You’d be forgiven for thinking this landscape was once a sacred site for ancient Scots. With its vast array of standing stones, stone circles, and spiraling megaliths, it looks like the stage for some sort of mysterious spiritual gathering. But it’s actually a spectacular work of modern art.
When the Duke of Buccleuch was ordered to do something with the old cast mine on his land, he commissioned renowned landscape artist Charles Jencks (the mastermind behind the Garden of Cosmic Speculation) to transform the old eyesore into something that would benefit the community.
Jencks set to work, using the local environment to create a mesmerizing medley of cosmic creations. Using thousands of boulders and rocks he found strewn about the land, he erected standing stones, Neolithic-style chamber cairns, and stone circles, creating the enchanting Crawick Multiverse.
The final result is an almost otherworldly landscape with a distinctly ancient Celtic feel. The monuments have cosmic connections, too. The stone circles represent Andromeda and the Milky Way, two galaxies that are spiraling toward each other. The 5,000-seat Amphitheater represents an eclipse. A corkscrew path forms the Multiverse, its stones etched with lines that depict various universes.
There are earthly elements as well. Different pathways meander throughout sections of the space that are meant to represent various ecologies like grassland, water, mountains, and desert.
