Rumbling Bridge on the Devon

Category

Library Item

Item no

24484

Title

Rumbling Bridge on the Devon

Description

Two stone built arch bridges, one sitting beneath the other, can be seen through the trees of the surrounding mature forest. A dirt path with wooden slats for steps and wooden fencing can be seen in the foreground, winding upwards towards the top of the hill and presumably the entrance to the bridge. Under the lower arch the rushing water of a river can just be made out.

Artist / maker

Valentine, James

Date

1865

Size

17.2 x 11.6 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The Rumbling Bridge refers to a set of double bridges which span the River Devon. They are so called because when one stands on the lower of the two bridges there is a distinct rumbling sound from the passing river.

The lower of the two bridges is a stone bridge which has no parapets or fences and required the road making a sharp downward gradient to reach it; making it quite treacherous to cross in poor weather. It was built by a stonemason named William Gray from Saline in Fife, in 1713. The bridge measures in at 22 feet long and 11 feet wide and 86 feet above the average water level.

The second bridge was added in 1816, it was a wider bridge and more importantly, much taller being 34 feet above the old bridge and 120 ft above the water level. This removed the steep gradient that used to exist, making it much easier for people to reach the entrance to the bridge.

The bridges give their name to the nearby Rumbling Bridge village, which is situated in the Ochil Hills, about 6 miles from Kinross, in the burgh of Perth & Kinross

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Related subjects

Landscape > Land > Woods and forests

Landscape > Water > Rivers and streams

Places > Scotland > Kinross-shire

Places > Scotland > Perthshire

Places > United Kingdom > Scotland

Transport > Infrastructure > Stone bridges

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