Experts baffled by a Victorian church labyrinth in Hampshire are asking the public to help explain its meaning.

The tiled path lies in the chancel of St Mary's Church in Itchen Stoke, where it was partially obscured beneath an altar table which has since moved. The Churches Conservation Trust, which looks after the listed building, believes it is the only historic walkable church labyrinth in the country.

Churches Conservation Trust Community officer Victoria Green told The Telegraph the design is thought to be based on the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral. It has eleven circuits, around 1,500 glazed tiles and a single route to the centre measuring about 16ft 6in across.

She told the paper; “Visitors use it for prayer or contemplation and children just race or dance around. It’s delightful." Adding later that when she walks it she sometimes feels like "being in the Da Vinci Code."

Since the altar was removed, Ms Green said research has raised more questions than answers. At certain times, sunlight through the high stained-glass windows throws what looks like an arrow across the floor, pointing at the yellow centre. Some have wondered whether the labyrinth also works as a calendar. In trying to answer some of these questions the trust now has a "citizen science" section on its website asking visitors to post photos with the hashtag #labyrinthlight. It's asking people to record what they see at different times of day, starting at sunrise.

The church itself has a rich history of its own and dates from 1867, however regular services ended in 1971. Today it attracts pilgrims walking the St James Way, a 66-mile route from Reading Abbey to Southampton.

The labyrinth is made by Victorian tile maker Maw and Co and a copy of the more famous medieval one at Chartres Cathedral, which dates from around 1200. That one was laid into stone for medieval pilgrims who couldn't travel to Jerusalem but who wanted to do a pilgrimage nonetheless, with walking as prayer in motion