Caerleon | Grey's Court | Whitchurch
The Whitchurch Thyme Maze
The village of Whitchurch-on-Thames has a treasure set in a patch of meadowland, and hidden behind its allotments and primary school. This treasure has taken two years and thousands of bricks to become a reality, and is known as the Whitchurch Thyme Maze.
The land used for construction of the maze is owned by the National Allotment Society, but has not been under cultivation in recent times. Instead, the area has been used as a public open space for the benefit of the village. Local resident, Nick Brazil, conceived the idea of a maze to enhance the site and to add a focal point of interest to Whitchurch. It was essential for environmental, economic and legal reasons that the maze only minimally impacted on the land. Nick’s design of a flat, brick built maze, with a ‘human’ sundial at the centre, encompassed this perfectly.
Since its construction children from the primary school have adopted the maze as their special place, with many being daily after school visitors. They take great pleasure in finding their ways to the centre of the maze and to the sundial. Here, on sunny days, they can watch their shadows fall across the Roman numerals and tell the time.
Funding for the maze began at the local fete, where Nick set up a stall and asked people to ‘sponsor’ bricks. Once sponsored the bricks would then be professionally engraved with names of choice and laid in the maze. The fact that these bricks were non-existent at the time, yet began to sell quickly as the idea caught on, is indicative of the villagers’ early faith in the project.
Pete Woolhouse, another local resident, took on the responsibility of drawing up an accurate plan for the maze and setting it out, and then began excavating the turf to create the 5 concentric circles which make up the design. Teams of volunteers from the village arrived regularly, prepared to help with turf cutting and carrying the frostproof bricks, while Nick hand-mixed the mortar in a wheelbarrow and Pete laid the bricks into the maze paths. The volunteers were then on hand again to infill the gaps with earth.
Two years and more than four tons of mortar, two thousand bricks and a lot of time and hard work by many volunteers later, the maze was finally complete.
In addition to constructing the maze, and to help maintain ecological balance in the meadow, bird boxes have been installed in the trees, and wild flowers are being encouraged to grow among the many plants already established. Thyme is being carefully planted around the sundial, and should thrive, rabbits allowing! There is also an unusual piece of ‘furniture’ to be seen – but you would have to visit the maze to discover what it is!
To explore the maze, start at the ‘footprints’. Keep to the brick paths and you will see all the sponsored bricks, including some of the more unusual engravings. Without stepping over the various ‘stop ends’ (that’s cheating!), work your way to the centre of the maze, discover what time it is, then return – but don’t retrace your steps! Take an alternative route.
The maze has rapidly become a place of significance for the village and it is clear that an already close-knit community, which rallied to sponsor and build the maze, has become even closer because of it.