Etchilhampton (1) , Nr Devizes, Wiltshire. Reported 30th July.

Updated Monday 23rd April 2018


Image Lucy Pringle. Copyright 1997.


Image Dr A King. Copyright 1997


An aerial shots by Steve Alexander. Copyright 1997.


The Boustrophedon.

This formation was discovered just outside the village of Etchilhampton. It was described as a grid like pattern set within a square inside an enclosed circle. The formation is called the Boustrophedon. (boo - stro' - feh - don)

Boustrophedon n. [from a Greek word for turning like an ox while plowing] An ancient method of writing using alternate left-to-right and right-to-left lines. This term is actually philologists' techspeak and typesetters' jargon. Erudite hackers use it for an optimisation performed by some computer typesetting software and moving-head printers. The adverbial form `boustrophedonically' is also found (hackers purely love constructions like this).


1. The Etchilhampton double formation ( Etchilhampton 1 ) was not first discovered on 1st August! I had tea with the farmer and he said that they'd discovered the formation on 30th July.

Report by Andreas Mueller.


Return to the Crop Circles of 1997

Mark Fussell & Stuart Dike