Troy Town - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Turf maze

Historically, a turf maze is a labyrinth made by cutting a convoluted path into a level area of short grass, turf or lawn. Some had names such as Mizmaze, Troy Town, The Walls of Troy, Julian's Bower, or Shepherd's Race...

s in England were named Troy Town, Troy-town or variations on that theme (such as Troy, The City of Troy, Troy's Walls, Troy's Hoy, or The Walls of Troy) presumably because, in popular legend, the walls of the city of Troy

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

were constructed in such a confusing and complex way that any enemy who entered them would be unable to find his way out. Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

hilltop turf mazes (none of which now exist) were called "Caerdroia

Caerdroia

Caerdroia: the Welsh name for ancient Troy ; because of the similarity between Welsh troeau and the second element Troea , the name was later popularly interpreted as meaning "Fortress of Turns"...

", which can be translated as "City of Troy" (or perhaps "castle of turns").

W. H. Matthews, in his Mazes and Labyrinths (1922), gives the name as "Troy-town". More recent writers (such as Adrian Fisher

Adrian Fisher

Adrian Fisher is internationally recognised as one of the world's leading maze designers. His mazes can be found in all corners of the globe....

, in The Art of the Maze, 1990) prefer "Troy Town".

The name "Troy" has been associated with labyrinth

Labyrinth

In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...

s from ancient times. An Etruscan

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...

terracotta wine-jar from Tragliatella, Italy, shows a seven-ring labyrinth marked with the word TRUIA (Troy). To its left, two armed soldiers appear to be riding out of the labyrinth on horseback, while on the right two couples are shown copulating. The vase dates from about 630 BC.

Historic "Troy" turf mazes in England

Of the eight surviving historic turf mazes in England, three have "Troy" names. "The City of Troy" is a small but well-maintained roadside maze near the small villages of Dalby, Brandsby, and Skewsby, not far from Sheriff Hutton

Sheriff Hutton

Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about ten miles north by north-east of York...

in the Howardian Hills

Howardian Hills

The Howardian Hills form an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in North Yorkshire, England. located between the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors National Park and the Vale of York. The AONB includes farmland, wooded rolling countryside, villages and historic houses with parkland...

of North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

. "Troy", a beautiful maze in a private garden at Troy Farm, Somerton, Oxfordshire

Somerton, Oxfordshire

Somerton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, in the Cherwell valley about northwest of Bicester.-Early history:More than a dozen Saxon or early Mediaeval graves have been discovered in the yard of Somerton's former Free School....

is rather larger, and "Troy Town" maze on St Agnes, the Isles of Scilly, is a small maze of turf and small stones and is reputed to have been laid down in 1729 by the son of a local lighthouse keeper. All three follow the classical labyrinth pattern (as found on coins from ancient Knossos

Knossos

Knossos , also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square...

) rather than the medieval variation. Unfortunately it is not known when the first two of these turf mazes were originally constructed.

Surviving examples

Roadside near Dalby
Dalby-cum-Skewsby
Dalby-cum-Skewsby is a civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated around 14 miles north of York and comprises the hamlets of Dalby, Skewsby and Witherholm...

, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

: "The City of Troy" (Seven-ring)
Troy Farm, Somerton, near Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...

, Oxfordshire: "Troy" (Fifteen-ring)
Troy Town, St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly
St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly
St Agnes is the southernmost populated island of the Isles of Scilly, England, United Kingdom.-Description:St. Agnes joins the island of Gugh by a tombolo, a kind of sandbar, called the Gugh Bar, which is exposed only at low tide...

: "Troy Town"

Lost examples

(From W.H. Matthews' Mazes and Labyrinths 1922)

"Troy-town" near Dorchester, Dorset. Although the maze is lost, the place name Troy Town still survives here.
On Hilldown, a hill between Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...

and Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

"Troy-town"
Holderness
Holderness
Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common with the Netherlands than other parts of Yorkshire...

, between Marfleet
Marfleet
Marfleet is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, near the A1033 road, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was served by Marfleet railway station on the Hull and Holderness Railway until it closed in 1964....

and Paull
Paull
Paull is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England lying on the north bank of the Humber Estuary, in an area known as Holderness...

, East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

(near Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

) "The Walls of Troy" (this had a unique dodecagon
Dodecagon
In geometry, a dodecagon is any polygon with twelve sides and twelve angles.- Regular dodecagon :It usually refers to a regular dodecagon, having all sides of equal length and all angles equal to 150°...

al layout; illustrated 1815)
Pimperne
Pimperne
Pimperne is a village in north Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase two miles north east of Blandford Forum. The village has a population of 995 ....

, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

"Troy-town" (unique design, roughly triangular, with paths winding apparently at random; described by antiquary John Aubrey
John Aubrey
John Aubrey FRS, was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the collection of short biographical pieces usually referred to as Brief Lives...

in 1686; ploughed up 1730)
In the marshes between Burgh and Rockliffe, Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

"The Walls of Troy" (extant 1883) and two other turf mazes (one of them cut in 1815)
Walmer, Kent
Walmer
Walmer is a town in the district of Dover, Kent in England: located on the coast, the parish of Walmer is six miles north-east of Dover. Largely residential, its coastline and castle attract many visitors...

a "bower" or "Troy-town"

Parallels in Scandinavia, the Baltic and White Sea coasts

There are also similar labyrinths in northern Europe. Their paths are outlined with stones (unlike the turf-cut mazes of England, and those that formerly existed in Denmark). Stone-lined labyrinths such as these have proved slightly easier to date than turf mazes (which have to be cleaned out regularly to keep their paths clear, thus destroying any archaeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

evidence). The stone labyrinths around the Baltic

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

coast have been dated to between the 13th century and modern times, with a peak in the 16th and 17th centuries.

There were once many hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of these labyrinths around the Baltic Sea, throughout Fennoscandia

Fennoscandia

Fennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland...

and the Baltic countries, and many of them still survive, particularly in remote areas. There are also similar stone labyrinths in the Kola Peninsula

Kola Peninsula

The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...

and coasts and islands of the White Sea

White Sea

The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...

, such as Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island

Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island

Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island are a group of 13 or 14 labyrinths on Bolshoi Zayatsky Island, one of the Solovetsky Islands in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia....

. For some reason these northern labyrinths are almost all close to the sea. Some have suggested that they were markings of seafarers, perhaps even used for navigation

Navigation

Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

. Many of the stone labyrinths around the Baltic

Baltic Sea

coast of Sweden were built by fishermen during rough weather and were believed to entrap evil spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

s, the "smågubbar" or "little people

Little people

Little people have been part of the folklore of many cultures in human history, including Ireland, Greece, the Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands, Flores Island, Indonesia, and Native Americans.-Native American folklore:...

" who brought bad luck. The fishermen would walk to the centre of the labyrinth, enticing the spirits to follow them, and then run out and put to sea.

Several similar classical-type labyrinths in Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

have names such as Trojaborg, Trojaburg, Trojborg, "Tröborg" and Trojienborg, which can all be translated as "City of Troy". (The place-name Trelleborg
Trelleborg
Trelleborg is a locality and the seat of Trelleborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 25,643 inhabitants in 2005. It is the southernmost town in Sweden.-History:...

, which means "ring fort", has also been linked with labyrinths.) In Finland such labyrinths are called Jatulintarha ("giant's guard") or jättiläisen tie ("giant's road").

External links

W.H. Matthews, Mazes and Labyrinths (1922) online version of W.H. Matthew's classic book
Labyrinthos Jeff Saward's website
Labyrinth Society
The Megalithic Portal
Labyrinth Locator (Veriditas & Labyrinth Society)
Well-illustrated labyrinth site (in German)
mymaze About Swedish Troy Towns

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Historic "Troy" turf mazes in England

Surviving examples

Lost examples

Parallels in Scandinavia, the Baltic and White Sea coasts

See also

Further reading

External links