NS4984 : Jacob's Ladder
taken 11 years ago, near to Craighat, Stirling, Scotland
This steep stairway descending into the deep gorge of Finnich Glen – Link – is built in a crevice of the rock. The steps are now hazardous in places. They are between 150 and 200 years old, created at the behest of Mr Blackburn, proprietor of the estate of Killearn. Jacob's Ladder is one of the popular names for the stairway.
This glen, which used to be called Ashdow, is a chasm up to 70 feet deep, and, in places, no more than 15 or 20 feet wide at any height. It was carved through the Old Red Sandstone by the Carnock Burn. The burn flows around a prominent stone called the Devil's Pulpit, whose name is now often applied to the glen as a whole. Near that stone, a steep stairway, built long ago in a crevice, descends into the gorge: Link