A large beech hedge maze, created in 1991 and based on the shape of a Saxon sea creature, was designed by leading maze maker Adrian Fisher

The maze has over a mile of curving grass pathways and is especially popular with families during the summer months

Sea Monster Rollover

The Saxon period gave rise to numerous mythical creatures. One of these creatures, widely found in the artwork of the period, provided the inspiration for creating a unique hedge maze at The Herb Farm. This was to be one of the many new mazes that opened to the public during 1991, The Year of the Maze. It is appropriate that our maze should link with the Saxon period, a time when herbs were held in high esteem.

The actual sea monster that was used for the design of the maze is illustrated here, in fact four of them were applied creating the complete maze. The shapes of the creatures are recreated in the lines of beech hedging, forming an intriguing maze. The nature of the design means that there are very few straight lines in the maze! The maze is surrounded by earth ramparts, enclosing the whole area.

The Saxon Maze

The Sacred Saxon Herbs

Herbs held a very important place in Anglo-Saxon Society. Books such as "The Leechbooks of Bald" and the "Lachnunga" are rich sources of herb lore of the period. The latter, written in the 11th or 12th century, contains many old English medicinal recipes and is best known for a poem that tells of the Nine Sacred Herbs of the god Woden:

"...a worm came sneaking; then Woden took his sword and struck the adder so that it flew into nine pieces. But out of the worm sprang nine poisons. So Woden took his sword and changed it into nine herbs. These herbs did the wise lord create and sent them into the world for rich and poor, a remedy for all..."

The pagan god Woden is remembered today by the use of Wednesday as a day of the week. The word 'Wort' means healing plant, hence its use in many of the old country names of our country plants, eg. Rupturewort, St John's Wort, Soapwort, Pilewort, Motherwort, Ragwort and so on. The precise identity of the nine sacred herbs is still far from certain.

Two of these herbs can almost certainly be identified. Mugwort, a sacred herb of the ancient Greeks was the travellers' herb. It should be picked before sunrise and carried to combat weariness. It was also effective against poison and venom.

The Plantain is another of these sacred herbs and was useful for curing headaches. The root had to be gathered before sunrise and bound around the head with a red ribbon!