The newly planted maze at Cliveden. ©National Trust/Clare Kendall
Today Alan Titchmarsh and Lord Astor will open a new maze at
Cliveden, in Buckinghamshire. In fact, it is a recreation of a yew maze that was created there in 1894 by Lord Astor’s great-grandfather, William Waldorf, 1st Viscount Astor.
©The Astor family
The maze had ceased to be maintained in the mid-twentieth century, but the original plan resurfaced in 2005 and that led to a plan to recreate the maze.
©National Trust/Clare Kendall
The area was cleared and levelled and the paths were laid out. Finding enough yew trees was the greatest challenge of the project, but last autumn 1,100 twelve-year-old yew trees arrived and were planted over a twenty-day period.
©National Trust/Clare Kendall
The yews will fill out more over time, but the maze is now ready for visitors to explore – and get lost in.
The Long Garden at Cliveden. ©National Trust/Liz Ward
Other recent developments in the garden include the opening up of long-lost vistas and footpaths and the re-instatement of historical planting schemes.
Andrew Mudge, the Head Gardener at Cliveden, who has master-minded the maze project. ©National Trust/Clare Kendall
A video clip about the maze on the BBC website can be seen here.
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This entry was posted on April 8, 2011 at 13:18 and is filed under Buckinghamshire, Cliveden, Gardens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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April 8, 2011 at 14:03 |
andrew mudge,a scion from a dynasty of saltram gardeners?
April 8, 2011 at 14:30 |
I will ask him and report back.
April 8, 2011 at 15:16 |
Andrew tells me he worked at Castle Drogo, Devon, previously, as did his father and grandfather, going back to when the castle was still owned by the Drewe family.
As for Saltram, you may have been thinking of Bill Budge, who worked there in the 1970s.
April 8, 2011 at 16:46 |
Blue hyacinths? Imagine the scent in that long alley between the two beds! Beautiful photograph accompanied by the scent of hyacinths in my own living room.
April 8, 2011 at 17:00 |
Oh, what fun! Simply charming.
April 9, 2011 at 13:46 |
Blue, yes the hyacinths are one of the new planting schemes.