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Mazes and Labyrinths

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #135 on: April 04, 2009, 11:44:01 pm »



63.--''Troy-town,'' Pimperne, Dorset. (Hutchins.)
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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #136 on: April 04, 2009, 11:44:22 pm »

writing in 1686, says it was "much used by the young people on Holydaies and by ye School-boies." The path was bounded by ridges about a foot in height. The maze was destroyed by the plough in 1730. The memory of another turf maze in the same country is preserved in the name of Troy-town, applied to a locality about three

p. 82

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #137 on: April 04, 2009, 11:44:36 pm »

miles north-east of Dorchester. One is also said to have existed near Bere Regis. Aubrey goes on to refer to another at West Ashton, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire, and one "on the Cotteswold Downes, where Mr. Dover's Games were celebrated." He mentions them also in his "Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey," and concludes his reference by quoting what he calls a "Poetical Description" of them, by Thomas Randolph, a poet and dramatist of the seventeenth century, the so-called description being nothing more than an indictment of the lazy shepherd swain, who prefers to spend his leisure in sleeping under a bush when, according to the poet, he ought


". . . to tune his Reed and chant his layes
Or nimbly run the windings of the Maze."

[paragraph continues] This is from Thomas Randolph's (or Randall's) "Eglogue on the Palilia and Noble Assemblies revived on Cotswold Hills by Mr. Robert Dover," one of a collection of eulogies--the Annalia Dubrensia--by various poets of the day of the then famous annual sports organised by Captain Dover on the hills near Chipping Campden. Mazes, or "laborinths," are referred to in the contributions of several of the other poets concerned, of whom we may mention Francis Izod, Nicholas Wallington, William Bellas and William Denny. A figure in the crude frontispiece conveys a similar allusion.

In Essex we have an example of rather larger dimensions than the majority, namely, that on the east side of the common at Saffron Walden (Fig. 64). A tall bank hides it from the Thaxted road, which runs within a few yards of it. The four bastions (or "bellows") and the centre are slightly raised. The overall dimensions are approximately 91 ft., excluding the bastions, and 138 ft. from corner to corner.

This maze is referred to in the Corporation account books for the year 1699, when it was apparently re-cut.

p. 83

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #138 on: April 04, 2009, 11:44:46 pm »

On several subsequent occasions it became neglected and almost obliterated, but fortunately there has always been some person sufficiently interested to cause its renovation. According to a local record, re-cuttings have taken place in 1828, 1841, 1859, 1887, and 1911. On
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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #139 on: April 04, 2009, 11:45:25 pm »



FIG 64.--Turf Labyrinth, Saffron Walden, Essex. (W. H. M.)

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #140 on: April 04, 2009, 11:45:38 pm »

the last occasion it was underlaid with bricks, to facilitate future renovations.

As in the case of the Winchester example, the "path" consists of the narrow and shallow groove instead of the raised turf, and this gives some weight to the tradition that it is only a copy of a much larger maze which formerly existed further to the east.

p. 84

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #141 on: April 04, 2009, 11:45:49 pm »

In a manuscript book of the latter part of the eighteenth century the maze is spoken of as a favourite resort for the young bloods of the town, a complicated system of rules and wagers (in gallons of beer) being laid down in connection with walking the maze.

It is stated that a large ash tree at one time occupied the centre, but that it perished by fire in the Guy Fawkes celebrations of November s, 1823.

A few years ago some boys, playing on the central mound, discovered a Roman coin. This does not, of course, prove that the work is of Roman origin.

In the 1789 edition of Camden's "Britannia" a drawing of the maze exhibits merely a series of concentric circles with extensions on the outermost pair forming the "bastions." This illustration could hardly have been prepared on the spot.

About twenty miles to the north-west of Saffron Walden and a few miles to the west of Cambridge lies the little village of Comberton (Cambs). The play-ground of the village school occupies one corner at the cross-roads, and in the south-west angle of this, enclosed by iron railings, lies a turf maze of a pattern similar to that at Alkborough. Owing to the use which the school children make of it the paths are nearly denuded of grass, but the ridges are well defined, as shown by the photograph (Fig. 65), which was taken in March 1921. The present maze is a faithful copy of that which was formerly situated a few yards away, and which, when the school was built, occupied an inconvenient position just outside the scholars' entrance. The old maze was known as the "Mazles." It used to be the custom in the village to have a feast once every three years, and at such times the maze was re-cut.

Comberton, by the way, is almost the next village to Bourn, where, as we have seen, a peculiar pavement maze occupies the floor of the church tower.

In the neighbouring county of Huntingdon we find

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #142 on: April 04, 2009, 11:46:21 pm »



Fig. 65. ''The Mazles,'' Comberton, Cambs. [Photo: W.M.H.]

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #143 on: April 04, 2009, 11:46:52 pm »



Fig. 67. Turf-Labyrinth, Hilton, Hunts. [Photo: W.M.H.]



 
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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #144 on: April 04, 2009, 11:47:06 pm »

p. 85

a splendidly preserved maze, of curious plan, in a corner of the green in the rambling and out-of-the-way but charming village of Hilton (Fig. 66).

These turf labyrinths are in most cases liable to escape the notice of all but the intentional seeker, owing

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #145 on: April 04, 2009, 11:48:18 pm »



Fig. 67. Turf-Labyrinth, Hilton, Hunts. [Photo: W.M.H.]



 
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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #146 on: April 04, 2009, 11:48:34 pm »

p. 85

a splendidly preserved maze, of curious plan, in a corner of the green in the rambling and out-of-the-way but charming village of Hilton (Fig. 66).

These turf labyrinths are in most cases liable to escape the notice of all but the intentional seeker, owing

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #147 on: April 04, 2009, 11:49:04 pm »



FIG. 66.--Turf Labyrinth, Hilton, Hunts. (W. H. M.)

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #148 on: April 04, 2009, 11:49:14 pm »

to their flat and grassy nature, and the difficulty is accentuated in the case of Hilton by reason of the fact that the maze is at some little distance from the road, and is, moreover, sunk to a depth of several inches below the general level of the surrounding turf. It may easily be located, however, if one remembers that the centre is marked by a square stone obelisk surmounted by a ball.

p. 86

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Kabrina Teppe
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« Reply #149 on: April 04, 2009, 11:49:28 pm »

This obelisk has indications of a sun-dial on the north face, with the words "A.B. hoc." On its south face it bears a coat of arms, engraved within a circle, and the inscription: "Sic transit gloria mundi. Gulielmus Sparrow, Gen., natus ano. 1641. Aetatis sui 88 quando obiit, hos gyros formavit anno 1660." On the east face is engraved, "William Sparrow departed this life the 25th August, Anno Domini 1729, aged 88 years." The west face bears only the words "Dep. hoc." Our photograph (Fig. 67) shows the obelisk and as much of the maze as could conveniently be included with the camera used. It will be noticed that the trenches between the paths are fairly wide and deeply cut.

The good state of preservation is no doubt greatly due to the fact, remarked by a writer of half a century ago, that the paths are made up with pebbles. No sign of the latter is now evident amongst the thick turf. The plan of the maze shows some interesting variations on the older and more conventional designs of Alkborough, Comberton, etc., the most remarkable point being that the path from the exterior to the centre is almost direct, the labyrinth proper being composed of paths which commence and terminate at the central plot. The Hilton maze appears to be unique in this respect.

Whatever may have been the original purpose of turf labyrinths in this country as a whole, it is fairly clear that the Hilton example at any rate was not made for ecclesiastical purposes if, as stated on the obelisk, it was constructed in 1660. On the other hand, the reflection that at that date Puritan influences were on the decline and the restoration of the Monarchy was imminent leads one to conclude that this somewhat exuberant design of a youth of nineteen was intended for purposes of rustic enjoyment.

Fig. 68 shows a labyrinth formerly incised in the turf of the marshes of Rockcliffe in Cumberland, near the shores of the Solway Firth. It covered a space of

p. 87

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