West Lothian

Place

West Lothian
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 55°55′N 3°30′W / 55.917°N 3.500°W / 55.917; -3.500Coordinates: 55°55′N 3°30′W / 55.917°N 3.500°W / 55.917; -3.500
Admin HQ	Livingston
Government
• Body	West Lothian Council
• Control	Labour minority (council NOC)
• MPs	Martyn Day Hannah Bardell
• MSPs	Angela Constance Fiona Hyslop
Area
• Total	165.1 sq mi (427.7 km2)
Area rank	Ranked 20th
Population (mid-2017 est.)
• Total	181,300
• Rank	Ranked 9th
• Density	1,100/sq mi (423/km2)
ONS code	S12000040
ISO 3166 code	GB-WLN
Website	http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/

West Lothian (Scots: Wast Lowden; Scottish Gaelic: Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and one of its historic counties. The county, which was also known as Linlithgowshire, was bounded by the Avon to the west and the Almond to the east. The modern council area occupies a smaller area, with areas in the west transferred to Falkirk and areas in the east transferred to Edinburgh following local government reforms in the late 20th century. It did however gain areas from Midlothian.

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 18th and 19th centuries, which 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 Lothian after Edinburgh) is now Livingston.

Contents

• 
  1 Geography
  


• 
  2 History
  


• 
  3 Government and politics
  
  
  
  • 
    3.1 County
    
  
  
  • 
    3.2 District
    
  
  
  • 
    3.3 Parliamentary representation
    
  
  
  • 
    3.4 Council political composition
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  4 Places of interest
  


• 
  5 Famous residents
  


• 
  6 See also
  


• 
  7 References
  


• 
  8 External links
  

Geography

The council area borders, in a clockwise direction, the council areas of Edinburgh, the Scottish Borders, North and South Lanarkshire, and Falkirk. The county bordered Midlothian, Edinburgh, Lanarkshire, and Stirlingshire. Its eastern border with Midlothian was formed by the Briech Water, from its source until it reached the Almond, and it then followed the Almond to the Forth (except by Livingston, where Midlothian intruded about a mile past the Almond to include the hamlets of Howden, Craigshill, and Pumpherston). The southern border was mostly arbitrary, while the western border was formed first by the Drumtassie Burn and then by the Avon. It had an area of 120 sq. miles (310 km²), making it the third smallest of Scotland's 33 counties and smaller than the modern council area. Significant towns not included in the council area are the coastal burghs of Bo'ness and Queensferry and the town of Kirkliston.

Geologically, most of the area is underlaid by Carboniferous sedimentary rocks running in strips from north to south. The eastern and southern rocks are the oldest and least useful. Further west is a large field of shale oil, then sedimentary and basalt rocks supplying silica sand, and then coal.

The area rises from lowlands in the north to the Pentland Hills in the southeast, while the southwest is moorland. 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 and the various reservoirs in the Pentlands.

History

Linlithgow town and palace.

West Lothian was extensively settled in prehistoric times, and several ancient burial sites have been uncovered, such as at Cairnpapple Hill. 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.

Niddry bing

In pre-industrial times West Lothian was almost entirely agricultural. In the way of heavy industry there was a silver mine at 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. Many of the houses built for the expanding population were shoddy, necessitating the building of thousands of council houses in the latter part of the 20th century, especially at Livingston, which had historically been a minor village. The bings 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. Heavy industry declined after the Second World War, and the last shale oil mine closed in 1962.

Government and politics

County

1868 map of Linlithgowshire showing parishes.

The county of West Lothian or of Linlithgow 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 1929.

District

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 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 a unitary council area.

Parliamentary representation

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.

Council political composition

	Party	Councillors
	Scottish National Party	13
	Labour	12
	Conservative	7
	Independent	1

Places of interest

• 
  Beecraigs Country Park
  


• Blackness Castle


• Cairnpapple Hill


• 
  Linlithgow Palace, birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots
  


• Polkemmet Country Park


• Torphichen Preceptory

See also the pages of the West Lothian Archaeological Trust

Famous residents

• 
  Susan Boyle, from Blackburn, a singer who achieved fame on the TV series Britain's Got Talent^[1][2]
  


• 
  Ian Colquhoun, from Livingston, author and actor


• 
  Dario Franchitti, from Whitburn, four-time Indy Car series champion, and three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500


• 
  Leon Jackson, from Whitburn, winner of The X Factor in 2007


• 
  James the Fifth, born at Linlithgow Palace, King of Scots


• 
  Mary, born at Linlithgow Palace, Queen of Scots


• 
  Paul di Resta, from Uphall, DTM race driver for Mercedes-Benz, and the cousin of Dario Franchitti


• 
  Alex Salmond, from Linlithgow, politician and former First Minister of Scotland


• 
  David Tennant, from Bathgate, actor


• 
  Sir Charles Wyville Thompson, from Linlithgow, biologist

See also

• List of places in West Lothian

References

1. 
   ^ "Singing Talent of Susan Boyle Stuns Simon Cowell, Times of London Archived March 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
   


2. 
   ^ Leigh Holmwood (14 April 2009). "Britain's got talent hits high note,'". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2010-09-20..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   

Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Lothian.

• 
  Penney, John (1832). A Topographical and Historical Account of Linlithgowshire. Edinburgh: Stevenson.
  


• 
  "West Lothian's Heritage". West Lothian Council.
  


• 
  "West Lothian". Gazetteer for Scotland.
  

External links

• 
  West Lothian Council official government website
  


• 
  West Lothian at Curlie
  


• West Lothian Archaeology Group


• West Lothian Family History Society


• River Kids - West Lothian's Children's Charity

v t e Former local government counties of Scotland
Subdivisions created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 and abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll Ayrshire Banffshire Berwickshire Bute Caithness Clackmannanshire Dumfriesshire Dunbartonshire East Lothian Fife Inverness-shire Kincardineshire Kinross-shire Kirkcudbrightshire Lanarkshire Midlothian Moray Nairnshire Orkney Peeblesshire Perthshire Renfrewshire Ross and Cromarty Roxburghshire Selkirkshire Shetland Stirlingshire Sutherland West Lothian Wigtownshire
Subdivisions abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 Cromartyshire Ross-shire

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