THIS could be the biggest April Fool of them all ... the outstanding Man of Dean who appeared overnight in a field near English Bicknor, Coleford, last week.
He was 50 feet high and painted in whitewash. Review investigators have gleaned the following.
According to local informants he is known as the legendary giant of Bickenofry – apparently the (unsubstantiated) Norman name for English Bicknor.
Rivalling the famous chalk figures of Southern England, legend has it that he appears every 300 years around the time of the last full moon before Easter.
It is also said that in Medieval times barren women would spend a night alone with the giant in the hope that they might conceive.
One local farmer is planning to test this theory by tethering one of his unproductive heifers in the giant's field.
It is said Bickenofry is visible for almost a week before he slips into a Bronze Age tumulus near the site where he is believed to be buried.
"I have often heard the legend of the giant but I never thought I would witness his gigantic proportions at close hand," said the landowner, who wished to remain anonymous.