Bathgate
1089876
225956273
2008-07-16T05:08:43Z
Jeremy68
1273912
/* Bathgate 20th Century */
{{infobox UK place|
|country = Scotland
|official_name= Bathgate
|gaelic_name=
|scots_name=
|population= 15,068 (2001 Census)
|os_grid_reference= NS975695
|map_type= Scotland
|latitude=55.9
|longitude=-3.633333
|unitary_scotland= [[West Lothian]]
|lieutenancy_scotland= [[West Lothian]]
|constituency_westminster= [[Linlithgow and East Falkirk (UK Parliament constituency)|Linlithgow and East Falkirk]]
|constituency_scottish_parliament= [[Linlithgow (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Linlithgow]]
|constituency_scottish_parliament1= [[Lothians (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Lothians]]
|post_town= BATHGATE|postcode_district = EH47 & EH48
|postcode_area= EH
|dial_code= 01506
|}}
'''Bathgate''' is a town in [[West Lothian]], [[Scotland]], on the [[M8 motorway]] five [[mile]]s west of [[Livingston, Scotland|Livingston]]. Neighbouring towns are [[Blackburn, West Lothian|Blackburn]], [[Armadale, West Lothian|Armadale]], [[Fauldhouse]], [[Whitburn, West Lothian|Whitburn]], Livingston, [[Stoneyburn]], and [[Linlithgow]]. [[Edinburgh Airport]] is 13 miles (21 km) away. Situated 2 miles (3km) south of the [[Neolithic]] burial site at [[Cairnpapple Hill]], Bathgate and the surrounding area show signs of habitation since about 3500 BC.
== History ==
=== Medieval Bathgate (circa 1100 – 1500) ===
[[Image:Former Bathgate Parish Church (remains) 2006.jpg|left|thumb|Remains of Bathgate's former Parish Church]]
Bathgate first enters the chronicles of historys in a confirmation charter by King [[Malcolm IV of Scotland]] ([[1141]] – [[9 December]] [[1165]]). In royal charters of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, the name of Bathgate has appeared as: Bathchet ([[1160]]), Bathket ([[1250]]) and Bathgetum ([[1316]]). Batket in the 14th century, and by the 15th appeared as both Bathgat and Bathcat. The name is a “manifest corruption” of the original [[Cumbric]] derivation meaning Boar Wood (''baedd coed'')<ref>Price, Glanville, ''Languages in Britain and Ireland'' (page 122).</ref>.
In [[1315]], The daughter of King Robert I of Scotland ([[Robert The Bruce]]), [[Marjorie Bruce|Marjorie]] (alternatively spelt Margery) Bruce, married [[Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland|Walter Stewart]] (or Steward) ([[1293]]– [[1326]]), the 6th Lord High Steward of Scotland. The dowry to her husband included the lands and castle of Bathgate. Walter died at the castle on the [[9 April]] [[1326]].
In the [[1846]] book ''A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland'', [[Samuel Lewis (publisher)|Samuel Lewis]] writes:
{{cquote|''Of this ancient castle, some slight traces of the foundations only are discernible, in a morass about a quarter of a mile from the town, in which, though it has been drained and brought into cultivation, kitchen utensils of brass, and coffins rudely formed of flat stones, have been discovered by the plough''}}
Another antiquarian, W. Jardin, in the ''Statistical Account of Scotland Vol I'' (1793), referring to Walter Stewart states:
{{cquote|''Some traces of his mansion may be seen in the middle of a bog or loch about 1/4 mile from the town. Hewn stones have frequently been dug from the foundations, and some kitchen-utensils of copper or brass have been found.''}}
Dating from around the same time the remains of Bathgate's former parish church still stand at Kirkton. The original 12th Century construction was absorbed by a later build in [[1739]] when a new church was erected on the same site. This simple whitewashed edifice served the community until its last service on the [[9 April]] [[1882]]. King Malcolm IV makes reference to the original church in a charter, granting it to the monks of [[Holyrood Abbey]]. Records show that Holyrood Abbey gave the church to the abbot and monks of [[Newbattle Abbey]] in [[1327]].
=== Bathgate 17th – 18th Century ===
In [[1606]] [[ore|silver ore]] was chanced upon at nearby Hilderston, in the shadow of Cairnpapple Hill, by a prospecting [[Coal miner|collier]]: Sandy Maund<ref>[http://www.sasaa.co.uk/case%20studies%209.htm sasaa king jamie's silvermine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. This accidental discovery began a short-lived crown “project” in the area. Advisors to [[James I of England|King James VI of Scotland]] became aware how rich in silver the mine may be and in April [[1608]] repossessed the land for the crown. By December of 1608 it was clear that the ore in the mine was of varying quality and by March [[1613]] all efforts to extract silver from the area were abandoned.
Bathgate remained a very small rural community until the middle of the 19th century with only a foray by [[Covenanter|Covenanters]] in the 17th century to unrest the populace. Frances Groome, in the ''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland'' (1882-4) writes:
{{cquote|''Some of the inhabitants suffered hardship and loss in the times of the persecution; and the insurgent army of the Covenanters, when on their march from the W to [[Battle of Rullion Green|Rullion Green]], spent a disastrous night at Bathgate.''}}
[[Robert Louis Stevenson]], in the book ''Lay Morals, Part 2: The Pentland Rising. A Page of History'' further elucidates upon this night in November [[1666]]:
{{cquote|''A report that [[Tam Dalyell of the Binns|Dalzell]] was approaching drove them from [[Lanark]] to Bathgate, where, on the evening of Monday the 26th, the wearied army stopped. But at twelve o’clock the cry, which served them for a trumpet, of ‘Horse! horse!’ and ‘Mount the prisoner!’ resounded through the night-shrouded town.''}}
His depiction goes on to describe how the half the army perished in the freezing weather as they headed towards the [[Pentland Hills]].
=== Bathgate 19th Century ===
Established around [[1800]], the Glenmavis Distillery in Bathgate was purchased in [[1831]] by one John McNab, who produced the eponymous ''MacNab's Celebrated Glenmavis Dew'' from the site until the distillery's closure in [[1910]]. In [[1885]], the distillery was producing 80,000 gallons of single malt a year which was transported to Scotland, England and the colonies.<ref>[[ Alfred Barnard|Barnard, Alfred]] Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom, 1887; reprinted Birlinn Ltd (1 Jul 2007); ISBN 1841582662</ref>
By the opening of [[Edinburgh and Bathgate Railway]] in [[1849]], local mines and quarries were extracting [[coal]], [[Lime (mineral)|lime]], and [[ironstone]].
[[James Young|James Young’s]] discovery of [[cannel coal]] in the Boghead area of Bathgate, and the subsequent opening of the Bathgate Chemical Works in [[1852]], the world's first commercial oil-works, manufacturing [[paraffin]] oil and paraffin wax, signalled an end to the rural community of previous centuries. When the cannel coal resources dwindled around [[1866]], Young started distilling paraffin from much more readily available [[oil shale|shale]]<ref>Groome, Frances, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)</ref>. To this date, the landscape of the Lothians is dotted with the orange spoil heaps (called Bings) from this era. Collieries and quarries and the associated “traditional” industries (brickworks, steelworks)<ref>Groome, Frances, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)</ref> were the main employers in Bathgate as the 19th century drew to a close.
=== Bathgate 20th Century ===
[[Image:Bathgate-Christmas-2005-1.JPG|thumb|Bathgate on a frosty day]]
In the mid-20th century, many local industries were closed and West Lothian was designated a 'Special Development Area'. In such areas, extra financial inducements were offered by the British Government to assist companies wishing to relocate. As a result, in [[1961]], the [[British Motor Corporation|BMC]] — which consisted of the merged [[Austin Motor Company]] in [[Longbridge]] and [[Birmingham]] and [[Morris Motors]] in [[Oxford]] — located a new [[Truck|Truck & Tractor]] plant in Bathgate rather than expanding Longbridge as originally planned. The plant closed in [[1986]], regarded by some as an illustration of the failure of the Special Development Areas policy.
On [[24 March]] [[1986]]<ref>[http://www.railscot.co.uk/Edinburgh_and_Bathgate_Railway/frame.htm RAILSCOT | Edinburgh and Bathgate Railway<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, the [[Edinburgh to Bathgate_Line|Bathgate-Edinburgh railway line]] was re-opened to passengers for the first time since the 1950s. This railway line is to be extended to [[Airdrie, North Lanarkshire|Airdrie]] allowing train services to run between [[Glasgow Queen Street railway station|Glasgow Queen Street]] and [[Edinburgh Waverley railway station|Edinburgh Waverley]] via [[Bathgate railway station]] by December 2010<ref>[[Airdrie-Bathgate_Rail_Link]]</ref>.
The world's oldest known reptile fossil, ''Westlothiana lizziae'' (affectionately referred to as ''Lizzie''), was discovered in East Kirkton Quarry, Bathgate in [[1987]]; it is now in the [[Museum of Scotland]].<ref>Knell, Simon J, ''Museums and the Future of Collecting (Second Edition)'', (P170), ISBN 978-0754630050</ref>
Early in [[1992]]<ref>[http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/sedotcom_home/news-se/news-fullarticle.htm?articleid=14479 News Article<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, the US company [[Motorola]] opened a mobile phone manufacturing (Personal Communications Sector or PCS) plant at Easter Inch in Bathgate (now the Pyramids Business Park). In [[2001]], the global market for mobile phones dropped sharply and as a consequence, despite pressure from the highest levels of UK government<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1294237.stm BBC News | SCOTLAND | Motorola to close Scottish plant<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, on the [[24 April]] [[2001]] Motorola announced the closure of the plant and the loss of 3,106 jobs<ref>http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/917/0016906.doc</ref>. The 93 acre site is now occupied by Disaster Recovery Services Ltd, [[HMRC]], [[Morrisons]] and [[Quintiles]]<ref>[http://pyramidspark.com/office/description.html Pyramids Business Park<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.
Bathgate's war memorial was moved by a [[BBC]] television programme from a hill near Kirk Road to a landscaped garden in Mid Street on the [[25 July]] [[1995]] (Broadcast [[10 September]] [[1995]]).<ref>[[List_of_Challenge_Anneka_episodes]]</ref>
Notable Bathgate residents have included [[David Tennant]] (born in Bathgate but raised in Paisley); his father
[[Alexander McDonald (Moderator)|Alexander McDonald]], former moderator of The Church of Scotland; Sir [[James Young Simpson]], the discoveror of the anesthetic properties of chloroform; and [[John Newland]], one of the town's major benefactors. Newland emigrated to the West Indies. There he became a rich planter, using slaves to maintain and harvest his sugar-cane crop. His benefaction allowed the establishment of Bathgate Academy, which was founded in [[1833]]. He is remembered today by an annual pageant (known as the Procession, Gala Day or Newland's day), held on the first Saturday in June.
The local secondary school is Bathgate Academy. The Bathgate primary schools are Balbardie, St Mary's, Boghall, St Columba's, and Windyknowe. A new primary school, Simpson Primary, opened on the site of the British Leyland Factory in August [[2007]]. It serves the new area of town called Wester Inch. The school is named after James Young Simpson.
== Demographics ==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;width:70%;border:0px;text-align:center;line-height:120%;"
! style="background: #99CCCC; color: #000080" height="17" | Year
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1861]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1871]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1881]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1891]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1901]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1911]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1921]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1941]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1951]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1961]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1971]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1981]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[1991]]
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | [[2001]]
|-
! style="background: #99CCCC; color: #000080" height="17" | Population
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 4,827
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 4,991
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 6,425
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 5,786
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 7,549
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 8,226
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 8,504
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 10,127
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 11,291
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | not available
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | not available
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | not available
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 13,819
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 15,068
|-
| colspan="15" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|<small>'''Sources:'''[http://www.histpop.org/ Online Historical Population Reports], [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp A Vision Of Britain Through Time] and [http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/ General Register Office for Scotland]</small>
|}
Note that the town is experiencing rapid growth, with nearly 3000 new homes built since these statistics were produced, adding 6000 to 8000 more people. [http://www.westlothian.com/Home/wl_economy/facts_figures/west_lothian_towns/bathgate/ WL Business Development website]
== Sport ==
=== Football ===
Bathgate is home to the [[Scottish Junior Football Association|junior]] [[football (soccer)|football]] club [[Bathgate Thistle F.C.|Bathgate Thistle]], who won the Scottish Junior Cup in 2008.
== Culture ==
=== Land art ===
Part of the M8 Art Project saw the artist Patricia Leighton's 'sawtooth ramp'project being built in [[1993]]. The sculpture is 1000 feet long and consists of seven 36 foot high ramps. The artist based the design on local geographic features: ([[drumlin|drumlins]]) and the shape of the surrounding bings<ref>[http://www.art-in-partnership.org.uk/cms/index.html?topic_id=43 Art in Partnership - projects<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. The pyramidic shape of the sculpture gave rise to the name of the nearby Pyramids Business park. In April 2007, a local farmer painted the sheep which graze on the pyramids bright red with a harmless sheep spray<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6521149.stm BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh and East | Sheer brilliance for bright sheep<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.
In 1998 the artist Lumir Soukup built the earth sculpture 'The Bathgate Face' at Wester Inch. By taking facial measurements of more than 1200 Bathgate residents, the artist was able to create an 'average profile' which was the basis for the sculpture.
Development in the area in 2004 threatened to demolish the sculpture; however the artist managed to persuade developers to build around his work<ref>[http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=217682006 Edinburgh Evening News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.
== Famous people ==
* Racing driver [[Dario Franchitti]] was born here. He now races in the USA-based [[NASCAR|NASCAR]] series. Won the 2007 Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League championship.
* Sir [[James Young Simpson]], discoverer of the anaesthetic properties of [[chloroform]], was born here.
* Actor [[David Tennant]], who played Barty Crouch Jr in [[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]] and the Doctor in [[Doctor Who]] was born here, although he was raised in [[Paisley]].
* European Tour Golfer, [[Stephen Gallacher]].
* Former [[Ryder Cup]] Captain, [[Bernard Gallacher]].
* Former Ryder Cup Captain, [[Eric Brown]].
== See also ==
* [[Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/bathgate/bathgate/index.html Undiscovered Scotland, Bathgate]
* [http://www.westlothian.com/Home/wl_economy/facts_figures/west_lothian_towns/bathgate/ www.westlothian.com, Bathgate]
* [http://www.bathgatehighchurch.org.uk/about/history.html www.bathgatehighchurch.org.uk, Bathgate]
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|1}}
== References ==
* Price, Glanville, ''Languages in Britain and Ireland'' (p122), ISBN 978-0631215813
* Lewis, Samuel, ''A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846)'', ISBN 978-0806312552
* Groome, Francis Hindes, ''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical'', ISBN 978-1855065727
* Sinclair, Sir John, ''Statistical Account of Scotland'', ISBN 978-0715810019
* Stevenson, Robert Louis, ''Lay Morals'', ISBN 978-1414215877
* Hendrie, William Fyfe and Mackie, Allister, ''The Bathgate Book'', ISBN 978-0954142605
* Hendrie, William Fyfe, ''Bathgate'', ISBN 978-0752421254
* Hendrie, William Fyfe, ''Bathgate in Old Picture Postcards'', ISBN 978-9028831674
[[Category:Towns in West Lothian]]
[[Category:West Lothian]]
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