The common and Turf maze

Five minutes’ walk east from the market square and flanked by grand Georgian homes, Saffron Walden’s 14-acre common lies at the east end of town. It was originally a meadow on which citizens, also known as burgesses, had grazing rights, but was also used during medieval times for tournaments. Now laid mainly to grass, the common is as popular as ever with dog walkers, families and maze enthusiasts. The famous Turf Maze is probably the oldest of eight surviving earthen mazes in England: it is certainly the largest. More correctly known as a labyrinth, unlike the puzzle maze in Bridge End Garden, its banks and ditches form a single, coiling path which, over 17 circuits and four corner ‘bastions’, take nearly a mile to reach the centre. No one knows exactly how old the structure is; its first recorded restoration was in 1826, but claims have been made of it being up to 800 years old.