February 28 2013

Dumfries & Galloway Council have granted planning permission to the Gretna Landmark Trust to erect the ‘Star of Caledonia’, a sculptural landmark conceived by designer Cecil Balmond and landscape architect Charles Jencks.

Intended to demark the Scotland/ England border at a presently unprepossessing motorway bridge the plans are inspired by James Clerk Maxwell’s development of electro-magnetic theory.

Jencks said: “Crossing the border to Scotland, across the River Sark, is now a passage obscured under a bridge by cars travelling at speed. Instead of marking this with motorway signs we are using a landform and sculpture that pulls together the adjacent site, the distant hills and the Solway.

“Nestled into the curving mound and springing from it is Cecil Balmond’s whirling creation. In one sense it is a scintillating piece of calligraphy seen against the sky which will signify various meanings as you approach it.”

Gretna Landmark Trust chairman Alasdair Houston added: “As an opportunity for a country to herald its border, this is remarkable.

The Star is a timeless work, which for 365 days a year will be a bold and confident statement of Scotland’s innovation and energy.”

£3.8m of funding has still to be secured for the scheme although it is hoped this can be achieved to allow construction to commence this year.

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