Walls Loch
Walls Loch is a freshwater loch which lies at 560 feet above sea level[1] below the Walls Hill Iron Age fort and to the east of Broadfield Hill on the lands of North Castlewalls Farm, Whittliemuir, by Howwood in Renfrewshire.
The loch is 2,860 feet long by 1,980 feet wide.[2] It is a natural feature, sitting in a hollow to the west of Walls Hill and close to the old North Castlewalls Farm. The loch waters drain by the Muirhead Burn that flows into Barcraigs Reservoir close to Auchenbathie Tower.
History
On Walls Hill above the loch is an Iron Age hillfort, the largest in Renfrewshire and probably an oppidum of the British Damnonii tribe. Speculation suggests that the name 'Vanduara' may be associated with Walls Hill.[3]
Walls Loch
In 1960 a flint barbed and tanged arrowhead was found on the shore of Walls Loch,[4] a type typical of the Bronze Age ‘Beaker People’ and the introduction of metal working to the British Isles.[5]
One phase of occupation of walls Hill probably ended with the arrival of the Romans and then another circa the fourth and eleventh centuries before Walls Farm was built in the 14th century[6] and then abandoned.[7] Each phase of occupation would have impacted on the loch as a source of water for humans and domestic animals, fish etc as food, rushes and reeds for household use, etc.[8] Whittliemuir pollen diagrams from the Iron Age show that a basic economy based on mixed farming existed in the area around the loch.[9]
Maps of the 19th century indicate a small oblong enclosure below Walls Hill on the west bank of the loch that contained trees. A 'Fox Covert' is one possibility, created in order to encourage foxes to breed for the purposes of fox hunting.[10]
Battle of Muirdykes
On 18 June 1685 the Battle of Muirdykes was fought near to Walls Loch on Muirdykes Farm between the Duke of Argyle's men and those of James VII: the King’s men were defeated.[11]
See also
- Kilbirnie Loch, nearby
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Walls Loch) |
- Walls Loch - YouTube
References
- ↑ Descriptive Gazetteer : Lochwinnoch
- ↑ Descriptive Gazetteer : Lochwinnoch
- ↑ Henry, Robert (1805), The History of Great Britain on a New Plan II (3rd ed.), London: A. Strahan, T. Cadell Jr. and W. Davies, in the Strand (published 1800), pp. 403–404
- ↑ Excavations at Walls Hill
- ↑ Primitive Technology UK
- ↑ Roy Military Survey of Scotland, 1747-55
- ↑ Renfrewshire, Sheet XI (includes: Kilbarchan; Lochwinnoch; Paisley) Survey date: 1857 Publication date: 1863
- ↑ Historic Environment Scotland
- ↑ The Iron Age
- ↑ Renfrewshire, Sheet XI (includes: Kilbarchan; Lochwinnoch; Paisley) Survey date: 1857 Publication date: 1863
- ↑ CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Battle of Muirdykes