Today's Object of the Week is a famous - and very large - North Yorkshire landmark.

The Kilburn White Horse, in the North York Moors National Park, is 314ft long, 228ft high, covers about 1.6 acres - and about 20 people could fit in its grassy 'eye'.

It sits on the southern flank of Sutton Bank, near Roulston Scar. On a clear day, the horse is said to be visible from north Leeds, 28 miles away.

The Northern Echo: On a clear day, the horse is said to be visible from north Leeds, 28 miles awayOn a clear day, the horse is said to be visible from north Leeds, 28 miles away (Image: TARA MORRIS)

With the largest surface area of any hill-figure in Britain, the most northerly of its kind in the country has proved a highly popular but awkward creature to tend.

The most challenging feature of the horse is that it is not cut into a naturally white chalk hillside like many of its more southerly cousins.

It was created by removing the topsoil and exposing the underlying sandstone rock -and therefore needs constant whitening. This was first done using gallons of whitewash, but now chalk chippings from the Yorkshire Wolds are used.

The horse was designed and financed by Thomas Taylor, a Victorian businessman, and was cut in 1857.

A native of Kilburn, he was a buyer for a London provision merchant. He had seen the famous chalk hill figures of southern England and is believed to have attended celebrations at the Uffington White Horse in 1857, so wanted to create something similar for his home village.

The village schoolmaster, John Hodgson, and helpers did the work. He marked out the figure of a horse on the hillside. A team of more than 30 volunteers did the actual cutting. When the shape of the horse was complete, they deposited six tons of lime on the naturally greyish rock beneath to whiten it.

It can been seen for miles around, but its conspicuousness hasn't always been considered a benefit.

The Northern Echo: The story of the famous Kilburn White Horse features in a newly updated book, launched next weekThe story of the famous Kilburn White Horse features in a newly updated book, launched next week (Image: ANTHONY CHAPPEL-ROSS)

During the Second World War the horse had to be covered over to stop it becoming a target for German bombers.

The Kilburn White Horse Association, run by volunteers, handed the site to Forestry England in 2018. In 2022, the horse was resprayed at a cost of £20,000.

Read previous Objects of the Week here:

What links a hideous dwarf, a gold table and a secret passage to this ruined castle?

How Sunderland and Newcastle found themselves in Civil War opposition

County Durham bridge has a tragic story behind it and we bet you didn't know it

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The tory of the famous North Yorkshire landmark features in a newly updated book, supported by The Yorkshire Vet and a Michelin-starred chef.

Peter Wright, star of the Channel five TV series, will host a book launch for Kilburn’s White Horse, which charts the history of its creation and its care by subsequent generations.

Tommy Banks, chef at the Michelin-starred Black Swan restaurant at nearby Oldstead, has written the foreword to the book, in which he recounts his memories of accompanying his grandfather, Fred Banks, to maintain the horse.

The book, which costs £9.99, is a third edition, and will be launched by Peter Wright at the White Rose Book Cafe in Thirsk on Thursday, September 21. The launch event starts at 7.30pm (doors open at 7pm). To reserve a free place email sales@whiterosebooks.co.uk or phone the bookshop on 01845-524353.