The Ashcombe Maze is located in the Shoreham district of Victoria, Australia, approximately 60 kilometers from the center of Melbourne. It is one of the oldest hedge mazes in the Southern Hemisphere, built in 1970. The maze is characterized by the combination of traditional gardening and modern leisure, receiving over 200,000 visitors annually.
Historical background
The maze was built by the Tom Ashcombe family of gardeners and was originally a private estate landscape facility. After opening to the public in 1985, it was transformed into a tourist attraction. The lavender park was expanded in 2003 to reach its current scale. All the hedges in the maze are continuously maintained by family members.
Design and Layout
The maze covers an area of approximately 12 acres (48,000 square meters) and consists of three core areas:
1. Cypress Maze area (3 meters tall, trees over 50 years old, total path length 2 kilometers)
2. Lavender Maze Area (with 4,000 French lavender plants, flowering from November to February of the following year)
3. Rose Corridor (arched pergola with 32 rose varieties)
The main maze is equipped with five colored wooden doors as signposts, and a buzzer is installed at the end of the wrong path to prompt a return. The lavender field is equipped with a selfie viewing platform, offering a panoramic view of the purple flower sea.
Current situation and activities
It is open all year round (the lavender area is seasonally closed), with an average of 500 visitors per day on weekends. The average customs clearance time is 45 minutes, and about 15% of tourists rent tour guide headphones.
The supporting facilities include:
1. Vanilla Workshop (Lavender Essential Oil Making Experience)
2. Garden Cafe (Serving lavender ice cream)
3. Maze Museum (Displaying Design Manuscripts and Tools)
Special services
1. Sunrise Maze Experience (opens early at 5:30 in summer)
2. Plant Rubbing Workshop (Creating Using Maze Leaves)
3. Christmas Light Season (December Night Decorative Light Route)
The Ashcombe Maze, which has been in continuous operation for over 50 years, was certified by Guinness World Records as the “Longest Surviving Hedge Maze” in 2008. Its annual output of lavender essential oil reaches 300 liters, and 90% of the raw materials are sourced from the plants grown in the park itself. This scenic spot is now a landmark project of agricultural tourism in Victoria, with a repeat visitor rate of 38% and family tourists accounting for more than 65%.
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