Wyck Rissington Maze

From the collection of

Media Archive for Central England
MACE is the strategic lead organisation for screen heritage for the East and West Midlands regions. An independent charity based at University of Lincoln, MACE preserves and makes accessible a collection of more than 100,000 historic moving images representative of the diverse cultures and histories of communities throughout the heart of England from the Lincolnshire coast to the Welsh border.

Wyck Rissington Maze (ATV Today)


Is this the end of the line for a maze that has become one of the quirkiest features of the Cotswolds?

At Wyck Rissington in Gloucestershire Canon Harry Cheales leads his parishioners around the maze he built next to the rectory in an annual tradition that has become part of village folklore. The idea of the maze came to him in a dream but it is the metaphor of the maze as the paths we take through life that means most to him. With Cheales taking retirement his beloved maze is now under threat, which is a shame as this true English folly is something to be treasured.

The maze did indeed disappear on the departure of Harry Cheales from St Laurence Church in Wyck Rissington. He died in 1984 and the memory of his famous maze lives on in a mosaic inside the church.


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