Carron
Bridge
The Carron
Bridge (also called Carronbridge as evidenced by the name of the
local Carronbridge Hotel) crosses the Carron at the eastern
extremity of Carron Valley Forest.
It was built in 1695 to replace a ford that had existed for many
hundreds of years as part of an old drove road from Kilsyth to
Stirling.
This bridge, with its two span stone arches, looks larger than it
needs to be because the river was much larger before Carron Dam was
built to create a reservoir in the 1930s.
The river is
thought by some to be the "Itys" described by Ptolemy in
Geographia, his extensive 2nd century compilation of geographical
knowledge.
Nennius, the Welsh historian of the 9th century, believed the name
of the Carron was derived from Carausius, the 3rd century Roman
commander who declared himself emperor of Britannia and northern
Gaul.
Another etymology which is just as plausible is that the river's
original name was derived from the Brythonic word "Caeravon"
meaning "river of the caers" alluding to the Roman fortifications
built on its banks as a barrier between their territory and that of
the Picts.
According to the Ossian poems of James Macpherson, the waterway's
name is Scots Gaelic in origin and means "winding
river".
In the 17th
century, William Nimmo described the river and region
asfollows:
The whole length of its course, from west to east, is some 14
miles, the first half of which is spent among bleak hills and
rocks, but, when it has reached the low grounds, its banks are
fertile and wooded, and, as it advances, the neighbouring soil
increases in richness and value. The stream is small comparatively,
yet there is no river in Scotland whose surroundings have been the
scene of so many memorable events. A short distance from its
source, the river enters the Carron Bog. This vast plain and meadow
is considerably elevated above the ocean, it occupies part of the
tableland between the eastern and western coasts. It has, probably,
been a lake at no very distant period, and gradually filled by the
hill brooks washing down debris. Part, indeed, is a swamp scarcely
passable at any time, but nearly inundated by every heavy
rain.
A cache in the vicinity takes you to this further description by
Nimmo.
...in the division called Temple Denny, the Carron, having worn a
hollow channel in the rock, forms a beautiful cascade, by pouring
its contracted stream over a precipice above 20 feet in height.
When the river is in flood, and a triumphant torrent sweeps down
the glen, this cascade is unsurpassed among Scottish streams for
the grandeur of its storm of spray. Over the serpentine road
downhill to Denny the spirit of beauty everywhere prevails. The
intervening district, indeed, is famous for its pastoral
undulations; and from almost every breezy brae-top a charming view
is got of the wooded banks of the river – foliage which, even in
the present green-tide, displays all the variety of autumnal
richness".