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The Big Dance, the giant steel clasped hands, in the Gretna Green square at sunset, with the black-and-white shops on the left and a crow on the cobbles.
Dumfries and Galloway

The Big Dance (the Clasping Hands), Gretna Green

Ray Lonsdale's tall steel sculpture of two clasped hands in the free sculpture garden at Gretna Green, a symbol of marriage in the village famous for weddings.

Welcome

Gretna Green, just over the border from England, is famous as a place where couples come to marry.

Beside the Famous Blacksmiths Shop, a sculpture garden celebrates that story, and its most striking piece is The Big Dance, which most people call the Clasping Hands: 13 feet of weathering steel by the sculptor Ray Lonsdale, put up for Valentine's Day 2010.

Two great rust-red arms rise from the ground and meet high above in a clasp of hands, a simple symbol of marriage and of two lives joined together.

It is not alone: other sculptures stand among the flower beds and lawns of the garden, which is free to wander, along with a love wall, a courtship maze and a play park. The rest of Gretna Green is all around, including the Famous Blacksmiths Shop and its museum, where the story of the village weddings is told, and places to eat and stay.

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Before you go

The sculpture garden is free to wander.

Where
Gretna Green, DG16 5EA.
Meaning
Marriage and unity.
Cost
Free.

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Where it is

In the sculpture garden by the Famous Blacksmiths Shop at Gretna Green, DG16 5EA.

Close byGretna Green.
  1. Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths ShopGretna Green Famous Blacksmiths ShopThe famous wedding forge.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Gretna GreenGretna GreenThe first village over the border, where runaway couples married at an anvil.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Gretna Green Guided TourGretna Green Guided TourUnder a mile as the crow flies
  4. Handfasting at Gretna GreenHandfasting at Gretna GreenUnder a mile as the crow flies
  5. The Devil's Porridge MuseumThe Devil's Porridge MuseumWartime history at Eastriggs.5 miles 7 min by road
Directions
Friends raise their tasting glasses round a barrel table at the First Sip of Scotland.ActivityThe First Sip of Scotland, Gretna GreenA step away
Visitors reach for samples at the First Taste of Scotland, jars and sauces on the counter in front of them.ActivityThe First Taste of Scotland, Gretna GreenA step away
A woman beams as she holds up the pair of entwined iron hearts she and her partner have forged.ActivityThe Couples Experience at the Gretna Green ForgeA step away
Three people in leather aprons and gloves work hot steel at their own anvils in the Gretna Green Forge.ActivityThe Smithy Experience at the Gretna Green ForgeA step away
The blacksmith works the big iron coin press at the Gretna Green Forge while a visitor in a striped jumper looks on.ActivityThe Forge Experience at Gretna GreenA step away
Wooden washbacks line a distillery hall with exposed brick walls and timber roof beamsAttractionsAnnandale Distillery8.9 miles
Grassy shoreline overlooking mudflats and distant hills across the firthAttractionsThe Annan Shore Walk8.9 miles
Spending A Day In Scotland’s Debatable LandsAttractionsGilnockie Tower9.7 miles
Cottage room with black cast-iron range, tartan mantel and spinning wheel beside the windowAttractionsThomas Carlyle's Birthplace9.9 miles

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