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A broad head-on view of the skyspace steps climbing to the doorway under the concrete canopy, with heather on the walls' tops.
Perthshire

Craiganour Skyspace

James Turrell's Skyspace on the Craiganour estate on the north side of Loch Rannoch, the only one in Scotland: a stone chamber open to the sky.

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Welcome

On the Craiganour estate, on the north side of Loch Rannoch, a grassy mound of dry-stone walling rises among birch and bracken above the loch.

A tunnel with a flight of steps leads into its heart, and inside is one of the quietest rooms in Scotland: a round chamber, a bench around its wall, and in the ceiling a single opening cut clean to the sky.

It is a Skyspace, made at the start of this century by the American artist James Turrell, best known for his lifelong work at Roden Crater in Arizona, and it is the only one in Scotland. Sitting inside, the patch of sky overhead stops looking like sky and becomes a flat plane of colour, laid on the ceiling. Clouds drift across it and the light shifts, and at dawn and dusk the colour of the sky itself seems to change as the eye adjusts.

The Skyspace is reached on foot along the estate's tracks, with views over the loch on the way. The estate's own site has details for visiting.

Before you go

The Skyspace stands on the Craiganour estate on the north side of Loch Rannoch, reached on foot along the estate's tracks.

The estate's own site has details for visiting.

Where
Craiganour estate, north side of Loch Rannoch, by Kinloch Rannoch.
Artist
James Turrell.

Did you know

From inside the chamber doorway, steps lead down past the drystone wall and its handrail to grass and birch trees.
Did you know

The only one in Scotland.

Craiganour's is the only Skyspace by James Turrell in Scotland.

In black and white, looking up from the chamber at the oculus and its cloud, above the curved ceiling and panelled wall.
Did you know

A hole in the sky.

The opening in the roof makes the sky look like a flat plane of colour on the ceiling.

In black and white, a rounded patch of sunlight falls on the chamber's panelled wall, bench and radiating floor, the rest in shadow.
Did you know

Roden Crater.

Turrell is best known for his work at Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in Arizona.

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Where it is

On the Craiganour estate, on the north side of Loch Rannoch west of Kinloch Rannoch.

Close byLoch Rannoch.
  1. Kinloch RannochKinloch RannochThe village at the east end of Loch Rannoch.6 miles10 min by road
  2. The Shed GalleryThe Shed Gallery6 miles10 min by road
  3. The CornerstoneThe Cornerstone6 miles10 min by road
  4. Carie Forest WalksCarie Forest WalksWaymarked trails into the ancient pines of the Black Wood of Rannoch.10 miles15 min by road
  5. The Black Wood of RannochThe Black Wood of Rannoch10 miles15 min by road
  6. Loch RannochLoch RannochA long Highland loch below Schiehallion.11 miles15 min by road
Directions
Kin, PerthshirePerthshireKinSleeps 2 · 3.1 miles
Loch, PerthshirePerthshireLochSleeps 2 · 3.1 miles
Rannoch from across the clearing: a black cabin with a larch end, a rope-railed deck and a mossy drystone dyke, tall pines behind.Kinloch RannochRannoch at Redhill RetreatSleeps 2 · 3.1 miles
A landscape view of Kin between two birch trunks, its black boards and rusted panels above the blaeberry, spruce behind.Kinloch RannochKin at Redhill RetreatSleeps 2 · 3.1 miles
A landscape view of Loch on the crest of its grassy bank, the glass front reflecting the birches and a rusted screen by an old stump.Kinloch RannochLoch at Redhill RetreatSleeps 2 · 3.1 miles
A stone steading with a slated roof and an arched green door stands beside a gravel courtyard, daffodils growing at its base.PerthshireWest Tempar BothySleeps 2 · 8.0 miles
A white harled house with a slated roof sits among woodland below a hill, a track winding up to it through fields.PerthshireLassintullich HouseSleeps 16 · 8.0 miles
A small stone bothy joined to a stone steading, seen across long grass under a Scots pine bough, a corrugated shed to the right.PerthshireLassintullich BothySleeps 2 · 8.0 miles
A sign reading "Garden Cottage" hangs on a white gate before a gravel drive, the white cottage and hills visible beyond.PerthshireGarden CottageSleeps 2 · 8.5 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near the Skyspace, and when each is next free.

Kin, PerthshireKin
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Perthshire
  • 3 miles from the Skyspace
Free 25–27 OctLoch, PerthshireLoch
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Perthshire
  • 3 miles from the Skyspace
Free 4–6 NovRannoch from across the clearing: a black cabin with a larch end, a rope-railed deck and a mossy drystone dyke, tall pines behind.Rannoch at Redhill Retreat
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Kinloch Rannoch
  • 3 miles from the Skyspace
Free 4–6 NovA landscape view of Kin between two birch trunks, its black boards and rusted panels above the blaeberry, spruce behind.Kin at Redhill Retreat
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Kinloch Rannoch
  • 3 miles from the Skyspace
Free 25–27 OctPlaces to stayEvery stay in PerthshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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