The Black Devon is a river in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It rises in the Cleish Hills, specifically the area known as Outh Muir, north of

Knockhill Racing Circuit Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA approved ...

, around north-west of

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, with the gathering of three small streams in branch formation. The river flows westwards through Balgonar, north of Saline, and then merges with the Saline Burn. The Black Devon flows into

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the hi ...

, through the hamlet of

Forestmill Forestmill (or Forest Mill) is a small hamlet in the county of Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is situated on the A977 road between Kincardine and Kinross, about 3 miles from the Kincardine end. The Black Devon river runs through it towards the ...

and past the town of

Clackmannan Clackmannan ( ; gd, Clach Mhanainn, perhaps meaning "Stone of Manau"), is a small town and civil parish set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated within the Forth Valley, Clackmannan is south-east of Alloa and south of Tillicoultry. Th ...

. The Black Devon enters the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...

south of

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

, north of Dunmore Pier. It is a narrow and shallow river that holds wild

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

, and also sees sea trout in winter months that come into the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

, which is tidal as far as

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. The Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland manage the River Forth and its tributary rivers, which besides the Black Devon include the River Devon,

River Teith The River Teith is a river in Scotland, which is formed from the confluence of two smaller rivers, the '' Garbh Uisge'' (River Leny) and '' Eas Gobhain'' at Callander, Stirlingshire. It flows into the River Forth near Drip north-west of Stirlin ...

, and River Allan.

Disappearance

In June 1952 the last two miles of the Black Devon disappeared into old coal mine workings. These eventually filled with a mixture of fresh and salt water, the river being tidal at the point where the collapse into the mine workings occurred.

Wetland scheme

Coal mining over a long period of time, from probably at least three collieries working different strata, had caused significant subsidence around the lower reaches of the Black Devon and its confluence with the River Forth. There was also concern about the effects of rising sea levels generally. The area between the west bank of the Black Devon and the Forth had subsided considerably and had been useful for landfill, however modern environmental considerations meant that this had to cease. Accordingly, a scheme was devised to create a wetland area.

Gartmorn Dam

Gartmorn Dam Gartmorn Dam is an artificial freshwater lake north-east of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, UK, built in 1711-12 as a reservoir to supply water to hydraulic machines used in Alloa's mining industry. It was commissioned by John Erskine, 23rd an ...

is a reservoir which was initially designed and built in 1712 by

George Sorocold George Sorocold (c. 1668 – c. 1738) was an English civil engineer of the eighteenth century notable for pioneering work on water supplies and hydraulic power systems around Great Britain. Biography Sorocold was born in Lancashire in 1666, t ...

for

John Erskine, Earl of Mar (1675–1732) John Erskine, 23rd and 6th Earl of Mar, KT (1675May 1732), was a Scottish Jacobite who was the eldest son of Charles, 22nd and 5th Earl of Mar (who died in 1689), from whom he inherited estates that were heavily loaded with debt. He was the ...

, and later upgraded several times by others, to provide water power for the pumps which drained his collieries in

. Gartmorn Dam does not lie on the Black Devon, but is fed from it by a

lade Lade may refer to: People * Brendon Lade (born 1976), an Australian rules footballer * Sir John Lade (1759–1838), a baronet and Regency horse-breeder * Heinrich Eduard von Lade (1817–1904), a German banker and amateur astronomer * The Jarls o ...

originating at a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

in the Black Devon just above

. Today Gartmorn Dam is used for leisure activities. The weir and lade remain in good condition. In 2013, Scottish Water spent £440,000 to maintain the dam headwall and improve emergency water level reduction systems.

Other industries

The 1956 2 1/2 inch OS map
1956 2 1/2 inch OS map shows weirs and the Linn Mill, traces of which still exist, at NS 926930 and further downstream a Woollen Mill, now obliterated by a housing estate, at NS 914923, apparently worked by water power.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Clackmannanshire Rivers of Fife 1BlackDevon