By the Rev. A. D. Hill. 



101 



number of them, and a date probably of the fourteenth or fifteenth 

 centimes. Some member of the community had, perhaps, been 

 familiar with the chemins de Jerusalem abroad, and imitated them, 

 with no little mathematical skill and accuracy, on the downs or 

 commons around his English home, for devotions or penances, or 

 even the innocent recreation of his brethren. 



In the instance before us we have a corroboration of this theory 

 of the ecclesiastical origin of the turf-labyrinth. The maze is 

 situated at the extreme edge of the downs, where they are bordered 

 by the Breamore woods, and is just within the boundaries of the 

 parish and lands formerly belonging to the Benedictine Priory of 

 Breamore, founded by Baldwin de Eedvers in the reign of Henry I. 

 The priory was in connection with the Abbey of Eeading, and 

 contained a prior and nine canons at the time of its dissolution. 

 At the foot of the knoll, across the ditch and bank previously 

 noticed, the commencement of an ancient track is marked by the 

 remains of a yew avenue. It points southwards through the wood 

 in the direction of the Church, little over a mile away, and of the 

 site of the priory on the right bank of the Avon, and indicates a 

 road by which its occupants might gain access to their labyrinth 

 within the limits of an easy walk. 



The mizmaze has probably been renewed at some comparatively 

 recent date, as the pathway is distinctly marked and the area free 

 from brushwood. Doubtless many similar relics, as well as another 

 class of turf-circles made for the recreations of the country folk 

 have disappeared beneath the plough, and from natural causes. In 

 a few instances, however, local interest has attached a value to them, 

 as in the case of a square labyrinth near the site of an ancient 

 chapel on St. Catherine's Hill, Winchester, dear to Wykehamists, 

 which has twice been renewed during the present century by the 

 authorities of Winchester College ; and a circular maze at Asenby, 

 Yorkshire, which was, and is, I hope, still preserved at the expense 

 of the parish of Topcliffe, in which it is situated. The wider 

 interest taken in archseology at the present day, and a right 

 understanding of the historical relics around us, will tend to their 

 better preservation for the future. 



