Kilburn White Horse ~ Medium Walk

 

Distance Covered: 3 miles Time to Complete Walk 2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes

One of Yorkshires most famous landmarks the White Horse of Kilburn is visible from the air - aptly the walk passes a glider club. The walk starts at Sutton Bank Visitors centre which has a brilliant cafe and a wealth of facilities such as bikes for hire. Then descend into woods towards the White Horse. Climb to the top of the landmark and then back to the visitor centre. Amazing views at the top of Sutton Bank.

General Safety Tips: Be careful on the descent into the woods -take a walking stick. The climb up to the top of Kilburn White Horse is very steep. Take care when crossing the A170.

The Kilburn White Horse Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough head onto the A19 southbound. Turn off at the Thirsk left turn off and head towards Scarborough on the A170 and climb Sutton Bank to the top. The entrance to the Sutton Bank National Park Centre is at the top of the bank on your left. Parking is £6.00 for 2 hours or more.

                                 Maps of the Kilburn White Horse walk

The Walk 

From the car park in the visitor centre, follow the signposts to Kilburn White Horse to the right of the centre.

Keep following the signs to Kilburn White Horse to the left and then cross over the A170 very carefully.

Follow the path on the other side as it bends to the right and then at a fork in the park keep on the right hand path.

Continue on the path which passes the glider club on your left.

Before you come level to the main glider club building on your left, look for a footpath to your right which descends into the woodland below.

This path takes you to a fork in the path at the bottom - keep to the left hand path.

Keep ahead on the path ignoring any branches to the left

Eventually you arrive in the Kilburn White Horse car park - a great pitstop here is to the right at some picnic tables and this gives you a great view of the landmark!

Return to the car park and head up the steps to the White Horse.

The steps are quite steep but eventually you end up on a path above.

Fantastic views are at the top and you can walk by the white horse, however do not walk on the landmark.

Follow the path, passing the Roulston Scar to your left and again passing the gliders club to your right.

Head back to the visitors centre by keeping left and then right at two consecutive forks in the path. 

Kilburn White Horse

The Kilburn White Horse is a hill figure cut into the hillside in the North York Moors National Park near Kilburn in North Yorkshire, England.

It is 318 feet (97 m) long by 220 ft (67 m) high and covers about 1.6 acres (6,475 m²) and said to be the most northerly "chalk" hill figure in England.

Located on the southern flank of Sutton Bank, near Roulston Scar at the edge of the Hambleton table-land, it faces south-south-west and is visible from some distance, particularly from the East Coast Main Line railway south of Thirsk, and from the A19. On a clear day, the horse is visible from north Leeds, 28 miles (45 km) away on the higher ground to the west of the Vale of York.

Sutton Bank is formed of jurassic, limey sandstone and the horse was created by removing topsoil to expose that underlying rock, and covering it with white chalk chips.

It was created in November 1857, and some accounts state that it was done by schoolmaster John Hodgson and his pupils, together with local volunteers.

However, a tablet erected at the car park below it reads,

The Kilburn 'White Horse' -- This figure was cut in 1857 on the initiative of Thomas Taylor, a native of Kilburn. In 1925 a restoration fund was subscribed by the readers of the Yorkshire Evening Post and the residue of £100 was invested to provide for the triennial grooming of the figure.

Morris Marples in his 1949 book also gives Thomas Taylor the credit for being the prime mover: a native of Kilburn, he was a buyer for a London provision merchant. He seems to have attended celebrations at the Uffington White Horse in 1857, and he was inspired to give his home village a similar example. Thirty-three men were involved in cutting it, and 6 tons (6.1 metric tonnes) of lime were used to whiten the exposed rock.

Nowadays a car park is provided below the white horse and there is a footpath ascending past it and crossing immediately above it. The image itself is now formed of off-white limestone chips, but the steep gradient of the hillside, especially at the horse's breast and forelegs, have led to slumping and retention boards have been fixed to restrain this.

The cutting of the current Litlington White Horse in East Sussex during 1924, was inspired by the story of the Kilburn horse.

The footpath offers a scenic view. The car park is located on a steeply graded minor road between Kilburn village and the Sutton Bank National Park Centre on the A170 road, and the best view of the white horse itself is from the Bagby road; benches are provided there to allow leisurely observation.

During World War II the horse was covered over to prevent it from becoming a conspicuous navigation landmark for enemy bombers.

This white horse can reputedly be seen from Julian's Bower, Alkborough in North Lincolnshire, over 45 miles (72 km) away.