Gardeners have had their work cut out after spending 520 hours trimming one of the world’s biggest hedge mazes.
It has taken the team of 13 working eight hours a day for five days to tackle the enormous maze at the Longleat estate in Wiltshire.
The labyrinth is made up of more than 16,000 English yew trees that were planted in 1978 and cover one-and-a-half acres.
It is the biggest maze in Britain and takes visitors anywhere from 20 to 90 minutes to find the centre.
The garden team use manual hedge trimmers to cut back the 6ft 5in tall yews, which is such a big job it is only tackled once a year.
James Dare, head of facilities at Longleat, said: ‘Historically it has taken months to complete to ensure minimum disruption to our guests, this year our aim is to complete it in a week with 13 members of the team working eight hours a day.
‘Mazes are quite unique to care for and this is the UK’s biggest. There are only key times when you can cut it while also ensuring growth.
‘The team know the layout really well and can find their way around easily, however guests have been known to spend much longer periods trying to find their way to the middle and out again.’
The clippings from the maze are composted down and used on flower beds around the historic estate.
Longleat is the home of the Marquess of Bath and set within 900 acres of landscaped parkland, designed by Capability Brown, and 8,000 acres of woodland and lakes.
The current Marquess, Ceawlin Thynn, took over the family title and estate in 2020 after his father’s death and is married to Strictly star Emma Thynn.