Restoring the Long Man of Wilmington
October 17th, 2017
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ShareThe Long Man of Wilmington the proud South Downs figure is now back to gleaming white having received a fresh coat of paint and a trim.
Brewers Eastbourne branch were very pleased to be able to get involved by donating paint and brushes for the project that Charlotte Allen, Heritage Landscape Assistant with East Sussex County Council and James Neal, Head Gardener at Michelham Priory, organised.
The team of volunteers came together from The Sussex Archaeological Society’s ‘Skills for the Future project’, Seven Sisters Park and Michelham Priory to help restore the Long Man to his former glory.
The Long Man is repainted every 4 years and this time, the team made the epic climb up the steep slopes armed with shears to trim the grass and paint brushes to recoat the blocks that form the outline of this historic spot.
The Long Man’s east staff measures 2,768 inches and there was considerable debate over how much paint would be needed for the job! In the end it took up to 80 litres of paint to cover him. Volunteers were incredibly lucky with the weather with the two painting days remaining dry, in fact the sun shone brightly!
Before and after the repaint!
A view from the top
James Neal - Michelham Priory’s Head Gardener