Pow Water

Pow is a Scots language term that dates to the Early Middle Ages and means an artificial ditch. The Pow was first dug on the orders of the canons of the Augustinian Inchaffray Abbey. The abbey, one of the largest in Scotland at the time, was located on an island in marshland and the Pow was intended to help drain the surroundings. Abbot Maurice of Inchaffray was chaplain to Robert the Bruce and prior to the 1314 Battle of Bannockburn claimed to have witnessed a miracle whereby the arm bone of Saint Fillan appeared in a previously empty reliquary. Robert the Bruce credited the miracle with providing his subsequent victory on the battlefield. In thanks to Maurice he granted the abbey…

The Pow starts at Methven Moss and runs in a south-westerly direction for 9 mi until it meets the River Earn near to Innerpeffray, about 2.5 mi to the south-east of Crieff. The Pow's drainage basin is 2,047 acres which includes 79 residential properties, 21 agricultural properties and 2 commercial properties. It has ten major tributaries which total approximately 4.7 mi of watercourse. The Pow's purpose is disputed with some claiming it to be for the drainage of groundwater and others that it is a flood prevention measure.