Black Horses Ride Across The Sky Kent England
by James Brunker
Title
Black Horses Ride Across The Sky Kent England
Artist
James Brunker
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
A well preserved pair of oast houses and their wooden cowls, seen from the Wealdway near Haysden in the Medway Valley, Kent, south east England. Oast houses are also called hop kilns as they were built to dry hops and are particularly associated with Kent and neighbouring Sussex as hops were once the most important crop in the region. The cowls are designed to allow hot air from fires at the base of the kiln to rise and escape, drying the hops in the process. Many oasts have now been converted into homes as not many hops are grown in the region these days but imported.
A rampant white horse is one of the symbols of Kent and features on the county coat of arms. It dates back to the 6th-8th centuries, when it was the old symbol for the Jutish Kingdom of Kent. The black horse here has presumably been painted to contrast with the white cowl. Black and white horses also feature in Celtic mythology and astrology; black horses represent Saturn and winter, white ones Jupiter and summer. Black horses were also a symbol meaning death and dark forces, and represented strength of maturity to deal with what life might bring.
Photograph © James Brunker. Reproduction, transmission or use in any form (print, website, copying and uploading directly to social media sites rather than sharing etc) without prior written permission strictly prohibited.
Uploaded
August 10th, 2020
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