Breamore Mizmaze in Hampshire
High on the top of a hill, with views stretching far over the hills and fields of Hampshire and Wiltshire, is the Breamore Mizmaze. Located about ten-miles south of Salisbury, the small village of Breamore is the site of numerous Iron Age and Roman ruins. A priory of Augustinian Canons was founded in the early 12th century, and although it was dissolved in 1536 and no trace now remains, it is believed the maze was created by the monks for penitential purposes.
A path of turf was formed by cutting down into the chalk and removing the vegetation. Eleven concentric rings in a Chartres design is bisected into quarters by a Christian cross. The diameter is 84 feet. It was first recorded in 1783, but its origins most certainly date to the 12th or 13th centuries.
An Elizabethan mansion built on the same land in 1583 still stands, the mizmaze about two-miles from the house. Today it is surrounded by yew trees and enclosed by a fence for protection. It is not accessible by car, requiring walking a mile-long footpath through the woods to reach it. The Breamore Mizmaze is well maintained with re-cuttings as necessary, but to preserve, it cannot be walked upon.
This is a really nice, and short, video on the Breamore Mizmaze—
