Ballencrieff is a settlement in West Lothian,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, situated equidistant between the towns of

Bathgate Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, West Lothian, Armadale, Blackburn, ...

and

Torphichen Torphichen ( ) is a historic small village located north of Bathgate in West Lothian, Scotland. The village is approximately 18 miles (20 km) west of Edinburgh, 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Falkirk and 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Linlithgow. ...

and seven miles south of

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...

. Neighbouring towns are Armadale,

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, Livingston,

Stoneyburn Stoneyburn is a village in West Lothian, Scotland. Nearby towns include Bathgate, Whitburn, Addiewell and Blackburn. Geography Stoneyburn is situated in the Central Belt of Scotland, some 4 miles from Bathgate in the north and 5 from Livin ...

and Whitburn.

Edinburgh Airport Edinburgh Airport is an airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2019, handling over 14.7 million passengers. It was also the sixth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom by ...

is 16 miles (25 km) away, to the East. Ballencrieff is very close to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

burial site at

Cairnpapple Hill Cairnpapple Hill is a hill with a dominating position in central lowland Scotland with views from coast to coast. It was used and re-used as a major ritual site over about 4000 years, and in its day would have been comparable to better known site ...

, and the surrounding area shows signs of habitation since about 3500 BC. The name Ballencrieff comes from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

Baile na Craoibhe meaning "Farm by the tree".

History

Medieval Ballencrieff (1300–1600)

In 1599, on the 25th of January, Alexander Hamilton became the first Baron of Ballencrieff (and his wife Christine the Baroness), by Crown Charter from

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Modern Ballencrieff (21st century)

The area is dominated by agriculture and is home to farms and fisheries, such as Ballencrieff Farm. The Ballencrieff Fishery is well known for its

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

, and welcomes fly anglers in their hundreds every year. In addition, tourists are also attracted by West Lothian's famous Standing Stones monuments, which surround Ballencrieff. The quarterly magazine Lothian Life - formerly known as 'West Lothian Life' - is produced at Ballencrieff Toll.

External links

Scottish Parliament website, Place-names document, page 14

Streetmap.co.uk, Map of Ballencrieff

A Vision of Britain Through Time, Ballencrieff

Ballencrieff Fishery, official website

The Megalithic Portal, Ballencrieff Standing Stones

Lothian Life magazine

Populated places in West Lothian Bathgate {{WestLothian-geo-stub