© 2001, Tom Baxter
In the April of the year 2000, Wendy and I traveled to England, for the Nine Daies Morris celebration. For the sake or marital harmony, I decided to opt out of the middle third of that 127-mile event (my legs opted out of several miles more), and Wendy and I went to see some of the sights of Essex, as tourists. What has all this got to do with the Maze in my front yard? Well, quite a lot, actually.
As tourists, stayed at a lovely Bed-and-Breakfast called Pudding House, in the town of Saffron Walden. Now, the town of Saffron Walden is widely known for a great many things, among them: Audley End house, a manor with lovely gardens; a flintwork church with a brilliant choir; and an ancient castle, or rather a pile of rocks that was once a part of one wall thereof. Curiously, it is no longer known for the production of saffron, which is just as well, because I detest the stuff. But for none of these things is Saffron Walden more famous than for the spectacular Maze that adorns the village green.
Me, at Pudding House
Strangely, even after having danced about seven miles, then walked as much again while playing with the musicians, and having walked as well from Pudding House to Audley End and back with Wendy, to save on cab fare, to say nothing of the touring the same manor and its gardens, the notion of walking the mile-long labyrinth still held an odd fascination for me, and Wendy and I traversed the pattern, stopping to kiss as we passed each other on adjacent arcs of the pattern. If I didn't decide that very day that I wanted a maze of my own, it was not long thereafter.
Walking the Maze
Of course, convincing Wendy took a bit more time.
We are, now many months later, greatly saddened to find that mazes and labyrinths are very popular, so that having one in our yard puts us at serious risk of being considered "trendy." Still, so long as there are those who might consider emulating us in our folly, I have set down here, what we have learned in the process of creating our maze, for their benefit (or warning).
A word of clarification, first of all, on the question of whether what I have in my yard should properly be called a "maze" or a "labyrinth." The answer is, of course, "yes." Many people, who consider themselves very well informed, have pointed out that a maze is by definition a pattern of branching paths designed to confuse, whereas a labyrinth must be a single path that runs a twisting course to its goal. Such people are actually dead wrong, and probably have an unjustifiably high opinion of themselves in other areas as well.
Two cases in counterpoint: the dungeonous labyrinth of ancient myth, where Theseus slew the Minotaur, was said to be a place of such complexity that it was only by unwinding a thread along his path (i.e., cheating), that Theseus was able to find his way out. By contrast, the unicursal pattern on the Saffron Walden green has always been known as "the Maze." So much for distinctions. If you still want to be snooty about it, my pattern embodies both types, and can be walked in either of the two ways, depending upon whether one treads on or between the paths.
So there.
The pattern, then, was the start of the process. Jo Edkins has a wonderful web page about labyrinths and mazes, with many historical and modern examples of labyrinth (maze) designs, including, now, mine. I will list other sources later, as well. The pattern I created was more-or-less centered around the stump of a crimson maple tree that I cut down in the beginning of the summer, following its having pitched several large limbs at our house in a particularly violent storm. My center ring also encompasses the sapling serviceberry tree that we planted to replace it.
We needed a center ring of at least 5-foot radius to clear these two obstacles, but an outer ring of no more than 15-foot radius in order to avoid encroaching upon the neighbors' lawn. For budgetary reasons, and following the Saffron Walden example, the path would be only the width of one brick, the arcs separated by one foot. As mentioned, I decided to create a unicursal maze/labyrinth, but one in which the spaces between the path create a second labyrinth/maze of the more confusing variety. I also wanted the pattern to resemble the Maze at Saffron Walden and other medieval Christian labyrinths, that is, forming the shape of a Cross. Above all, I wanted the pattern to look good. With these goals in mind, summoning my fading recollections of trigonometry, I created dozensof possible patterns, which I may post some day. The one I selected met all of my requirements (well, you may decide whether it looks good!).
My fading recollections of trigonometry
If you wish to create a labyrinth of your own, I would encourage you to create your own pattern, if only for the sheer joy of mathematical discovery. If you decide, in the end, that you must use MY pattern, I grudgingly give my permission, provided it is for YOUR OWN maze on YOUR OWN private property, and not anything you are being hired or paid to create, and provided you correctly identify me as the source of the pattern (if you are asked). Under NO circumstances, may this pattern be sold, nor may money be taken for the creation of a maze of this pattern, nor money taken for permission to walk a maze of this pattern, without my specific, written consent (and good luck getting that!).
Thank you.
Enough of that.
Having created the design, there was next the question of how to actually create the maze. Many texts described the cutting of the Saffron Walden maze as a process of "simply" removing the turf to expose the chalk layer below. Lovely, if one has a layer of chalk three inches below the green. Our topsoil goes down a foot and a half. Below that, there are another couple feet of ruddy clay, then gravel, then limestone. Wonderful for the trees, lousy for the maze.
But even Saffron Walden had the path laid in brick eventually, so we went that route as well. I found a source for reclaimed bricks at a discounted price, and I was allowed to save even more money by doing the reclamation work, that is, demolishing a brick wall next to an abandoned house next to Lake Minnetonka, myself. After countless more hours with compass and ruler, trigonometric equations with multiple variables, huge sheets of butcher's paper, and a six-function pocket calculator, I had come up with the details of the design. I calculated that the pattern would take around 500 bricks. Well, I was wrong, and eventually had to go back for a second load. In the end, the total number was around 600, adjusting for many that were cut to smaller sizes.
On the appointed day of installation, which turned out to be the first of many such days appointed, I addressed the two technical issues of the project: cutting bricks and cutting turf. The former I accomplished by renting a diamond-bladed wet-saw, which I heartily recommend above the hammer-and-chisel method. Either way, safety glasses are a must. The latter issue, turf-cutting, proved to be rather more of a challenge.
The innermost ring of the pattern I created by measuring the radius with a string tied to a post and marking it with a bag of white flour , which is not so harmful to the lawn as lime, and disappears more quickly than chalk or paint. The trouble was, that the process is dreadfully tedious, and the line not terribly clear. In the end it worked well, but took a very, very long time. I completed installation of the first ring myself, and cast about for a better method.
Driving the stake, that will be the center of the maze.
The Sack of Flour Method.
By the time for second ring to be measured, I had helpers. The method I devised for this was to tie two knots on a rope, one for the inner radius of the row of bricks and one for the outer. One person was to hold the rope taut while a second cut the turf on both sides with a spade. Unfortunately, the knots were difficult to get at the exact distance, the rope stretched to various degrees, depending upon the holder, and the person with the spade did not always cut quite vertically. A few of those arcs in my maze meander a bit.
Working with a knotted rope.
Uneven furrows, to be evened later
Around the fifth ring, I hit upon a great improvement. Rather than tying knots on a rope, I attached my measuring tape onto an empty can, with both top and bottom removed, and put the can over the center post. I could then use the measuring tape to find the exact radius without knot tying or rope stretching. This greatly improved the accuracy of the process, though there was still the skill of the spader to deal with. Holding the tape taut at ground level while the spader set, steadied, and planted the spade was also a bit tedious.
The Can-on-a-post method was a great improvement,
. . . still subject to the skill of the one with the spade.
All this while, my wife, children, and others, had been lending their invaluable effort to the task of
planting a half a ton of bricks.
Thanks to a supportive family!
Only when it came time to cut the small curves did I ht upon the best technique. To do these, I had set the bricks in place on the grass, visually assessed their symmetry and spacing, stamped on them a bit to settle them on the grass, and then cut around them with a spade. The resulting grooves are remarkably precise. Following this inspiration for the last, I again measured my radius with a tape and a metal can, but rather than having someone cut with a spade next to the tape, I simply set bricks on the ground in their proper places around the full circle. I then cut straight down on either side of the bricks, removed the turf, and set the bricks into the dirt beneath - an exact fit on a near-perfect circular arc!
Work on the turns -- discovery of the best method.
The last bits to be completed in this stage were the short arcs into the maze and from the maze into the center ring, which I installed with a small hand trowel, before raking bits of turf and dirt from the finished maze.
The brick at the inside end of the path is put into place.
Cleaning up for the celebration (note the outer ring of thatch!).
A few other notes, some points to consider if you are creating a maze of your own. It may be worthwhile to make a wider path, if you can afford the pavers and have the time to do so. If you make it wide enough, there are sod-cutting tools that will make the removal of turf quick and easy, while leaving useable pieces of turf for lawn-repair elsewhere. Also, if you have the time, it would be worthwhile to dig the channels a few inches deeper, so that sand may be put down as a base under the pavers. My labyrinth has its bricks sitting on black dirt, which has settled unevenly and may be more prone to erosion in the future. I also worry about turned ankles. If you find cutting around the bricks to be annoying, their places could be marked easily by dusting them with flour or chalk where they sit, so the bricks leave a clean "shadow" when removed. If you have plenty of time, the same may be best accomplished by setting the bricks in place and leaving them for a week to kill the grass beneath them. Lastly, Wendy and I are hoping to improve the maze further, by adding flowering groundcover among the grass and weeds between the arcs of the course, next Spring. Something that will stand some foot traffic, and won't overgrow the bricks too quickly. Creeping Charlie (dead-nettle) is right out!
My maze is around 350 feet long, a far cry from the mile long pattern Wendy and I walked in the spring, but it is already a minor landmark in my neighborhood, so many people having followed our progress. I have walked the complete pattern only a few times, and I cannot claim any miracles, enlightenment, stunning insight, great feelings of peace and oneness, nor healing of my plantar-fasciitis attending my stepping for the first time from the full path into the inner circle. Only the sense of a project well done, and appreciation of a thing of beauty, freshly created. I plan to walk the maze now and then, and to enjoy watching my children and their friends playing "tag" among its arcs and turns for many years to come.
Tom Baxter
October, 2000
Looking back, and looking more closely at the photo of me with a rake, I am reminded, that I still hadn't actually installed the outermost ring, when it was taken. At that stage, the place of that arc was marked with a line of raked thatch, but it was close enough to celebrate at a party, that evening! If memory serves, the outer ring was finished a week or two later. The completed maze has remained largely unchanged since then.
The complete maze (Spring, 2001).
As for my intended improvements, they have largely come to naught. I attempted, last fall, to paint the curving arcs of the maze, in the four cardinal directions, white to accent the cross shape of the design. Owing either to the too-cold temperatures when I applied the masonary stain, or to the foot traffic and winter weather that followed, the coloring was gone or imperceptible by spring.
The turf in and around the maze was never improved, which is just as well, considering this season's weather. Spring monsoons were followed by a July drought, claiming not only what little turf grass had formerly persisted, among the creeping charlie, dandelions and crabgrass, but the new serviceberry tree as well. That has now been replaced by a flowering hawthorne: a "May-flower," which seems a more apropriate tree, even if it won't bloom until mid-June in this horticultural zone. The lawn, well, that will be a project for another day.
Our daughter and her neighborhood friends, have made up a loose set of rules for "tag" in the maze, which they have played throughout the summer; and our son and his little cousins still like to walk the maze now and then. For all the sweat and bother that has gone into it, and with all the work that is yet to be done, Wendy and I still think it's a wonderful thing. Even if the neighbors think we're weird.
Tom Baxter
August 31, 2001
One of the most hauntingly beautiful effects of the maze, is how its warm bricks can melt a layer of snow, when a sudden chill follows sunny weather. Here is a picture from the morning of April 21, 2002. By evening, the maze was marked by channels 4" deep in the snowcover.
The Maze in Winter(?).