The story begins...

The rough, bumpy old patch of land, on quite a slope….

Once upon a time - in 2010 - there was a rough old patch of ground - part of the old farm upon which Tree House had been built. Ground that used to graze local horses that were prone to laminitis - a painful condition brought on by rich grass. This patch hadn't ever seen rich grass, and it was growing increasingly lumpy and bumpy from lack of use - the only things flourishing being dock, bramble, nettle, and dense, tussocky, unmanageable clumps of reed-like-grass, which I call 'elephant grass'. But this patch knew what it wanted to be, and that was a labyrinth.

A labyrinth? How? What? When? It all stirred something within me, but nothing more.

However, in April 2012 I was due to fly to San Francisco to see my sailor son during his circumnavigation of the globe in the Clipper Round the World yacht race. And during the planning of my trip I remembered something… I searched the notes on my mobile phone and there it was, "Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, Labyrinth". Some years ago I had read that there was a replica of the Chartres labyrinth in Grace Cathedral, and despite never dreaming that I would ever visit San Francisco, I had vowed that if I did, I would find it and walk it. Thanks to my son's sailing dream, April 2012 found me in the beautiful city of San Francisco, and there for Grace Cathedral's monthly candlelit labyrinth walk. This was extraordinarily beautiful and utterly life changing. When I came home I began to plan the labyrinth here at Tree House. I knew it had to be the same design - the full 11 circuit Chartres labyrinth - as I had walked in Grace Cathedral, and I knew I was very blessed with having the space to do it.

Looking down on the labyrinth within Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.

September 2012 saw the completion of the stone circle placed on the land at Tree House, and there was much excitement at the prospect of a future labyrinth to complement it. But how? When? Made from what…?

The Tree House stone circle

2013 disappointingly saw nothing happen; it seemed to be a 'consolidation year' after 2012 in which no plans came to fruition and I wondered if I had just been dreaming. But at the turning of 2013 into 2014, there was a distinct sense of 'this is the year of the land', and things began….

Placing their words on stones in the future centre of the labyrinth...

Firstly we had a 'Labyrinth Party' - without a labyrinth! I sent out an open invitation and on Easter Saturday, 19th April*, nine of us gathered here at Tree House. We began with a cuppa and cake in the house as I explained the plan, shared information about labyrinths for those who didn't know much about them, and we went out onto the patch of land. I had marked out the 50' diameter circle in canes and string, and we gathered around its circumference. I welcomed everyone and offered a 'prayer' of gratitude to the land. We set the intention for the labyrinth's manifestation, and for the perfect digger and driver to prepare the site, and I passed around a wooden bowl filled with white stones from the beach at St Agnes. Each chose and wrote a word on a stones with a waterproof pen - Greatness, Truth, Release, Trust - and placed it around a lit candle on a large flat stone lying deep amongst the tussocks in the centre of the circle. Some dowsed the area to see if it wished to share anything with us - making discoveries about its desired circumference and placing. Finally we walked the temporary 7-circuit Celtic labyrinth I had laid out in white twine on another part of the land.

Walking the temporary labyrinth...

At last, the project had begun!

The original nine…!

(I have just realised that I first visited Grace Cathedral on Easter Saturday, the 7th April 2012, and the candlelit walk there was on April 13th - so both dates were almost exactly two years from our Intention Setting Labyrinth Party on 19th April 2012, and both at Easter time, the time of new beginnings!)