Saffron Walden Turf Maze (Labyrinth) (uknown)

  • Designer / builder: unknown
  • Location: Saffron Walden, Essex, England
  • Date: unknown, initially re-cut in 1699, bricks laid around path in 1911 (relaid 1979)
  • Size: 132 foot labyrinth diameter
  • Materials: turf

“The Turf Maze (Labyrinth) on the Common is of great antiquity and importance. It is the largest example of its type in the world and is one of the eight surviving turf labyrinths in England. Its design is basically circular with 17 circuits. Four bastions at equal distances around the circumference give the labyrinth a total diameter of 132 feet. It is enclosed by a bank and ditch, the overall dimensions of which are 150 x 110 feet. The pathway follows grooves cut in the turf and approaches a mile in length.

Restorations of this labyrinth are recorded for 1826, 1841, 1859, 1887 and 1911, when the pathway was laid with bricks on edge. The most recent re-cutting was completed in 1979. On this occasion the bricks were relaid flat.

The Saffron Walden Mazes leaflet can be seen by clicking here Saffron Walden Mazes” [credit]