August

Cowdray’s Maize Maze has been open through-out August. Located on the Cowdray Estate, overlooking Lawns polo fields and Cowdray Ruins, the maize maze has been a great success attracting visitors of all ages from far and wide.

This year, the maze has a theme of “Farming Through the Ages,” featuring a stamp trail, a viewing platform, and a flower-picking patch where you can pick sunflowers alongside a colourful array of wildflowers.

Planted over two hectares, the maze has a horse, plough and tractor design and young maze-goers will be given a stamp sheet to complete collecting eight hidden stamps along the way. If they answer the questions correctly a stamp could be added to their sheet.

In addition to exploring the maze, visitors can enjoy refreshments at the Cowdray Farm Shop Café and browse a pop-up Cowdray Lifestyle outlet​. There is also a tractor to play and plenty of toys and a piano to entertain youngsters.

Throughout August there has been a series of events held at the Maize Maze including a Summertime Serenade with songs from the Forties, a Sunset Sunflower Yoga and a steam engine harvesting a small patch of wheat. The Bank Holiday weekend was particularly busy with cinema nights followed by Big Kit Sunday and Run the Maze on Monday 26th August.

Exploring the Maize Maze

Answering the questions on farming

Enjoying the tractor

Wildflower picking patch

In other news on the Estate, the Queen Elizabeth Oak has been nominated for the Woodland Trust Tree of the Year Award 2024. A shortlist of 12 trees along the theme of “Magnificent Oaks” have been nominated by the Trust with the winning tree going forward to the European Tree of the Year Award.

The QE Oak is one of the most special trees on the Estate. It is a huge hollow pollard Sessile Oak with a girth of over 12 metres, making it one of the oldest and largest oak trees in the UK. The QE Oak was named after Queen Elizabeth I who sheltered under the magnificent oak on her hunting visit to the Estate in 1591.

Voting is open for the Queen Elizabeth Oak on the woodland trust website here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/tree-of-the-year/