PARISHES
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PARISHES |
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ABERCORN
"A village and a coast parish of Linlithgowshire. Lying 1/4 miles inland, near the confluence of the Cornie and Midhope Burns, the village - a pretty little place, nestling among trees and gardens on the verge of a high bank - is 3 3/4 miles W of its post-town South Queensferry, and 3 NNW of Winchburgh station. The parish contains also the hamlets of Philipstoun, 2 1/2 miles SW of Abercorn village, and Society, on the coast, 1 1/4 miles E by N. It is bounded N for 3 3/4 miles by the Firth of Forth (here 2 1/2 miles wide), E by
Dalmeny, SE by Kirkliston, S by the Auldcathie portion of Dalmeny and by
Ecclesmachen, SW by Linlithgow, and W by Carriden, from which it is parted by the Black Burn."
(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
"A town and a parish in the SW of Linlithgowshire. The town stands in the middle of the parish, 6 miles S by W of Linlithgow, whilst by sections of the North British, that converge to it from E, S, W, and NW, it is 19 3/4 W by S of Edinburgh, 14 1/4 NE of Morningside, 16 E by N of Coatbridge, 24 3/4 E by N of Glasgow, and 8 1/2 S of Manuel Junction. Its situation is a pleasant one. The hilly grounds to the NE, and the beautiful park of Balbardie on the N, give a cheerful aspect to the town, which consists of two parts, the old and the new. The old stands on a ridgy declivity, and has narrow crooked lanes; the new town, on low ground, is regularly aligned, and has well-built streets. A considerable extension occurred after the opening of the Bathgate and Edinburgh railway in 1849; a greater one, after the establishment of a neighbouring paraffin work in 1852; and other ones, or rather a continually increasing one, after the subsequent commencing or enlargement of other neighbouring works connected with mines and with mineral produce. The inhabitants prior to the first of these extensions, had little other employment than hand-loom weaving, and lived in a state of penury; but the new works employed not only them but numerous immigrants from other towns."
(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
"Borrowstounness or Bo'ness, a town and a parish of NW Linlithgowshire. A seaport, a burgh of barony since 1748, and a police burgh since 1880, the town stands at the NE angle of the parish on a low ness or promontory washed by the Firth of Forth; by road it is 3 miles N of Linlithgow and 8
ENE of Falkirk, by water 2 3/4 miles SSE of Culross, and by rail, as teminus of a section of the North British, 4 1/4 miles NNE of Manuel Junction, 24 WNW of Edinburgh, and 29 1/4 ENE of Glasgow. Defoe described it, early in last century, as consisting only of one straggling street, extended close to the water along the shore, but 'a town that has been, and
still is, of the greatest trade to Holland and France of any in Scotland, after Leith'."(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
"Ecclesmachan (Celt. 'church of St Machan'), a village and a parish of Linlithgowshire. The village stands 2 1/4 miles N by W of Uphall station, 3 WSW of Winchburgh station, and 4 3/4 ESE of Linlithgow. The parish until 1891 consisted of two portions, separated by a strip of Linlithgow parish,1 mile broad at the narrowest. In that year, however, the Boundary
Commissioners united the two portions of Ecclesmachan by transferring to that parish the intervening Linlithgow strip. It at the same time received a further accession of territory by having transferred to it also the western portion of Dalmeny parish, the eastern portion going to Kirkliston.
While the south-western portion was the larger of the two, the north-eastern contained the village."(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
"A village in Linlithgowshire, and a parish also in Edinburghshire. The village, occupying a rising-ground on the left bank of Almond Water, has a station on the Queensferry branch of the North British, 1 1/2 mile NNW of
Ratho Junction, 3 1/2 miles S of South Queensferry, and 10 W (by road only 8) of Edinburgh. It takes name from the parish church and Liston Manor, being distinguished by the prefix Kirk from Old Liston, New Liston, Over New Liston, Hal Liston, and Illiston or High Liston, all in the same parish. Some of its houses are good and modern, yet it offers on the whole a poor appearance; and has a post office, with money order, savings bank, and telegraph departments, an inn, and a long-established distillery."(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
"A parish containing the royal burgh of the same name in the NW of the county of Linlithgow. A south-eastern projection of the parish, a mile broad at the narrowest, that separated the parish of Ecclesmachan from its detached part, was in 1891 transferred by the Boundary Commissioners to that parish. It is bounded N by Carriden parish, NE by Abercorn, E and SE by Ecclesmachan, S by Ecclesmachan and Bathgate, SW by Torphichen, W by Stirlingshire and NW by Borrowstounness parish. The boundary with Stirlingshire is the river Avon, over a distance of 4 7/8 miles, and in the NE and SE the line follows for some distance the Haugh and Mains Burns; elsewhere it is mostly artificial. The greatest length of the parish, from the river Avon west of Carribber on the W to the boundary with Ecclesmachan on the E, is 6 miles; and the greatest breadth, from the road N of Bonside on the N to Silvermine on the S, is 4 7/8 miles. The surface is undulating, and the height above sea-level rises from 150 feet at Linlithgow Loch, northwards to Bonnytoun Hill or Glower-o'er-'em (559) and southwards to the Riccardton Hills (832). From Bonnytoun Hill, which is just on the northern border, there is a very extensive and charming view. The north-eastern and eastern districts are mainly level, while the central hollow rises southward with a long slope to the Riccarton Hills."
(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
(Leving's town', after a Fleming of that name who settled here about the time of Alexander I.) A parish with a village of the same name near the middle of the SE border of the county of Linlithgow. It is bounded NE by Uphall parish, E and SE by the county of Edinburgh, SW by Whitburn parish,
and NW by the parishes of Bathgate and Ecclesmachan. On the SE the boundary follows the course of the river Almond from a point almost 1 mile due E of Livingston church, up to the junction with Breich Water, and then follows the course of the latter stream for 31/2 miles, till near Auchinhard the
parish of Whitburn is reached. From this it passes 5 furlongs NNW to the SE branch of Foulshiels Burn, down which it passes to the Almond and up the Almond to a point 2 1/2 furlongs due W of Riddoch-hill, except at the N corner where it touches Brox Burn, the boundary is purely artificial and very irregular, the general shape of the parish showing two compact portions to the NE and SW, united by a narrow neck in the centre.(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
"A small town and yet smaller parish of Linlithgowshire. The town is a royal and parliamentary burgh, the royal comprising all the parish of Queensferry, and the parliamentary extending into Dalmeny. It stands on the
southern shore of the Firth of Forth, here only 1 1/8 mile broad, and has a station on a branch line of the North British, 5 3/8 miles N by W of Ratho Junction and 10 WNW of Edinburgh, from which by road it is 9 miles distant. Its site is a belt of low ground at a point opposite the peninsula of North Queensferry, and the intermediate island of Inchgarvie, where the firth is suddenly and briefly, but very greatly, contracted in breadth. The ground behind the town rises abruptly; and immediately at the summit, or even on the slope of the steep bank, becomes open agricultural country. The town comes first into notice as the station at which St Margaret, the queen of Malcolm Ceannmor, crossed the Forth in her numerous excursions between Edinburgh and Dunfermline during 1068 and 1093; and it received in honour of her both its present name and some early Latin designations of similar import. e.g., Portus Reginae (1164) and Passagium Reginae (1182)."(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
TORPHICHEN(Gael. torr-fithichean, 'the raven's hill').
"A village and a parish of W Linlithgowshire. The village stands 1 1/2 miles ENE of Westfield statiion, 4 1/2 miles SSW of Linlithgow, and 2 3/8 N by W of Bathgate, under which it has a post office. A place of great antiquity, and once of much importance, it now has an entirely rural character, and presents a straggling but pleasant appearance."
(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
"A village and a parish of S Linlithgowshire. The village stands, on the left bank of the Brox Burn, 1 1/2 mile W by S of the town of Broxburn, and 7 furlongs N by W of Uphall station on the North British railway, this being 13 5/8 miles WSW of Edinburgh, and 5 3/4 E by N of Bathgate. It has a
post office, with money order, savings bank, and telegraph departments, a public hall, a parish church hall, two inns, one of them a well-known coaching stage.The parish, containing also the town of Broxburn, originally was known as Strathbroke ('valley of the brock or badger'); and it took
that name from the Burn of Brocks or Brocks' Burn, corrupted now into Brox Burn. It is bounded NE and E by Kirkliston, SE and S by Kirknewton and Midcalder in Edinburghshire, and W and NW by Livingston and Ecclesmachen. Its utmost length, from ENE to WSW, is 4 1/4 miles; its utmost width 3 1/2 miles; and its area is 4561 1/4 acres, of which 20 1/4 are water."(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
"A village and a parish of SW Linlithgowshire. The village stands, 620 feet above sea-level, near the northern verge of the parish, 3 3/4 miles SSW of Bathgate, 9 furlongs W by S of Whitburn station on the Morningside section of the North British, and 3 1/8 miles N by W of Breich station on the Caledonian, this being 21 3/8 miles WSW of Edinburgh and 27 7/8 E by S of Glasgow. A police burgh since 1862, it presents a well-built regular appearance, and has a post office, with money order, savings bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the Commercial Bank, a gaswork, a reading-room, a public coffee house and reading-room (the gift of Lady Baillie), a public hall, a cemetery, and bowling and curling clubs."
(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895)
