Rumbling Bridge is a tiny village in Perth

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

 and Kinross

Kinross

Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was formerly the county town of Kinross-shire.Kinross is a fairly small town, with some attractive buildings...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, nestling under the Ochil Hills

Ochil Hills

The Ochil Hills is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/Glen Eagles and Glenfarg, the latter now largely replaced except for local traffic by the M90...

, where the A823

A roads in Zone 8 of the Great Britain numbering scheme

List of A roads in zone 8 in Great Britain starting north of the A8 and west of the A9 .-Single- and double-digit roads:-Triple-digit roads:-Four-digit roads:...

 leaves the A977

A roads in Zone 9 of the Great Britain numbering scheme

List of A roads in zone 9 in Great Britain starting north of the A8, east of the A9 .-Single- and double-digit roads:-Triple-digit roads:-Four-digit roads:...

, perched on the edge of the River Devon

River Devon, Clackmannanshire

The River Devon is a tributary of the River Forth in Clackmannanshire, Scotland.-Geography:The source of the river is Blairdenon Hill in the Ochils at an altitude of ....

 gorge. It lies between Muckhart

Muckhart

Muckhart commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around 3 miles north-east of Dollar...

 and Crook of Devon

Crook of Devon

Crook of Devon is a village within the parish of Fossoway in Perthshire. It is located about 6 miles southwest of Kinross on the A977. Until relatively recently the official name of the village was Fossoway but this has been usurped by the widely used nickname "crook of devon"...

 with Powmill

Powmill

Powmill is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies at the junction of the A823 and A977 roads at the south-west of the region, approximately 5 miles south-west of Kinross and 5 miles east of Dollar....

 half a mile to its south. It is named after an unusual double (arguably treble) bridge, which gives off a distinctive rumbling reverberation at lower levels. Most property in the village dates from the last 20 years.

The bridge

The "lower" bridge, without parapets, was built in 1713 by William Gray, a mason from Saline. It is 22 feet long and 11 feet wide and 86 feet above the average water level. However, an ancient bridge preceded this and is still (just) visible. It takes the form of a single large stone slab over the river at the very base of the gorge, so serves no advantage to vehicles, and was simply a means of crossing for pedestrians without getting their feet wet. This is impossible to date, but is probably at least 800 years old.

The second bridge or Upper Arch (120 feet above the river) was constructed 34 feet above it in 1816 and "gave it an easier gradient" by removing the steep slope down to the old bridge. 1816 was a dramatic year as ... 1816. "On 18 March, happened the greatest flood ever heard of or seen in Kinross; all the burns were brimfull;" and later "On 13 August a smart shock of earthquake was felt throughout Kinross at 11 o'clock at night." Plates rattled on shelves; chairs moved about and were thrown over; beds shook, &c." There was also a "wet and late harvest" during which there was snow on four different occasions from five to six inches deep.'

The river

Unlike the Rumbling Bridge over the River Braan near Dunkeld

Dunkeld

Dunkeld is a small town in Strathtay, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is about 15 miles north of Perth on the eastern side of the A9 road into the Scottish Highlands and on the opposite side of the Tay from the Victorian village of Birnam. Dunkeld and Birnam share a railway station, on the...

, the River Devon cannot be canoed. There is a good, well maintained path round the upper gorge built by the armed forces. About 350 yards above the bridges is the Devil's Mill waterfall. At the Devil's Mill, "the river, after running in a rocky channel with a rapid descent, enters a deep basin formed in the rock ; from this basin it descends into a cavity below, where the water is whirled about with great violence, and, constantly beating against the sides of the rock, produces a sound" like that made by the machinery of a mill in motion. It is best seen from the south bank."

Scenery

Taking the footpath east from here will take you right through to the Crook of Devon

River Devon

River Devon may refer to:*River Devon, Clackmannanshire, Scotland*River Devon, Nottinghamshire, England...

. From west of the Rumbling Bridge there is no safe path although "the best view of the finely wooded cliffs connected by the Rumbling Bridge, is from a gentle eminence immediately below and opposite to it, upon the north bank. The river, both above and below, bounding from rock to rock, each forming a little cataract, creates a constant tumbling noise; hence the name of the Rumbling Bridge. From the clefts in the face of the rock grow bushes and trees, among which daws and hawks nestle, and from these they are incessantly sporting, thereby giving a pleasing animation to the scene."

The lower gorge is not easily accessible although Caldron Linn (one mile below Rumbling Bridge), accessed through fields by Powmill, is worth the effort and the 150ft slippery descent to reach it. The height of its fall was lessened in 1886 by rock fall. Here are two cataracts, 28 yards apart from each other. The upper fall, thirty-four feet in height, declines a little from the perpendicular; the rocks rise out of the channel, and there is one like a pillar, horizontal at the top, by which many persons have passed from one side to the other. Between these falls, the river has formed three round cavities, having the appearance of large caldrons or boilers. In the first, the water is perpetually agitated as if it were boiling; in the second, it is covered with a constant foam ; in the third, which is the largest, being 22 feet in diameter, it appears as if spread out in a large cooler.

These cavities are separated from each other by ledges of rock; they communicate, not by the water running over their brim, but by apertures about middle depth in their ledges, wrought out in the course of ages by the action of the water. The lower caldron discharges the water into the last fall through a similar aperture, having the appearance of a door or large window hewn out of the rock. Through this opening, the river rushes in one vast and rapid torrent over a stupendous pile of perpendicular rocks, into a deep and romantic glen.

The noise of its fall is tremendous, and the rocks seem to tremble to their centre, while the mind of the spectator is deeply affected by emotions of wonder and admiration. The height of the rock is 88 feet, and the fall 44 feet.

The most complete view of this magnificent scene, and of the deep and finely-wooded dell, is from the bottom of the great fall, where it has the appearance of a prodigious fountain gushing from the solid rock. It is beheld to most advantage between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun shines directly in front of it. A vapour constantly ascends from the pool; in sunshine this vapour exhibits all the colours of the rainbow, which, by the constant agitation of the air, disperse, and again appear in the most beautiful combinations.

The Caldron Linn, in short, is perhaps the greatest natural curiosity, and certainly one of the most sublime objects in Scotland. More than twenty years ago [c.1818] the following extraordinary occurrence happened at this place: a fox, which was hard pursued by a pack of hounds, led them along the banks of the river, till he reached the boiling caldron, which he crossed; the dogs attempted to follow, but being unacquainted with the path, they fell, one after another, into the caldron, and were drowned. Several years ago, a gentleman fell into the same caldron, and was extricated with the greatest difficulty."

The gorge is fairly dangerous. In May 1849, "James Anderson, a boy while bird nestling on the high rocks to the west of the Rumbling Bridge, lost his hold and fell [downwards] of a hundred feet, into the Devon. When taken up [his] life was quite extinct." And on 7 August 2002, after heavy rains and flash flooding, 16-year Alix-Ann Aisin MacKay fell into the gorge and died while swimming across it with a friend.

Environs

The Scripture Union

Scripture Union

Scripture Union is an international, inter-denominational, evangelical Christian movement. It was founded in 1867, and works in partnership with individuals and churches across the world...

 runs an activity centre in the nearby Naemoor House (formerly Lendrick Muir School

Lendrick Muir School

Lendrick Muir School was a residential school for maladjusted children of above average intelligence, aged 11–19 or latterly children with dyslexia, located on an unclassified road from Rumbling Bridge to Crook of Devon.-School Pupils:...

).

Tourism

On 1 May 1863 Kinross

Kinross

Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was formerly the county town of Kinross-shire.Kinross is a fairly small town, with some attractive buildings...

 railway line was extended to Rumbling Bridge, and the line was extended to Dollar

Dollar

The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...

 on 15 April 1871. It had taken two years to complete this short, but difficult route. This opened the gorge up to curious Victorians travelling out from Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 and the Rumbling Bridge Hotel was built.

It was a very popular tourist destination even before the railway was built. The clear winding Devon," was celebrated by Robert Burns

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...

in his beautiful lyric, "The Banks of the Devon." Miss Charlotte Hamilton (afterwards Mrs. Adair), was the "Loveliest flower on the banks of the Devon" whom Burns met during a visit to the Cauldron Linn on Thursday 30 August 1787. She was at that time residing at Harvieston, near Dollar.

Reference

• Clackmannan and Kinross: by J.P.Day B.A. B Sc., 1915
• Ordnance Survey Grid Reference: NT 01655 99486
• The Annals of Kinross-shire: Part I: 490AD-1861AD by Dr Ebenezer Henderson, F.R.A.S., LL.D
• The Annals of Kinross-shire: Part II: 1862 1870 by Mr R. L. Wright
• Black’s Picturesque Tourist Of Scotland: Published 1861 By Adam and Charles Black
• The Scottish Tourist And Itinerary: Published 1838 by Stirling and Kenney