West Lothian (Scots: Wast Lowden; Scottish Gaelic: Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the Avon to the west and the Almond to the east. The modern council area occupies a larger area than the historic county. It was reshaped following local government reforms in 1975: some areas in the west were transferred to Falkirk; some areas in the east were transferred to Edinburgh; and some areas that had formerly been part of Midlothian were added to West Lothian.
West Lothian lies on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and is predominantly rural, though there were extensive coal, iron, and shale oil mining operations in the 19th and 20th centuries. These created distinctive red-spoil heaps (locally known as "bings") throughout the council area. The old county town was the royal burgh of Linlithgow, but the largest town (and the second largest town in the Lothian region after Edinburgh) is now Livingston. Other large towns in the county include Bathgate (a town with medieval origins that developed extensively during the industrial revolution) and the historic mining settlements of Armadale, Fauldhouse, Whitburn, West Calder, Uphall, and Broxburn.
Geography
The modern council area borders, in a clockwise direction, the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk. The traditional county bordered Midlothian to the south-east, Lanarkshire to the south-west and Stirlingshire to the west. Its border with Midlothian was formed by the Breich Water, from its source until it reached the Almond, and it then followed the Almond to the Firth of Forth (except by Livingston, where Midlothian intruded about a mile past the Almond to include the hamlets of Howden, Craigshill, and Pumpherston). The western border was formed first by the Drumtassie Burn and then by the Avon. It had an area of 120 sq. miles (310km2), making it the third smallest of Scotland's 33 counties and smaller than the modern council area.
The geology of West Lothian is typical for the Midland valley area geological of Scotland.[1] Most of the bedrock surface area is underlaid by Carboniferous sedimentary rocks running in strips from north to south, with a variety of glacial deposits.[1] The exception is the Bathgate Hills, which are composed of volcanic rocks to the north of Bathgate and around Linlithgow.[2] Other rock types include oil shale, sandstone, dolerite.[1] The eastern and southern rocks are the oldest, specifically Devonian sandstones and volcanic rocks in the Pentland Hills.[2] In the middle of the county there is a large field of shale oil running south to north (underneath the settlements of Broxburn, Livingston and West Calder), then sedimentary and basalt rocks, which supply silica sand.[2] In the far west of the county, a large carboniferous coalfield exists; it extends underneath Whitburn, Blackridge and Harthill.[2] The oil shale in West Lothian is an organic-rich, fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be extracted. This extraction was carried out extensively in the region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, by a process developed by the chemist James Young.[3][4]
Cairnpapple Hill, historically the highest point in West Lothian before the county boundaries were changed.
The area rises from lowlands in the north to the Pentland Hills in the southeast, while the southwest is moorland. West Cairn Hill is the highest peak and Current County Top (CoU) at 562m (1,844ft). The previous County Top was Cairnpapple Hill which is now the Historical County Top (CoH). Two thirds of the land is agricultural, while a tenth is urban. Significant watercourses include the Almond and the Union Canal, while the main bodies of water are Linlithgow Loch, Dundas Loch, Humbie Reservoir, Lochcote Reservoir, Beecraigs Loch and Bangour Reservoir. The small island of Inchgarvie near the Forth Bridge lies within the historic borders of the county.
West Lothian was extensively settled in prehistoric times, and several ancient burial sites have been uncovered, such as at Cairnpapple Hill, described as one of Scotlands richest archaeological sites and one of the earlier places of organised worship in the country.[7] There are remains of hillforts on Cockleroy, Peace Knowe, Bowden, Cairnpapple, and Binns Hills. The area was anciently inhabited by Britons of the tribe known as the Votadini or Gododdin. By 83 AD, southern Scotland had been conquered by Romans, who built a road from their fort at Cramond to the eastern end of the Antonine Wall, as well as forts in West Lothian (of which Castle Greg is a known example). The Romans withdrew roughly two centuries later, and the area was left to the Britons until the arrival of Anglo-Saxons in the fifth and sixth centuries, who brought Lothian under the rule of the Kingdom of Northumbria. In later centuries the region was regularly overrun by Gaelic-speaking Scots, and it became permanently part of the Kingdom of Scotland in the 11th century.
Scotland was split into sheriffdoms, what would later become counties, in the reign of David I. The first known reference to a sheriff of Linlithgow occurs in a charter dating from the reign of his successor Malcolm IV. For a time West Lothian became a constabulary, but it seems to have been made a sheriffdom again during the reign of James III. During the medieval period, settlements such as Linlithgow, Abercorn, Dalmeny and Torphichen grew in importance. Torphichen church is said to have been founded by St. Ninian in about 400AD, a small wooden structure on the site of the present church (itself rebuilt in 1756) and in 1165, the Knights Hospitaller of St. John made their Scottish headquarters at Torphichen and the Preceptory stands as testament to their presence.[8][9]
In pre-industrial times West Lothian was almost entirely agricultural. In the way of heavy industry there was a silver mine at Hilderston near Cairnpapple, a cotton mill at Blackburn, paper mills at Linlithgow, and shallow coal mines around Bathgate and Whitburn. The county was radically changed by the Industrial Revolution, (from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840) with the opening of deep-pit iron, coal, and shale oil mines, as well as foundries and brickworks, which dramatically altered the landscape.[7] In Bathgate, the Scottish Chemist James Young's discovery of cannel coal in the Boghead area of Bathgate, and his subsequent opening of the Bathgate Chemical Works in 1852 transformed the town and the adjacent landscape.[10] The works were the world's first commercial oil-works, manufacturing paraffin oil and paraffin wax, signalling an end to the rural community of previous centuries.[10] When the cannel coal resources dwindled around 1866, Young and his chemical works started distilling paraffin from much more readily available shale.[10]Shale oil extraction reached its height in the county during the Victorian era.[11] By 1871, there were over 50 oil works producing more than 25 million gallons each year.[10] The five largest oil shale companies (Young's Paraffin Light & Mineral Oil Company, Broxburn Oil Company, Pumpherston Shale Oil Company, Oakbank Oil Company and James Ross & Company Philpstoun Oil Works) were concentrated in West Lothian and would later merge to become Scottish Oils Ltd.[12][13][14][15] The increased industrialisation led to a growing population and the development of numerous villages, such as Pumpherston and Broxburn. The bings (black and pink hills of shale waste) produced by the mining industry, 19 of which still stand in West Lothian, were at first considered blights, but now are thought of as monuments to Scotland's industrial past, and a representation of one appears on the council's coat of arms.[7] The bings are also seen as important for local and national biodiversity.[16]
1868 map of Linlithgowshire showing parishes.
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 established a uniform system of county councils in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland's counties. Subsequently, West Lothian County Council was created in 1890. The historic county of West Lothian or of Linlithgowshire contained six burghs: Armadale, Bathgate, Bo'ness, Linlithgow, Queensferry, and Whitburn. Areas outside the burghs were administered as districts, of which there were also six: Borrowstounness, Linlithgow, Queensferry, Torphichen & Bathgate, Uphall, and Whitburn & Livingston. The county was also split into twelve parishes; these were not used for administrative purposes after 1930. West Lothian County Council was based at the County Buildings in the High Street, Linlithgow.[17]
Prior to 1925, the county was formally called the "county of Linlithgow" or Linlithgowshire, although the name West Lothian had long been used as an informal alternative name. Following a petition by the county council the government changed the name formally to "Westlothian" under the Westlothian (Bathgate District) Water Order Confirmation Act 1925, which received royal assent on 27 March 1925.[18] In May 1927 the county council resolved that West Lothian should be written as two words rather than one.[19] The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 43) subsequently gave statutory confirmation for the two word version of the name.[20]
In the Second World War the county adopted during Warship Week the destroyer HMS Wallace raising over £547,000 in donations.[21][22] Many of the houses built for the expanding population during the 19th and 20th century were of poor quality, necessitating the building of thousands of council houses in the latter part of the 20th century, especially at Livingston, where several smaller settlements were historically mining villages. Under the New Towns Act of 1946, Livingston was designated as a New Town on 16 April 1962.[23][24]
Heavy industry in the county declined after the Second World War, and the last shale oil mine closed in 1962. In 1975, as a result of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the boundaries of West Lothian were adjusted, so that some western areas of Midlothian were added to the country, while some West Lothian settlements became part of Falkirkshire and Edinburgh.[11] The 1973 Act abolished the counties, burghs, and districts, instead creating a system of regions and districts. West Lothian was made a district of Lothian region but lost the burgh of Bo'ness and the district of Bo'ness to Falkirk district of Central Region, the burgh of Queensferry and the district of Kirkliston and part of Winchburgh to Edinburgh district of Lothian Region. It gained East Calder and West Calder districts from Midlothian. The two-tier system was abolished by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, and the district of West Lothian was made into a unitary council area named West Lothian Council.
Government and politics
County Buildings in the High Street, Linlithgow, the former headquarters of West Lothian County Council
Council
West Lothian Council is the local authority for the West Lothian area of Scotland and has 33 elected members. Councillors are generally elected every five years, with the next election falling in Spring 2027. The current council composition is:
The West Lothian question, referring to whether Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish MPs should be allowed to vote on English laws, is so named because it was supposedly first raised by Tam Dalyell while he was MP for West Lothian.[27][28]
The creation of the modern council area drastically altered West Lothian's boundaries. Significant towns not included in the modern county are the coastal burghs of Bo'ness and Queensferry and the town of Kirkliston. Large parts of the southern urban area of Livingston, which were historically within Midlothian, were however transferred to West Lothian.
Hopetoun House is a large country house and estate near South Queensferry that was built between 1699 and 1701, and was designed by Sir William Bruce. The house was then hugely extended from 1721 by William Adam until his death in 1748, being one of his most notable projects. The interior was completed by his sons John Adam and Robert Adam.[35]Midhope Castle is a 16th-century tower house on the Hopetoun estate that was used as a location in the Outlander TV series on Starz as the main character, Jamie Fraser's family home called Lallybroch (Broch Tuarach).[36][37]
There are a variety of castles and other historic fortifications in West Lothian, including medieval mottes, tower houses and Renaissance laird's houses, as well as relatively modern castellated mansions.[38] Examples include Cairns Castle, Duntarvie Castle, Midhope Castle and Staneyhill Tower.[38]
Blawhorn Moss is a raised bog located near Blackridge that has been a national nature reserve since 1980 and is the largest and least disturbed raised bog in the Lothians.[42]
West Lothian previously had a psychiatric hospital with general hospital in the Dechmont area called Bangour Village Hospital.[48] The hospital opened in 1904 and eventually had beds for 55 officers and 2571 other ranks.[48] The hospital started closing in the 1990s and closed completely in 2004 after the remaining services were transferred to St John's Hospital.[48][49]
The Linburn Centre is a health centre for blinded war veterans at Wilkieston.[50] The centre is located within the estate of Linburn House, a country house which was demolished in 1955.[51]
Museums
The Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry was created in 1990, to preserve the history of the shale industry in West Lothian and beyond.[52] It is sited on a former mill at Millfield, near Livingston and is attached to the Almond Valley Heritage Centre, a large farm and play area.[53]
In Bathgate, the Bennie Museum is a museum of local history and heritage that is run by volunteers under the management of a charitable trust. It opened in 1989 and is housed used in two former derelict cottages donated by the Bennie family to the local community in 1980.[54][55][56]
The Linlithgow Museum is a volunteer-run local history museum in Linlithgow.[57][58] The museum is housed in the Linlithgow Partnership Centre, along with the West Lothian Family History Society and library.[59]
Five Sisters Zoo is a privately owned zoo located in Polbeth, West Calder opened in 2005. The zoo has grown into one of West Lothian's top visitor attractions and was awarded ‘Best Family Day Out’ at the 2024 Scottish Entertainment and Hospitality Awards.[64]
Economy
Tesco's Distribution Centre for Scotland and Northern Ireland between Livingston and Bathgate
West Lothian has a diverse economy and as of 2020 had approximately 4,500 businesses providing almost 72,000 jobs in the area.[65] In 2014, West Lothian Council reported that the five largest employment sectors in the council area were healthcare, construction, retail, manufacturing, and business administration and support services.[66] While historically, mining and shale oil production were key employers in the region, as of 2014 they only accounted for 0.7% of persons employed in West Lothian.[66] The ten largest private employers in West Lothian are Sky UK, Tesco, Mitsubishi Electric, IQVIA (formerly Quintiles/Q2 Solutions), Asda, Morrisons, Johnson & Johnson, Schuh, Jabil and Shin-Etsu Europe.[66] The two largest public sector employers in the county are West Lothian Council and NHS Scotland.[66]
The Starlaw distillery is a Scotch whisky grain distillery at Bathgate that is owned by French drinks group La Martiniquaise. The distillery opened in 2010 and can produce 25 million litres annually and has 29 ageing warehouses (cellars) across 75 hectares at the distillery to allow for the maturation of over 600,000 barrels.[67][68]Glenmorangie, the whisky distillers have offices and a bottling facility in Livingston that was opened in 2011.[69]
West Lothian has several shopping centres, the largest of which are located in Livingston, including 'The Centre' (comprising more than 1,000,000 square foot of retail space) and Livingston Designer Outlet (the largest outlet mall in Scotland).[70][65] The combined retail spaces of central Livingston form the largest indoor shopping location in Scotland and the 10th largest in the UK.[65]
There are several large scale wind farms in West Lothian, predominantly in the south-west of the county, used to produce electricity across the region, including Pates Hill wind farm, Harburnhead wind farm, and Black Law wind farm.[71][72]
The M8 motorway that connects Glasgow and Edinburgh passes across West Lothian connecting communities including Livingston and Bathgate.
Other principal A roads in West Lothian include the A71 road (which passes through the south of the county connecting settlements including Livingston, Polbeth, West Calder and Breich), the A899 and A705 in Livingston, and the A801 road which runs from east of Polmont to Whitburn.
West Lothian has a number of former, disused and defunct railway lines, principally branch lines that originated in connection with oil, mineral and shale mining activities in the 19th century but were later closed as traffic diminished and industrial operations ceased.[75]
Many of the railways in West Lothian use significant viaducts to cross rivers, ravines and other difficult terrain.[75] One prominent example is the Almond Valley Viaduct built by railway engineer John Miller to carry the Glasgow–Edinburgh via Falkirk line and completed in 1842.[75][76] The viaduct is 1.5 miles long with 36 masonry arches, is Category A listed and features as the logo of West Lothian Council.[76][77]
Air
West Lothian has no airport or airfields in current operation.[78] The county has a few historic airfields, now defunct, including a temporary airfield that once existed in Bathgate.[79] While the village of Kirknewtown is inside West Lothian, the nearby RAF Kirknewton airfield lies inside the boundary of Edinburgh.[80] The nearest airport in operation to West Lothian is Edinburgh Airport.
Education
West Lothian has 11 secondary schools, 12 special schools, 67 primary schools, and 60 nurseries.[81][82][83] While West Lothian has no university, further and adult education facilities are provided at West Lothian College based in Livingston.[84] The college has sports facilities, a library, a training restaurant for hospitality students, and a salon/spa.[84] The college provides educational services to over 8,000 students a year and has 350 staff.[85]
West Lothian has 14 public libraries.[88] A local and regional history library which includes items on the history of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire is located in Linlithgow.[88]
Sports
Almondvale Stadium, the home of Livingston F.C. in Livingston
Swimming facilities are located across West Lothian in most of the towns and Swim West Lothian is an organisation, operating in partnership with West Lothian Council and Scottish Swimming that organises local swimming clubs, training and swimming galas.[93]
West Lothian sports personalities include Dario Franchitti (from Whitburn, four-time Indy Car series champion, and three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500), Paul di Resta (from Uphall, DTM race driver for Mercedes-Benz, and the cousin of Dario Franchitti), and Peter 'Snakebite' Wright (born in Livingston, PDC World darts champion).
Figures from industry and academia include John Fleming (from Bathgate, a naturalist, zoologist and geologist), Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (from Linlithgow, a natural historian and marine zoologist), and James Young Simpson (an obstetrician and significant figure in the history of medicine).
Livingston is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from a village of the same name incorporated into the new town, it was originally developed in the then-counties of Midlothian and West Lothian along the banks of the River Almond. It is situated approximately fifteen miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and thirty miles (50 km) east of Glasgow, and is close to the towns of Broxburn to the north-east and Bathgate to the north-west.
Broxburn is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is 12 miles (19 km) from the West End of Edinburgh, 5 miles (8.0 km) from Edinburgh Airport and 5 miles (8.0 km) to the north of Livingston. Originally a village known as Easter Strathbock in the medieval period, by 1600, the village had become known as Broxburn. The area developed rapidly during the Victorian era as a result of industrialisation related to shale oil extraction. While much of the industry in the area is now diminished, the town has continued to grow following new residential development, resulting in Broxburn forming a conurbation with neighbouring Uphall. It lies just to the south of Winchburgh.
Uphall is a village in West Lothian, Scotland. It is a swiftly growing village in a conurbation with Broxburn to the east, Dechmont to the west and the major town of Livingston to the south west. Uphall is 30 miles from Glasgow and 14 miles from Edinburgh in the Scottish Lowlands. Uphall Station and Pumpherston are separate villages that lie to the south of Uphall.
Bathgate is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, 5 miles (8 km) west of Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under the umbrella of Bathgate, including Blackburn, Whitburn, Stoneyburn, Armadale,Torphichen and Fauldhouse.
Linlithgow is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of West Lothian. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the Lothian electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Linlithgow and East Falkirk was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created for use in the 2005 general election. It replaced most of Falkirk East and Linlithgow.
Whitburn is a small town in West Lothian, Scotland, halfway between Scotlands's two largest cities, about 23 miles east of Glasgow and 22 miles west of Edinburgh. The nearest major towns are Bathgate, four miles and Livingston, six miles.
Linlithgow was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of elections.
Mid Calder is a village in West Lothian, Scotland. It is located on a steep hill overlooking the River Almond and Calder Wood, around 15 miles (24 km) west of Edinburgh. The settlement has been on a major crossroads since its origin some time in the 11th century.
Newbridge is a village in the civil parish of Kirkliston, west of Edinburgh in Scotland. It formerly lay on the western fringe of Midlothian, but it has belonged to the City of Edinburgh since 1975. The original village consists of a small crossroads settlement to the east of the eponymous New Bridge, which spans the River Almond. Around it is a confusion of roads and industrial estates converging on the Newbridge Roundabout, the meeting point of the M8 and M9 motorways.
Torphichen is a historic small village located north of Bathgate in West Lothian, Scotland. The village is approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of Edinburgh, 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Falkirk and 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Linlithgow. The village had a population of 570 in the and a population of 710 in 2016. Torphichen's placename may be Gaelic in origin, e.g., "Tóir Féichín", Tor Fithichean, or partly from Brythonic "tre fychan" or small hill.
Dechmont is a small village located near Uphall, West Lothian in Scotland. Bangour Village Hospital is located to the west of Dechmont. It has an approximate population of 989 people. Its postal code is EH52. An alleged alien encounter took place in 1979 in the nearby Dechmont Woods.
East Calder is a village located in West Lothian, Scotland, about a mile east of Mid Calder and a mile west of Wilkieston. It forms part of 'the Calders, three small neighbouring communities situated west of Edinburgh and south of the "New Town" of Livingston.
James Graham Fairley FRIBA MSGS (1846–1934) was a 19th/20th century Scottish architect working mainly in the West Lothian area, specialising in churches and schools.
The 2021–22 East of Scotland Football League was the 93rd season of the East of Scotland Football League, and the 8th season as the sixth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 16 July 2021.
The 2022 West Lothian Council election took place on 5 May 2022. Elected positions in all 9 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 were up for election, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote (STV) system form of proportional representation, with 33 Councillors being elected in total.
The 2022–23 East of Scotland Football League was the 94th season of the East of Scotland Football League, and the 9th season with its top division as part of the sixth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 30 July 2022 and ended on 27 May 2023. Tranent Juniors were the reigning champions but were unable to defend their title after gaining promotion to the Lowland Football League.
Bathgate and Linlithgow is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election.
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