York Maze

Entrance to York Maze in 2017

York Maze is a maze constructed from maize located off the B1228 road near Elvington in England.

History

The maze is owned by former farmer Tom Pearce who had the idea to construct a maze after seeing an advert for a "maize maze". Pearce had been looking to diversity after his entire beef herd had to be killed due to bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Formerly located in Heslington, Pearce was required to vacate the land to make way for the third campus of the University of York. It was at this point that Pearce purchased the area of land where the maze is now sited.[1] The maze opened at its current location in 2008.[2]

The maze was originally designed on paper and mapped out using sticks and string. In 2006, Pearce began using GPS to create the maze which made the process easier and allowed for more complex shapes.[1]

Theme

Year Theme Notes
2002 Viking Longship [3]
2003 Spiders Web [3]
2004 Flying Scotsman [3]
2005 Big Ben [3]
2006 Star Trek [3]
2007 James Bond [3]
2008 Statue of Liberty [2]
2009 Moon Landing For the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission[4]
2010 Spitfire For the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain[1]
2011 Harry Potter Contained two portraits of Daniel Radcliffe and was said to be the world's largest spot the difference[5]
2012 Mayan Contained an image of Yum Kaax, a Mayan god, for the end of the Mayan calendar[6]
2013 Doctor Who For the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who[7]
2014 Yorkshire Legends Portraits of Brian Blessed, Jeremy Clarkson, and Geoffrey Boycott[8]
2015 Thunderbirds Are Go For the 50th anniversary of Thunderbirds[9]
2016 Roald Dahl For the 100th anniversary of the birth of Roald Dahl[10]
2017 Star Wars For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars[11]
2018 Jurassic Maze For the 25th anniversary of Jurassic Park[12]
2019 Lion King For the 25th anniversary of the Lion King[13]
2020 None No maze[14]
2021 Mr. Men For the 50th anniversary of the Mr. Men books[15]
2022 Lego With "90 years of play" branding, thought to contain the world's largest minifigure[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c Clark, Matt (2011-01-17). "How York Maze's Tom Pearcy found his way". York Press. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  2. ^ a b Willis, Joe (2008-07-17). "Farmer unveils Statue of Liberty maze". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Beech, Richard (2014-07-12). "Pictures: Maze of maize featuring giant heads of Jeremy Clarkson and Brian Blessed". The Mirror. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  4. ^ "York maze marks Apollo moon landings 40th anniversary with space theme". York Press. 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  5. ^ Liptrot, Kate (2011-07-12). "York Maze goes Harry Potter crazy". York Press. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  6. ^ Liptrot, Kate. "York Maze goes Mayan for latest spectacle". York Press. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  7. ^ Starr, Michelle (2013-07-14). "Doctor Who celebrates with 18-acre Dalek corn maze". CNET. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  8. ^ Ross, Alex. "Three Yorkshire icons have become the stars of a summer maze". York Press. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  9. ^ Prest, Victoria (2015-07-09). "York Maze relaunches with Thunderbirds homage". York Press. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  10. ^ "York Maze theme revealed: A phizz-wizzing tribute to Roald Dahl, the size of eight football pitches". The Yorkshire Post. 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  11. ^ Saker-Clark, Henry (2017-07-15). "This huge Star Wars maze opens today and it is incredible". HullLive. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  12. ^ Laycock, Mike (2018-07-13). "VIDEO: Dinosaurs on the loose at York's Jurassic Maze". York Press. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  13. ^ Laycock, Mike (2019-07-12). "York Maze pays tribute to 25th anniversary of The Lion King". York Press. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  14. ^ "Video: York Maze won't open this summer – and the boss has a message for its seasonal workers". YorkMix. 2020-04-23. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  15. ^ Jefferson-Brown, Nadia (2021-06-10). "York Maze reveals their big design for 2021". Gazette & Herald. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  16. ^ Goodkind, Summer; Norris, Phil (2022-07-15). "Massive UK Lego minifigure maze believed to be world's biggest". HullLive. Retrieved 2022-07-19.

53°56′14.82″N 0°59′16.98″W / 53.9374500°N 0.9880500°W / 53.9374500; -0.9880500