4. Peace Maze, Northern Ireland

The Peace Maze is the world's second largest permanent hedge mazes (after the Pineapple Maze, Hawaii) and was created to honour the peace and reconciliation of Northern Ireland over the past century.

With planning beginning in 1998, the maze was open for use in September 2001. Covering 2.7 acres, a height of 1.5 metres and path length of almost two miles, the maze is made up of 6,000 yews. To create the maze, many of the yew trees were planted by people from all over Northern Ireland. With a slightly lower hedge height than usual, the idea was to increase interaction between maze-goers.

The centre piece

The Mourne Mountains are seen in the background of the Peace Maze

Images DARD Forest Service