West Lothian, Scotland

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described West Lothian like this:

Linlithgowshire (or West Lothian), maritime co. in SE. of Scotland; is bounded N. by Firth of Forth, SE. by Edinburghshire, and W. by Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire; greatest length, NE. and SW., 19 miles; greatest breadth, E. and W., 14 miles; area, 76,806 ac., pop. 43,510. The coast is low; the surface is varied, but there are few hills of any height; the chief rivers are the Avon on the W. ...

---

and the Almond on the E. border. Much of the soil is fertile, and agriculture is in an advanced condition. (For agricultural statistics, see Appendix.) Linlithgowshire is one of the richest mineral counties in Scotland, coal, shales, ironstone, freestone, limestone, &c., being very abundant. Paraffin oil is largely manufactured at Bathgate, Broxburn, and Uphall. The co. contains 12 pars, and 2 parts, the parl. and royal burghs of Linlithgow (Falkirk Burghs) and Queensferry (Stirling Burghs), and the police burghs of Armadale, Bathgate, Borrowstounness, and Whitburn. It returns 1 member.

Vision of Britain presents long-run change by redistricting historical statistics to modern units. However, none of our modern units covers an area close to that of West Lothian. If you want trends covering a particular location within the county, find it on our historical maps and then select "Tell me more".

---

Not where you were looking for?

Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "West Lothian".