National Trust Rechalks 55-Metre Cerne Abbas Giant with 17 Tonnes as Wetter Winters Speed Fading
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 27
National Trust Rechalks 55-Metre Cerne Abbas Giant with 17 Tonnes as Wetter Winters Speed Fading
5 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 27
Seventeen tonnes of fresh chalk are being packed into the 55-metre Cerne Abbas Giant this week, with about 300 National Trust staff and volunteers restoring the Dorset hillside figure by hand.
Heavier winter rain, mild damp conditions and slower summer grass regrowth have left the outline greener, less distinct and more exposed to erosion, prompting a rechalk after just seven years instead of the usual decade or so.
The work could take up to 15 days on slopes as steep as one in three, with crews digging out old chalk and refilling the figure during an early-summer heat spell.
The Trust says it cannot prove climate change at a single site, but the Met Office expects warmer, wetter UK winters and hotter, drier summers to continue, raising the prospect of more frequent maintenance.
The restoration follows a £330,000 donation-backed purchase of 138 hectares around the Giant, expanding protection for its chalk grassland, archaeology and rare wildlife.
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