What is the White Horse at Marsden Quarry Nature Reserve?

After receiving a photo from reader Derek Roy of The White Horse at Marsden Quarry Nature Reserve, it posed the question as to whether residents know about the rock's history.

The painted horse shaped rock is a strong part of the area's history dating back to the late 1880's.

Whilst it doesn't seem to be known for sure the reason the horse was painted, there are six stories as to why it is there:

1 - A hunter got got separated from his companions, and was eventually found dead, along with his white horse, at the foot of a cliff. The White Horse was painted to commemorate this event.

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2 - Nestre, the daughter of a Saxon nobleman called Thalphere. who fell for a Dane called Rolf Hardre, who she used to meet on nearby Marsden beach. Rolf owned a white horse, which one day wandered off during their tryst, alerting Thalphere, who arrived mob-handed. Both Nestre and Rolf died in the ensuing fracas.  The white horse was later found dead at the foot of a cliff, and the White Horse was painted to commemorate this event. 3 - Lady Williamson, wife of Sir Hedworth Williamson, frequented the beach on her white horse. One day she vanished and was never seen again (presumably the horse vanished too).  This story says that the Williamson's stableman, Wareham by name, painted the White horse to commemorate this event. 4 - A landowner by the name of Ness had it painted on a whim, to grace his estate.

READ MORE: The Customs House to host 'The Importance of Being...Earnest?' 5 - A retired army colonel of the Napoleonic era could no longer ride his white battle charger, but kept it in a field within view of his house. One day it was stolen. The man charged with looking after it got around this by painting the White Horse, which fooled the colonel, who believed it to be his  (strangely immobile) horse. 6 - A certain farmhand, one William Johnson, tried to impress his master by breaking in a wild horse. Things went wrong, the horse went over a cliff and died, and the White Horse was painted to commemorate this event.

The White Horse has had to be repainted and touched up in recent years due to graffiti.

Did you know the White Horse was here or have you ever visited it?