The resilient 'Silurian Cant' is a sculpture which has been sitting in a clearing at Scale Green for three decades. It's less of a clearing nowadays, with shrubs and small trees enveloping the four dry-stone triangles, but you'd still be hard-pressed to miss them. The piece lends the site a near-mystical quality, and has become a popular resting spot for walkers and cyclists alike.

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Leighton said of 'Silurain Cant':

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"These four works are situated in a ritualistic sequence, whilst relating to the distant hill, Long Crag. I worked carefully with the scale of the four works in relation to their siting. The cutting and mounding of the earth integrates the structures to their surroundings. They connect to the earth, yet rise to push beyond, from the earth bound to the mystical. My gratitude goes to Mike Bowerbank, a local dry stone waller of distinguished skills. Each ramp contains twelve tonnes of local Silurian slate.

I have explored a continued interest in neolithic ceremonial sites, intrigued by the potent atmosphere they exude. I intended with Silurian Cant to make a work which felt as if it purposefully belonged to its placing in the landscape, echoing a sense of timelessness. I chose an open site in a deciduous area of the forest which has two approaches on the silurian trail. It was important to retain the intimate qualities of Scale Green and the oak, rowan and larch trees, without disrupting their natural balance. There is a quiet presence in this area, suggesting a meeting place of old, a place to spend time."

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Patricia Leighton hails from Greenock in Scotland and specialises in sculpture which alters the landscape in different ways. She built the imposing 'Sawtooth Ramps'; seven grassy pyramids which run alongside the M8 at Bathgate. Recently she has been working with her regular collaborator Del Geist, (maker of 'Pyxis') to create the 'Lynx Blue Line Rail Extension' along a railway in North Carolina.

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Also by this artist:

Vigil 1986