that 3000 some odd years later people are still maintaining and appreciating their work. And how cool is it that humans have kept it up for so long.

  • @seal3626
    @seal3626 6 років тому +189

    *Looks at Mona Lisa*
    Gotta do what you gotta do boys.

  • @cosmicjenny4508
    @cosmicjenny4508 6 років тому +19

    Me, being as cynical as I am, I assumed that this was _some_ sort of clickbait.
    But I was wrong. As a pessimist, I'm either right, or pleasantly surprised, and right now, I'm pleasantly surprised!

  • @justinhoffman5339
    @justinhoffman5339 6 років тому +9

    It boggles my mind what we as a society can get people to come together and do, and yet we still have problems with poverty.

  • @princessthyemis
    @princessthyemis 4 роки тому +2

    THIS IS SO DANG COOL!!!!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 I'm glad people are actively preserving such wonderful art year after year!

  • @username-yd4xm
    @username-yd4xm 4 роки тому +44

    I read the title hitting a 3000 year old with a hammer

    • @toaster_bloke9999
      @toaster_bloke9999 3 роки тому +9

      If they've survived that long, I'm sure some boring old hammer won't be much harm to them.

  • @balrogdahomie
    @balrogdahomie 6 років тому +81

    "Before the gods that made the gods
    Had seen their sunrise pass,
    The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
    Was cut out of the grass.
    Before the gods that made the gods
    Had drunk at dawn their fill,
    The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
    Was hoary on the hill.”
    - The Ballad of the White Horse, Book 1: The Vision of the King

  • @WilliamBoothClibborn
    @WilliamBoothClibborn 6 років тому +33

    The national trust guy is a good speaker.

    • @Howtard
      @Howtard 6 років тому +1

      They give talks to school kids regularly, he's well rehearsed on the spiel.

  • @TommoCarroll
    @TommoCarroll 6 років тому +182

    *Should have written 'Tom Woz Ere 2k18' my friend* missed opportunity! 😅

    • @frontiermusic5187
      @frontiermusic5187 6 років тому +7

      Ah, the classic choice!

    • @TommoCarroll
      @TommoCarroll 6 років тому +8

      It truly is the work of a true artiste, especially on park benches (PARK BENCH REFERENCE ANYONE!?)

    • @grand776
      @grand776 6 років тому +1

      nice. nice.

    • @campbellrocksagain
      @campbellrocksagain 6 років тому +1

      B4U

    • @smorrow
      @smorrow 6 років тому +1

      The Giant's Ring near Belfast has something like that.

  • @MaybeHabitForming
    @MaybeHabitForming 5 років тому +4

    WOW amazing, thousands of years in the making, i wonder what type of people would keep this up for over 3 thousand years if every 20 to 30 years it needs to be worked on, just amazing......Wish there was video of it back then.

  • @clockworkkirlia7475
    @clockworkkirlia7475 4 роки тому +1

    Aha, and to think I just left a comment on your most recent video that you should check more of this stuff out. I still do think so, to be fair, but I love that you did this one in particular (and appreciate all of your content in general)! I always thought this was some mysterious old horse thing with obscure origins but, duh, it's chalk, it's grass, it has to be maintained! That's a long, long chain of people. Something to be really, really proud of.

  • @joelthomas1585
    @joelthomas1585 6 років тому +15

    The National Trust is such an invaluable institution.

  • @onlyo9025
    @onlyo9025 6 років тому +6

    Love how I looked at the thumbnail and new exactly what he was going to talk about
    The pros of living in the area 😜😜

  • @mukrifachri
    @mukrifachri 6 років тому +81

    *proceeds to add extra detail on it*

    • @mukrifachri
      @mukrifachri 6 років тому

      Brunel tried to make a train. Or so.

    • @OlanKenny
      @OlanKenny 6 років тому +3

      Ethan Ansell prince Albert

    • @Colopty
      @Colopty 6 років тому +1

      Adding some cool sunglasses to the horse. 😎

    • @neolexiousneolexian6079
      @neolexiousneolexian6079 5 років тому

      *Turns it into a picture of a car because, like, who even uses horses anymore? Anyway, I'm sure that if the original artist could be here they'd think the magical eagle-speed pods are cooler than horses anyway.*

  • @Frk_X
    @Frk_X 4 роки тому

    I think the artist 3000 years ago just really liked horses but it now turned into this wonderful project were people come together to preserve it

  • @thomaslarkin3307
    @thomaslarkin3307 Рік тому

    Sometime I'm a little disapointed in humanity, but this makes me feel very happy. Good job humans! Keep making that horse!

  • @lucasryan8520
    @lucasryan8520 4 роки тому +4

    Good. The ward remains strong. She's never going to escape. I'm glad that the land remains protected

  • @MrInsideEye
    @MrInsideEye 6 років тому +10

    The horse's design is stunning. You'd expect to see something like that in a modern art gallery

    • @TorianTammas
      @TorianTammas 4 роки тому

      People at all times where not really good in drawing. I have some examples on my fridge.

  • @stephengordon5754
    @stephengordon5754 Рік тому +3

    I wonder how much the shape has changed over the course of re-chalking it hundreds of times.

    • @hetrodoxly1203
      @hetrodoxly1203 Рік тому

      It's not changed much at all the chalk is packed into deep trenches.

  • @vikkiruss
    @vikkiruss 3 роки тому +1

    Can’t believe I live in the next village I’ve been watching your videos for awhile and UA-camrs only just recommended this to me, the only reason I don’t do it is it always happens at the same time as our country show.

  • @xd_guy894
    @xd_guy894 3 роки тому +1

    The amount of effort all thos generations out just preserve a weird piice of art give sme goosebumbs.

  • @nxxxxzn
    @nxxxxzn 6 років тому +4

    So that's what's on the XTC's English Settlement album cover!

  • @GermaphobeMusic
    @GermaphobeMusic 6 років тому +6

    This channel has the best titles.

  • @reterbid6215
    @reterbid6215 3 роки тому +7

    "Yo, Ugg, what if we made a giant horse, that no one can see unless youre really high up, oh, and no one had any clue it exists!"
    "Good thinking Dug!"

  • @MattyRlufc
    @MattyRlufc 2 роки тому

    Somewhere in ancient Briton heaven, Cymbel the horse salesman is having a right good chuckle that people are still maintaining his advert 3,000 years later

  • @muddydave01
    @muddydave01 6 років тому

    I love that a bunch of volunteers would give up a day of their time to hit chalk with a hammer in the name of art, cultural preservation and community spirit.

  • @KyleLi
    @KyleLi 6 років тому +9

    ALI-A HERE AND TODAY WE'RE SMASHING ART WITH A HAMMMEEEERRRR
    No for real though, this was super interesting and deserving of the title.

  • @AlpineRR26
    @AlpineRR26 3 роки тому +4

    This is sad to know that sometime, generations will be so lazy or people just won’t care about a crappy horse. It’s good to follow you generations not ignore what they did for their past generations

    • @seanspindleshanks2529
      @seanspindleshanks2529 3 роки тому +2

      We've had it going for 3000 years now, I'd say we'll be able to keep it alive. You'd never have expected that a community beset by war, famine, plague, and all the other horribleness that three thousand years brings, all the cultural shifts, and changes in values, to have taken the time to preserve a chalk drawing of a horse that they couldn't even really see properly. Yet they did. That kind of makes me think that, as long as people can keep this old horse alive, they will.

    • @AlpineRR26
      @AlpineRR26 3 роки тому

      @@seanspindleshanks2529 now I totally agree but like kids these days have their iPhones on for hours a day and it’s all about complaining when their parents ask them to do the dishes or something. My dad worked for his parents at 13. I see 7 year olds with the newest gen phone and I just feel worried for their future if it stays like this. But if the parents keep teaching their kids how important it is to preserve this in the future, then they tell their kids, then I can agree with you.

  • @minghueileong
    @minghueileong 6 років тому +53

    Art attack 1000BC

  • @Seeds-Of-The-Wayside
    @Seeds-Of-The-Wayside Рік тому

    It's actually really cool that people have maintained it for so long and there has never been a period where it has grown over and been forgotten

  • @CC-rg3tc
    @CC-rg3tc Рік тому +1

    A thousand years before the birth of Christ, this thing was here. Before Alexander the Great, before the Roman Empire, before the Greek alphabet, before the Great Wall of China or the life of Confucius, this horse was here. Before Cyrus the Great or Gautama Buddha, before Homer, Aristotle, the I Ching and the Book of Psalms, before Aesop’s Fables were ever put to page, this thing existed. And you just hit it with a hammer. We can only hope this helps it live through the next eras of history.

    • @DavidLS1
      @DavidLS1 Рік тому

      You sound like the Guardian of Forever.

  • @skellberg
    @skellberg 6 років тому +11

    that's a proper English Settlement

  • @trest2511
    @trest2511 4 роки тому +12

    Hit Earth you've already hit a 4.543 Billion year old rock.

    • @dorrisgonnawreckyou7111
      @dorrisgonnawreckyou7111 4 роки тому +4

      But is that rock shaped like a horse?

    • @luckyblockyoshi
      @luckyblockyoshi 3 роки тому

      but is it art?

    • @imk2007
      @imk2007 3 роки тому

      @@luckyblockyoshi no it used to be then humans discovered cole and it was all downhill from there

    • @luckyblockyoshi
      @luckyblockyoshi 3 роки тому +1

      @@imk2007I thought art is specifically the expression of creativity, imagination and skill?

  • @omerangi4695
    @omerangi4695 6 років тому +84

    One of the best clickbaits I have ever seen

    • @MrSkinnyWhale
      @MrSkinnyWhale 6 років тому +11

      100% accurate though

    • @1sdani
      @1sdani 6 років тому +11

      +MrSkinnyWhale That's what makes good clickbait

  • @annakeye
    @annakeye 6 років тому +1

    *+Tom Scott*
    It's interesting to me that although the years have moved, humans clothing and fashions change, that the buckets and containers the chalk was carried in have gone from wooden, zinc through to plastic, the process has not been automated or hurried. That the best way to preserve, perhaps the most efficient means is to have people quarry the chalk, bring it to site and bash it wish a mallet. I wonder if the same system will endure for another three millenia?

  • @MarvinsArtCat
    @MarvinsArtCat 5 років тому

    watching this right after the sad news of notre dame burning...
    it s a responsibility of each one of us to preserve art, as a testament to our history, regardless of people, country or beliefs.
    without these works, we would be unrepairably poorer.

  • @Samunderscoree
    @Samunderscoree 6 років тому +11

    now this is epic

    • @neonlemurs4865
      @neonlemurs4865 6 років тому +6

      Ok now THIS is epic.

    • @dermathze700
      @dermathze700 6 років тому +3

      Can we hit 3000 year old art with a hammer?

    • @faith3174
      @faith3174 6 років тому +2

      **hits 3000 year old art with hammer**
      le epix pranck

  • @hmru2
    @hmru2 4 роки тому +4

    I went here like two weeks ago and now it’s in my recommended.

  • @ercole1488
    @ercole1488 6 років тому +9

    ...I was not expecting this

  • @thepoetoffall7820
    @thepoetoffall7820 6 років тому

    Art that can only be properly appreciated from the sky, can’t fly a drone over it. Flawless logic!

  • @peter4210
    @peter4210 6 років тому +1

    I imagine 3000 years ago, 30 guys drunk on fermented fruits just decide to draw a horse with chalk, and then a few years people found it and started worshiping it and maintaining it and now the tradition goes on

  • @revertnormal8529
    @revertnormal8529 3 роки тому +5

    Hurricane: *flys over art*
    Everybody: Thousands of years.... Waisted....

    • @sneaker_thistle
      @sneaker_thistle 3 роки тому +1

      I thinks its compacted enough to stay even through over a thousand years

    • @otterno.1128
      @otterno.1128 3 роки тому +4

      In England?

    • @totallyahuman5055
      @totallyahuman5055 3 роки тому +1

      This is England hurricanes do not happen there

  • @BierBart12
    @BierBart12 4 роки тому +4

    This makes me wonder how many of these kinds of artworks existed that just haven't been tended to.

  • @OP-1000
    @OP-1000 3 роки тому +4

    “Hit” might be a big word. “Tapped” is more accurate.

    • @proffesionalweredog7426
      @proffesionalweredog7426 3 роки тому

      ironic considering tapped is literally a bigger word than hit

    • @OP-1000
      @OP-1000 3 роки тому

      @@proffesionalweredog7426 . No it isn’t

    • @proffesionalweredog7426
      @proffesionalweredog7426 3 роки тому

      @@OP-1000 im not saying you're wrong, im just saying tapped is a bigger word length-wise

    • @OP-1000
      @OP-1000 3 роки тому

      @@proffesionalweredog7426 . Aha. In that case you are right. 😜

  • @betweenthevelvetlies
    @betweenthevelvetlies 3 роки тому

    The sense of pride you have when you already understand the video and what he’s talking about just by seeing the thumbnail and title. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  • @brucehubbard1852
    @brucehubbard1852 4 роки тому +1

    Now that's cool, awesome that it's been taken care of for that long. That's getting to be as old as the pyramids. Wow, so cool.