Ashcombe Maze 4.8 (reviews)

At over 3 metres high and with hundreds of passageways connecting the main North and South tradtional hedge mazes, Ashcombe Maze is a healthy, entertaining way to spend time with the family.

They also feature impressive Lavender Labrynth and Rose Mazes, plus a walk through arboretum and several tended woodland areas to explore.

They operate a Great Gnome Hunt at all times, where small characters are hidden around the mazes and grounds; children are given a clipboard on entry and clear efforts are rewarded. These are regularly moved around so return visits can still be fun.

The two halves of the maze have entirely different layouts, so any strategies you developed while traversing the first portion are entirely worthless in the other!

Our 40-year-old hedge maze, which is over 3 metres tall and 2 metres thick, is visually stunning. The thick, evergreen texture is provided by over 1000 'Cupress macrocarpa' trees. At the beginning, the plants were planted at 1-metre intervals, but as the hedge grows a little bit bigger every year, the paths become a little bit narrower! Some of the maze passages are so narrow that wheelchairs and prams cannot fit through them.

The maze at Ashcombe House is maintained in an organic way because there are no straight lines or string lines used in its trimming. Because the hedge is trimmed frequently, the soft lime green foliage of the cypress is visible all year round. It takes about a month to finish trimming the hedge three or four times annually, using electric hedge trimmers, ladders, and stilts. It is not feasible to cut the hedge when it is raining or hot, and the mazekeeper and his team of gardeners push the trimming away in wheelbarrows.

Finding each of the four mosaic flags in the two halves of the Ashcombe Hedge Maze is a challenge for visitors. In the Centre Garden, you must traverse hundreds of metres of twisting paths in the South Maze before tackling the North Maze. It is not especially difficult, but it may take some time to get through (some people take longer than others!).

No matter how clever you are at solving maze puzzles, you'll have to start from scratch when you get to the other half of the maze.