Cherhill, nr Calne, Wiltshire. Reported 17th July.

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Located directly below the famous White Horse of Oldbury Camp, or more commonly named Cherhill Hill Fort, is one of the finest formations to have appeared in the Avebury area this year.

Its appearance came within a flurry of reports that hit the area between the 15^th of July to the 17^th. The entire week was one of the quietest we have experienced at this time of year, but none of us expected such an amazing amount of formations within just a few days.

The Cherhill formation incorporates a design, which has similar elements to pervious formations in the general area. We are looking at a much smaller pattern to what appeared at Hackpen Hill a few weeks earlier, but the central section of the Cherhill design includes a number of crescents creating a vortex, which is also present within the Hackpen formation.

The floor constructions on these years’ formations have been extremely impressive, and Cherhill was no exception. The pattern around the triangular sections on the outside of the vortex flowed in two directions between each interlocking triangle. This is a feature seen on many designs over the years, but the Cherhill formation incorporated a separate pattern positioned just off the main design. This shape is not the first time to have appeared; it was first seen on the Silverstone formation in Derbyshire back in 1998. It includes a small fork with a swirled central circle with standing crop, and a small tail at the end. On closer inspection of this small pattern, it contained an extremely important detail, which needs to be published. Looking at the central swirled section with the standing crop placed in the middle, on the outer edge of the standing stems, there were about 8-10 stalks, which were completely bent over at the very top of the plant. Not only that, but the stems themselves had discoloured to a brownish colour, which resulted in the seed head being completely dehydrated, with about half and inch of stem included.

On the standing walls surrounding the formation, and the small feature pattern, we could not find any evidence of the same effect, it was only concentrated on that small standing centre. A very interesting detail, which I am confident, has not been seen before. It maybe just as mysterious as the Dead Flies found by Janet Ossebaard, but what was so uncanny, is that Janet also discovered this new detail in the Cherhill formation, only a field away from her Dead Flies discovery in 1998.

What an amazing formation to photograph and report on, it’s positioned in the field quite beautifully, with the White Horse as a wonderful backdrop. On walking around the formation, you experience a feeling of peace, very similar to walking into a church. This feeling has been present on many formations around this area, and I am sure its about positioning in the landscape which is having a direct effect upon the individual.

Reported By Stuart Dike