stirling-1963-vol-1/05_087

Transcription

INTRODUCTION: THE MIDDLE AGES AND LATER

BRIDGES
The only mediaeval bridges in the county are those at Stirling (No. 455) and at Bannockburn
(No. 457). The former is a fine structure with four semicircular arches and a 15 ft. roadway;
it dates from the late 15th or early 16th century, but earlier bridges had certainly existed here
for centuries. The latter, though widened and partially rebuilt, retains a good deal of its
original 16th-century masonry. The only other bridges that antedate the era of improvements
beginning in the 18th century are those at Leckie (No. 453), of 1673, which is too narrow for
wheeled traffic, and at Carronbridge (No. 466), of 1695; the latter has evidently undergone a
good deal of reconstruction. Chartershall Bridge (No. 456) is virtually a structure of 1747,
though some work of 1696 remains in one of the abutments. Several bridges on main roads
date from the middle or later years of the 18th century, for example Drip (No. 454), Cardross
(No. 452), Larbert (No. 462), Gonachan (No. 467), and the later bridge at Leckie; Abbeytown
Bridge (No. 460) was also reconstructed at this time. In a different class are some early railway-
viaducts (Nos. 471, 472, 473, 475, 476) and the aqueduct-bridge of the Union Canal (No. 474),
most of which possess considerable architectural merit.

MISCELLANEOUS EARTHWORKS AND ENCLOSURES
Bank-and-ditch earthworks which do not fall into any recognised category of prehistoric
structure occur throughout the county. While no information exists from which the date or
purpose of any of these can yet be determined, it is probable that some or all of them were
defensive works which originally surrounded mediaeval buildings, all surface traces of which
have been obliterated. Likewise a few simple enclosures which, though obviously not of recent
construction, are nevertheless of no great age can be ascribed to mediaeval times.

OLD CULTIVATIONS
There are a few groups of cultivation terraces in Stirlingshire, but no large and spectacular
sets such are seen in the Border districts.¹ The best examples are probably those on the
Buckie Burn (No. 501), and there are three groups in Muiravonside parish of which one
(No. 505) is easily visible from the Edinburgh-Falkirk highway. Those at Campsie (No. 506)
have plough-rigs running along their length, but the other groups show no features of interest.
It seems clear that the Muiravonside and Buckie Burn groups, as well as a rather indistinct
group at Troughstone (No. 507), owe their survival to their situation on ground which was
unsuitable for later cultivation by other methods. No evidence has been found in Stirlingshire
to confirm or correct the tentative conclusion reached in the case of Roxburghshire, ² that
"while terrace cultivations -- cannot be allotted with certainty to a historical period, their
dates - in view of the facts at present known - are probably to be found in the long span of the
Middle Ages".
Traces of rig-cultivation have not been recorded in the survey, but can be seen in all parts
of the county where land of marginal quality has reverted to pasture. Some comments on

1 E.g. Inventory of Roxburghshire, Nos. 351, 352, 486, 727, 728.
2 Ibid., p. 49, q.v. for more detailed discussion.

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