Old Labyrinths

England

Saffron Walden has a labyrinth with a single brick path that was first recorded in 1699, in the accounts of the Guild of the Holy Trinity, who "paid 15 shillings for cutting the maze". This is a fair sum of money for the time and may in fact record it's construction. It is unlikely to predate the late 1500's, because of the design. In which case, it is 299 years old! It is not a classical labyrinth, but a similar to a Chartres type, constructed in four quadrants.

Here is Sig running the "City of Troy" at Dalby in a North Yorkshire drizzle. It has been restored on several occasions this century. According to "Caerdroia" Editor, Jeff Saward, the origin of this example is rather contentious, but there is some evidence that it was first cut as recently as the mid-1800's, by a local farmer, from a plan published in a book or newspaper. The location is still splendid even if it is only c.150 years old. This type of labyrinth carries the unfortunate nomenclature of "turf maze." It is cut in the turf.

	Breamore

The Breamore (pronounced "Bremmer") turf labyrinth is south of Salisbury, England, within a mile of Breamore House, an Elizabethian Manor House built in 1583 by the Dodington family, five years prior to the Spanish Armada. It is a replica of the Chartres labyrinth, and is in excellent condition. (Sorry these images don't fit exactly together, but it gives you an idea of how big it is.)

According to the English Heritage sign, the two labyrinths in Rocky Valley, just North of Tintagel in Cornwall, England date to 1500 BCE. Others believe they were carved in the last century.

An interesting relatively recent water labyrinth in Bristol, England based on a much older ceiling boss in a nearby church, St Mary's Radcliffe. (The picture of the boss is tilted to line up the orientation of the water labyrinth.) The water flows out of the goal, and moves toward the mouth.