It is considered of outstanding artistic and historical interest as an example of early 21st century land art.
Located near Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, Crawick Multiverse is significant for its ambitious scale, visual and conceptual design integrity.
It was designed and constructed on the site of a former open-cast coal mine by renowned landscape architect Charles Jencks between 2011 and 2017.
Now Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has added the site, which covers an area of 22.5 hectares of land – over 36 football pitches - to the inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes.
The site was nominated to be considered for designation by a member of the public as part of HES’s ‘Designed Landscapes of the Recent Past’ project, an initiative to identify and champion Scotland’s remarkable modern gardens and designed landscapes.
READ MORE: One of Scotland’s best preserved tower houses reopens to visitors
The aim of the programme is to improve representation of the sites in HES’s publicly available records, via photographic survey and recording, updating information and images, and considering a select number sites for designation on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes.
Crawick Multiverse is now run by The Crawick Multiverse Trust, who operate the site as a visitor attraction, unique destination and outdoor venue.
Charles Jencks was an internationally renowned landscape designer, cultural theorist (particularly of Postmodernism), and architectural historian. Crawick Multiverse was his final land art project and his largest completed work in the UK, though his work can be found across the globe from India to South Korea.
Jencks designed Crawick Multiverse to explore cosmology, prehistory, and connections to the past through the theory of the ‘multiverse’.
Features in the landscape convey a sense of the universe and its rhythms, from the standing stone avenue through the North-South Line, which evokes prehistoric stone monuments like the Neolithic Calanais Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis, to the Omphalos, which signifies both the geological and mythical interior of the Earth.
Philip Robertson, Deputy Head of Designations at HES, said: “Crawick Multiverse is an excellent addition to the inventory. Many of the ideas Charles Jencks explored throughout his illustrious career culminate at a massive scale here, and the site has artistic, cultural and historical significance.
“Gardens and designed landscapes of the recent past such as Crawick Multiverse are an important element of Scotland’s historic environment and landscape. However, they are not always valued as much as older sites. It’s important to record, recognise and promote awareness of these sites through our work.”
Patrick Lorimer, Trustee at The Crawick Multiverse Trust, said: "As trustees we are delighted that Historic Environment Scotland has recognised the importance and unique nature of Crawick Multiverse and considered it to be worthy of a listing in their 'Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes' as part of their recent initiative to identify and celebrate Scotland's modern gardens and designed landscapes.
"It is a rare and special accolade to be recognised in this way and a fitting tribute to Charles Jencks and his significant contribution to land art in the UK and across the world."
The news comes weeks after HES designated Livingston 'Livi' Skatepark as a listed structure at category B.
READ MORE: Livingston Skatepark to join Scotland's list of important structures
The skatepark, which opened in 1981 and was later extended, achieved international renown within the skate scene from its earliest days due to its scale, ambition and quality. Known for its very deep Double Bowl and finely-tuned transitions, the skatepark is an enduring icon of the Scottish skate and bike scene.
‘Livi’ Skatepark is the earliest surviving purpose-built skatepark in Scotland. Concrete skateparks from this era are increasingly rare across the UK as many have been filled in or demolished. It is also an important example of public enterprise architecture by Livingston Development Corporation built to serve Livingston New Town.
Dara Parsons, Head of Designations at Historic Environment Scotland, said: "We are delighted to confirm 'Livi' Skatepark as a listed building after West Lothian Council asked us to consider designation.
"Iain Urquhart’s original design is grounded in early skate culture, and the park is known around the world for its pioneering design, the quality of the skating experience, and as a prototype for later concrete skateparks.
"Through designation, we hope to recognise and protect the best examples of our cultural heritage. Listing Scotland’s oldest skatepark helps demonstrate the variety of our historic environment and especially the important role the built environment of the late 20th century structure has in telling Scotland’s story.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel