The Gazetteer for Scotland Guidebook Series
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The Gazetteer for Scotland Guidebook Series: Livingston Produced from Information Contained Within The Gazetteer for Scotland. Tourist Guide of Livingston Index of Pages Introduction to the settlement of Livingston p.3 Features of interest in Livingston and the surrounding areas p.5 Tourist attractions in Livingston and the surrounding areas p.9 Towns near Livingston p.12 Famous people related to Livingston p.16 Further readings p.18 This tourist guide is produced from The Gazetteer for Scotland http://www.scottish-places.info It contains information centred on the settlement of Livingston, including tourist attractions, features of interest, historical events and famous people associated with the settlement. Reproduction of this content is strictly prohibited without the consent of the authors ©The Editors of The Gazetteer for Scotland, 2011. Maps contain Ordnance Survey data provided by EDINA ©Crown Copyright and Database Right, 2011. Introduction to the city of Livingston 3 Located 13 miles (21 km) west of Edinburgh in the Almond Valley between the M8 motorway and the A71 road. Scotland's fourth New Town of Livingston was Settlement Information created in 1962 around a large oil-shale village and now covers some 22.9 sq. km (10 sq. miles). The town is at the centre of Scotland's 'Silicon Glen' where numerous Settlement Type: town computer software and hardware firms are based. The town was designed for motor transport and pedestrians, Population: 50826 (2001) rather than for railways. Roads define the town's distinct Tourist Rating: areas while Greenways (paths described as 'fingers of countryside') keep pedestrians away from traffic. National Grid: NT 054 683 The town was formally designated on 7 April 1962 and Livingston Latitude: 55.90°N developed from east to west along the Almond Valley. Longitude: -3.51°W Its housing changed over the decades from high rises in the 1960s to 'low density, low rise' in the late 1980s and Council Area Name: early 1990s. The original village at Livingston Peel West Lothian contains 18th Century cottages, a village green and the parish kirk (1732). Other notable buildings include the Almond Valley Heritage Centre, the Old Tollhouse (c.1800), Alderstone House (early 17th century, including parts of an early 16th century tower), and St Andrews Roman Catholic Church (1968) with a dramatic appearance. There are five main industrial parks and other smaller office areas, including Howden Park Centre built near the 18th century mansion Howden House, associated with the family of the painter Henry Raeburn. The Kirkton Campus on the north side of Livingston provides high technology training. Other landmarks include MOTEC (Multi-Occupational Training and Educational Centre) with a see-through boiler house, the Old Cameron Ironworks next to the motorway and the Norgate Sculpture, in the form of a whalebone arch. Roundabout Art, Livingston North Map of Livingston and surrounding areas 4 Features of Interest 7 10 3 11 18 1 Breich Water 8 8 9 14 19 2 Harwood Water 4 3 Niddry Castle 65 4 Calder House 1 3 5 Linhouse Water 4 10 6 Bathgate Hills 10 7 The Five Sisters 9 15 16 7 8 Riccarton Hills 6 9 Binny Craig 11 10 Cockleroy Hill 11 Dechmont Law 12 Hermand House 6 13 West Calder Burn 8 14 Killandean Burn 2 3 41 15 Morton Reservoir 13 914 20 16 Morton Burn 17 Linnhous 1 18 Faucheldean Bing 132 19 Greendykes Bing 20 The Centre 7 12 5 15 5 17 16 12 2 20 InsetInset mapmap isis notnot 0 2000 4000 8000 aavailablevailable Metres Tourist Attractions Towns and districts 1 Kirk of Calder 1 Broxburn 2 Sawtooth Ramps 2 Addiewell 3 Almond Valley Viaduct 3 Mid Calder 4 Cairnpapple Hill 4 Binny 5 Scottish Korean War Memorial 5 West Calder 6 Witchcraig Wood and Riding Area 6 Raw Camps 7 Almond Aqueduct 7 Winchburgh 8 Beecraigs Country Park 8 East Calder 9 The Knock 9 Livingston Village 10 Knock Stone Circle 10 Uphall 11 Faucheldean 12 Addiebrownhill 13 Kirknewton 14 Ecclesmachan 15 Bangour 16 Dechmont Features of interest in Livingston 5 Breich Water A substantial river of West Lothian, the Breich Water rises as headstreams including the Darmead Linn, Kitchen Linn, Lingore Linn and Leadloch Burn on the border of North Lanarkshire. It flows east northeast for 8 miles (13 km), passing to the south of Fauldhouse, between Stoneyburn and Loganlea, north of Addiewell and finally turning north to the west of Polbeth, to join the River Almond a half-mile (0.8 km) east of Seafield. Harwood Water A small river of West Lothian, the Harwood Water rises in headstreams issuing from forest on the border with South Lanarkshire. It flows northeast passing to the east of West Calder and Polbeth before joining with the West Calder Burn 2 miles (3 km) southwest of Livingston, to form the Killandean Burn, having completed a course of 6 miles (10 km). Niddry Castle Unfortunately located in the shadow of a massive oil shale bing in West Lothian, a half-mile (1 km) southeast of Winchburgh, is Niddry Castle. This L-plan tower house was built c.1500 by George, the 4th Lord Seton, who was killed at the Battle of Flodden (1513). Originally four-storeys, a further storey was added in the late 16th Century as part of a major remodelling. The castle was acquired by the Hope family in the 17th Century as part of the Hopetoun Estate. Until the 1980s Niddry was a ruin, but it has recently been restored as a private residence. Niddry Castle, Winchburgh Calder House This fine 16th Century mansion is located in Mid Calder next to the Kirk of Calder. It remains the home of the Sandilands family who were given the Barony of Calder in the 14th Century and created the Lords Torphichen in 1579. The original L-plan house was grand, but has been progressively extended and updated. Originally it was a distinctive landmark, having been harled and limewashed in the Scottish style with attractive rusticated quoined gables, but the harling was subsequently stripped off in the process of modernisation, probably in the late 18th Century. A somewhat incongruous Doric entrance porch was added c.1820. The internal decoration is a mixture of 17th, 18th and 19th Century in style. It was at Calder House that John Knox (c.1513 - 72) celebrated the first Protestant communion in 1556. Another notable visitor to Calder House was the Polish composer Frederick Chopin, during his visit to Scotland in 1848. Linhouse Water A stream of West Lothian, the Linhouse Water rises on the Pentland Hills and flows north, passing through the Crosswood Reservoir, to merge with the River Almond to the west of Livingston. Features of interest in Livingston 6 Bathgate Hills A range of low rolling hills in West Lothian, the Bathgate Hills rise to a height of 305m (1000 feet) at the Knock and are largely comprising of ash and lava piled up by volcanic activity during the Carboniferous era. The Ballencrieff Water rises among the hills. The Five Sisters One of the most significant of the distinctive pink-coloured oil shale bings of West Lothian, the Five Sisters are located at Westwood, on the left bank of the Breich Water, a mile (1.5 km) northwest of West Calder. Lying abandoned since 1962, this remarkable landmark is a reminder of the oil shale industry pioneered in 1858 by James 'Paraffin' Young (1811-83), which soon comprised 120 oil works extracting more than 100 million litres (22 million gallons) of oil from 3 million tonnes of shale annually in West Lothian, and employing up to 40,000 people. By the second decade of the 20th century, this industry began meeting competition from crude oil pumped directly from the ground in the USA and the Middle East, but it was to continue for another 50 years. Today, resembling the fingers of a defiantly clenched fist rising above the surrounding landscape, the bing still reaches a height of 240m (787 feet) above sea level, making it the highest of the 20 or so similar structures which remain. It is now a scheduled historic monument, protecting it from being quarried as hardcore for road construction, and provides an important habitat for a range of locally-threatened flora and fauna. This iconic landmark appears as part of the West Lothian Council logo and has provided the inspiration for a sculpture on Newpark Roundabout in Livingston. Riccarton Hills A small range of hills in West Lothian, the Riccarton Hills rise to 254m (833 feet) southeast of Linlithgow. Binny Craig A notable landmark of West Lothian, Binny Craig (sometimes Binny Crag) rises to 220m (721 feet) 1¼ miles (2 km) north northwest of Uphall. A spectacular example of a crag-and-tail feature, formed as a result of the action of glaciers, the hill presents a steep cliff-face (the crag) to the west, while offering a more gentle slope (the tail) which extends a half-mile (1 km) to the east. Binny Craig was said to have once been the haunt of fairies. Cockleroy Hill A conspicuous crag-and-tail in West Lothian, Cockleroy Hill rise steeply from the west to a height of 278m (912 feet) in the northwest of Beecraigs Country Park, 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Torphichen and a similar distance south southwest of Linlithgow. At its summit is a Bronze-Age hill fort known as Wallace's Bed or Wallace's Cradle, which is very similar in structure to another on the nearby Bowden Hill. Dechmont Law A prominent hill of West Lothian, Dechmont Law rises to 217m (711 feet) ¾ mile (1.25 km) southwest of Dechmont and 1½ miles (2.5 km) north northwest of Livingston.