Etymology The name Linlithgow comes from the
Old Welsh lynn llaith cau meaning "lake in the moist hollow". Originally "Linlithgow" referred to the loch itself, the town being known as just "Lithgow" (hence the
common surname). Linlithgow developed in the
Middle Ages as a royal residence for
Scottish Kings on the raised hill beside the Loch, as the site was a logical stop between Edinburgh to the east and
Stirling to the West.
Linlithgow Palace remains the chief historic attraction of the town. The present palace was started (on an older site) in 1424 by
James I of Scotland. It was attacked by
Oliver Cromwell in 1650 and later burnt in 1746, and, whilst unroofed, it is still largely complete in terms of its apartments, though very few of the original furnishings survived. The palace was the birthplace of
James V and
Mary, Queen of Scots, and has been described as Scotland's finest surviving late medieval secular building. In the courtyard of the Palace, an elaborately carved hexagonal fountain and well survives. Besides the palace, a second attraction, standing adjacent, is the primarily 15th century construction of
St. Michael's Church. Its western tower originally had a distinctive stone
crown spire, of the type seen also on
St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, and
Newcastle Cathedral, but it was damaged in a storm in 1768 then removed in 1821. In 1964 a controversial replacement spire in aluminium in a modern style by
Geoffrey Clarke, representing Christ's crown of thorns, was added to the tower. The church was used in the early 17th century as host for the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and one of the national covenants was signed within. The grounds of the friary are split between a public park (Rosemount Park and Friar's Well) and a private woodland (Rosemount woods) and estate, occupied by a 19th-century villa, Nether Parkley. As Moray was passing in a
cavalcade in the main street below, Hamilton fatally wounded him with a carbine shot from a window of his uncle
Archbishop Hamilton's house. Many historic buildings line the High Street that follows the original route from the East (High and Low Ports) and West (Ports)
Gates. On the south side, ground levels rise and several historic
wynds and closes, as found in
Edinburgh, still exist. The most prominent historical space is the Kirkgate, a processional route to the palace from the High Street. This contains the Cross Well of 1807 (redesigned by
James Haldane) which is said to be replica of its 1628 predecessor. North of the well stands the former civic home of the Burgh Council, the Town House of 1668 which was created under the direction of the master mason John Smith and now forms part of the complex known as the
Burgh Halls. This replaced a previous hall or
Tolbooth demolished by
Oliver Cromwell's army in 1650. Much of its original interior was removed in a modernisation project of 1962. In June 1622 Katherine Rannald (alias Broun) from Kilpunt and her daughter Barbara Home (alias Winzet) were imprisoned in the Tolbooth on suspicion of witchcraft. Linlithgow was also the site of the
Battle of Linlithgow Bridge at the western edge of the town. The bridge no longer stands. The roadway to Linlithgow over the River Avon is described by scholars as a lifted road. By 1799, Linlithgow was described as a large town with about 2300 inhabitants, whose primary industries included the
tanning of leather, refining cotton cloth, the making of
Tambour lace and
Stockings, and
shoemaking, as well as acting as a market town for the surrounding agriculture. From the 17th until the late 19th century, the two largest industries in Linlithgow were leathermaking and shoemaking.
Modern history : now home to the Linlithgow Partnership Centre In 1847, a pharmacist in the town, David Waldie is credited as being the first to produce a sample of
chloroform for medical use, presenting it to
James Young Simpson who later tested it and had it produced again on his return to Edinburgh, popularising its use as an
anesthetic in medicine. In the mid 20th century, the chemists became a restaurant and is now the Four Mary's pub (a plaque records the history). Other prominent
Victorian buildings in the town include the turreted Royal Bank (erected in 1959), the Star And Garter Hotel (converted in 1847) and the Scots revival styled St. Michael's Hotel (1886).
Animal glue was produced at the Gowanstanks works for many years, on the site now occupied by St. Josephs primary school. Linlithgow has been cited as the location of the first petrol pump in Scotland. A plaque on the High Street records that Scotland's first petrol pump was installed at a garage here in 1919. In 1940, the
Neo-Georgian County Buildings were completed in the town and became the home of Linlithgowshire Council. They were later renamed as the
Tam Dalyell House and are now the Linlithgow Partnership Centre, home to the town library and museum. In 1967, two large tracts of land on the northern side of the High Street (with their associated pre 19th century buildings) were demolished and replaced by 90 flats, garages and public buildings (including a
library and
health centre) in a
brutalist style project named the 'Vennel redevelopment'. The name
Vennel coming from the term for a passageway between the gables of two buildings. While the development won a Saltire Housing award in 1969, it was and still remains controversial, especially as the style contrasts starkly with the character of other buildings in the town and significantly altered the street layout. After many decades of discussion, the partial demolition and redevelopment of the Vennel area was agreed by West Lothian Council, subject to consultation, which began in 2021. The town has continued to grow, not only because of its transport links with Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling, but also because of the perceived quality of its schooling and local amenities. The town grew considerably during the 1990s with the completion of several housing developments on the east side of the town. Development in the town is carefully controlled, as it is now bounded by green belt to the south and east, the M9 to the north, the river Avon and county boundary to the West. Following the formation of the
Territorial Force the town was allocated, for recruiting, to the
Lothians and Border Horse and 10th Battalion,
Royal Scots. Today 1 SCOTS recruit from the area keeping the traditions of the area from the Royal Scots. == Geography ==