BornYesterday: Legends of The White Horse

A bad day to go hunting.

A lovers meeting went wrong.

The disappearance of Lady Williamson.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

An honest deception

Oooops!!!

The Legend of the White Horse:

The white Horse can be found at the Marsden Craggs end of Cleadon Hills in Marsden old quarry local nature reserve. Just follow the signs up the steps.

The White Horse 2007

The painting of the White Horse dates back to at least 1887. Over the year’s it has been regularly repainted and cared for by local people proud of the tradition.
There are several tales of how the White Horse came to be. Some are more believable than others. Which one do you believe?

A Bad Day to go Hunting

A huntsman, out with his friends one day, became separated from them. They later found his body at the bottom of a limestone outcrop alongside his white horse, also dead. The horse here today was painted in his memory.

A Lover's Meeting went Wrong

Nestre, the daughter of a Saxon nobleman called Thalphere, fell in love with a Danish chief, Rolf Hardre. The lovers met on Marsden beach. One day, during the lover’s meeting, Rolf’s white horse wandered off. The lovers were discovered by a party led by Thalphere and during the struggle that followed they were killed. The mare was later found dead at the bottom of the cliff.

The Disappearance of Lady Williamson

This story is given the most credence and is associated with Lady Williamson and her husband Sir Hedworth Williamson who would take a daily ride over the hills. One tragic day, Sir Hedworth being away, Lady Williamson rode alone on her white mare in the direction of Marsden Rock, which at that time was still part of the mainland and was never seen again. Searches were made in vain for two years for any trace of Lady Williamson or her horse, until finally Sir Hedworth gave up, at the same time losing interest in his estate, he gave all of his horses to his ostler, Edwin Wareham (born 1851 in Dorset) with which he set up the Wareham Cab Company near Westoe, and gave some money to his gamekeeper, Peter Allan who later became tenant of the Marsden Grotto. In gratitude to his former employer and to the memory of Lady Williamson the White Horse was scratched out in tar and lime wash by Edwin Wareham and the tradition has been kept up ever since by local people.

Seemed like a good idea at the time!

A gentleman landowner by the name of Ness, decided to have it painted on a whim. The White Horse was painted to grace his estate and has been repainted by locals ever since, keeping his whim alive.

An Honest Deception

A retired colonel from the Napoleonic wars could no longer ride his treasured white battle charger. He had it kept in a field within view of his house. One day it was stolen. To save the colonel upset, the tenant, charged with its care, painted a white horse on the rock. The colonel, none the wiser, continued to admire his faithful white charger from his window ‘till the end of his days.

Oooops!!!

William Johnson, a keen farmhand, decided to impress his master by breaking in a stubborn white mare, despite being told to leave it for his master to deal with. Things went wrong when the mare broke free and charged over a cliff to her death.

A glimpse through time

South Shields