Landscape Architecture - Hedge Mazes

Landscaping has a unique and proud history. Working with plants and creating a balance between the combination of buildings and the beauty of nature has existed for much longer than most people know. Like with all things the fashions and styles of landscaping changes with time. Hedge mazes were not just a passing landscape fancy, but an art that continues to fascinate and delight us even today. Hedge mazes evolved from the knot gardens of Renaissance Europe, and were first constructed during the mid-16th century. These early mazes were constructed from evergreen herbs, but, over time, dwarf box became a more popular option due to its robustness. Italian architects had been sketching conceptual garden labyrinths as early as 1460, and hundreds of mazes were constructed in Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Initially, the hedge maze was not intended to confuse, but to provide a unicursal walking path. Puzzle-like hedge mazes featuring dead ends and tall hedges arrived in England during the reign of King William III of England. It was possible to get lost in the much-admired labyrinth of Versailles, built for Louis XIV of France in 1677. This maze was adorned with thirty-nine hydraulic sculpture groups depicting Aesop's fables. Unfortunately its glory was lost when the maze was destroyed in 1778. The oldest surviving puzzle hedge maze, at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England, was built for King William in the late 17th century. Its distinctive trapezoidal shape is due to pre-existing paths running alongside the maze.

In modern times, hedge mazes have increased in complexity. A hedge maze at Longleat House in Wiltshire, England, designed in 1978, features a three-dimensional maze that uses bridges and a grid-less layout to confuse visitors.

Castlewellan in Northern Ireland has the world's largest permanent hedge maze In the Forest Park. The peace maze, as it is called, is one of the Forrest Park's key attractions. It represents the path to future peace for Northern Ireland and a peace bell waits at the center of the maze for any who dare to solve it. Another key item of landscape is the walled Annesley garden, the focus of the Arboretum, started in the 1850s and rare conifers and maples were later imported directly from Japan.  The Arboretum holds many trees with record heights in the British Isles.

Disneyland Paris has incorporated a hedge maze in their landscape as well.  The hedge maze was created in Alice's Curious Labyrinth, an Alice in Wonderland themed area. Much of the maze is laid out in a pattern shaped like the Cheshire Cat. Two sections make up the maze: The Tulgey Wood and the Queen of Hearts' Castle and Hedge Maze. The goal is to reach the Queen's Castle, which offers a nice view of Fantasyland.

Hedge mazes are not just European landscape architecture. You can find them here in the us as well. There is the Garden Maze at Luray Caverns, Luray, Virginia and The Governor's Palace Maze in Colonial Williamsburg, also in Virginia. Another maze would be the Kaeser Memorial Maze, located at the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri. 

"Disneyland Paris Maze" by Michael Plasmeier (theplaz.com) User:Michael180 Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DLP_Maze_View.JPG#/media/File:DLP_Maze_View.JPG 

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