- Location: B740, Sanquhar, Dumfries & Galloway, DG4 6ET
- Access:
- Opening times: Monday to Thursday 10 am – 4 pm; Friday to Sunday 10 am – 6 pm
- Entry: Adult £5, Young Person (age 5 – 16) £3, Under 5s free, Family £15
Hidden away in the gently undulating hills of Upper Nithsdale is a mysterious and fantastical landscape that looks as if it was conceived by the same ancient hands that built Stonehenge, the artificial hill at Silbury, and the colossal megalithic stone circle at Avebury. However, the Crawick Multiverse is of a much more recent vintage; work began on this sculpted landscape – called an ‘artland’ – in 2011, and it opened to visitors on the summer solstice four years later.
The Multiverse is the last major work of Charles Jencks (1939 – 2019), the internationally renowned landscape designer and architectural historian perhaps best known as being cofounder, along with his late wife Maggie Keswick Jencks, of the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres. It is a 55-acre land restoration project built using materials found onsite at a former open cast coal mine just outside Sanquhar and consists of several landforms representing features associated with cosmology. Thus, two grassy mounds, sitting side by side and sculpted with nature-defying geometry, adorned with spiral pathways, and topped with standing stones, represent Andromeda and the Milky Way, two spiral galaxies on course for a collision four billion years from now.
Nearby, a landform simply called the Multiverse is a corkscrew path between a rising crush of circling standing stones, while two rows of parallel monoliths entitled the North-South Line bisects the site while simultaneously acting as its centrepiece. It is this extensive use of stone that differentiates the Multiverse from Jencks’ previous works such as the Garden of Cosmic Speculation and Northumberlandia. Meanwhile the Multiverse’s highest point, the Belvedere, offers breath-taking views over the entire art installation and the stunning Nithsdale countryside beyond. It is from here too that the viewer can appreciate Jencks’ genius, as, despite its blatant artificiality, the artland blends seamlessly with its environment, and looks as if it has been there for millennia.
Destination or Diversion?
A stroll round the site may only take about an hour, but the Multiverse is awe-inspiring enough to count as a destination. It is worth taking time at the artland to admire it from its various viewpoints and to enjoy the tranquil environment. It also warrants repeat visits to see it in its seasonal finery.
Nearby Sanquhar has an interesting local history museum, housed in a fine 18th century baroque-style Tolbooth, designed by William Adam, which once served as the local jail. The village is also home to the world’s oldest working post office, which enthusiasts visit so that they can send a letter stamped with the legend ‘The World’s Oldest Post Office – In operation Since 1712’.