Winchburgh is a village in the

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act. ...

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

, Scotland. It is located approximately west of the city-centre of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, east 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 ...

and northeast of

Broxburn Broxburn ( gd, Srath Bhroc, IPA: �s̪ɾaˈvɾɔʰk is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the A89 road, from the West End of Edinburgh, from Edinburgh Airport and to the north of Livingston. Etymology The name Broxburn is a corruption of ...

Prehistory and archaeology

Archaeological excavations in 2013 in advance of the construction of a housing development by CFA Archaeology found the remains of a sub-circular double-ditched enclosure. Not many artefacts were found and radiocarbon dates from waterlogged wood and animal bone were between 1600–200 BC, indicating the people had been living or working in Winchburgh at least a thousand years before the earliest records of the town.

History

There has been a settlement in Winchburgh for over one thousand years. Early spellings include Wincelburgh (1189); Wynchburghe (1377); from 'wincel' and 'burh' meaning 'Town in the nook or angle'. It is possible that it was named after the bend in the Niddry Burn that runs through the village. The early settlement was probably near to Niddry Castle. After the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It was ...

in 1314,

Sir James Douglas James Douglas may refer to: Scottish noblemen Lords of Angus * James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus (1426–1446), Scottish nobleman * James Douglas, Earl of Angus (1671–1692), son of the 2nd Marquess of Douglas Lords of Douglas * James Douglas, ...

followed

King Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to the ...

and the remnants of his army to Winchburgh. Both sides rested at Winchburgh before riding on to

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

, where King Edward took ship for England. Auldcathie is an historic parish and ruined pre-reformation church that lies on the western edge of Winchburgh. In 1568,

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

, escaped from

Loch Leven Castle Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296� ...

, and was met by

Lord Seton Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

, before crossing the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

from

South Queensferry Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is administered by the City of Edinburgh council area. It lies ten miles to the nort ...

. Mary stayed at

Niddry Castle Niddry Castle is a sixteenth-century tower house near Winchburgh, West Lothian, Scotland. It is situated near the Union Canal, and between two large oil shale bings, or waste heaps. Historically it was known as Niddry Seton or West Niddry to di ...

, Seton's property in Winchburgh, on 2 May 1568. Niddry Bing, West Lothian

In the 19th century, Winchburgh had a thriving

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitute ...

mining industry, the remnants of which are the distinctive red "shale bings", large hill forms, created by the deposition composed of used shale. The bings support a variety of flora and fauna, such as bushes and heather, rabbits and, occasionally, old deer. The bings are also known locally as "tips", although it is a generally less common name for them. On 13 October 1862 on the

Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station (sometimes referred to at first as Dundas Street) and ...

a mile and a half northwest of Winchburgh was the scene of a head-on rail crash in which 15 people were killed. In the ''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland'' (1892–1896), Winchburgh is described: The early 21st century has seen the construction of several new private housing estates on the periphery of the village towards Auldcathie.

Population

The 2001 census recorded around 2,000.

Public transport

There are regular scheduled buses to and from surrounding places including

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

and

. There are 2 main bus routes in the area operated by

McGill's Scotland East McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland.Winchburgh Tunnel, under the village. Until it was closed in 1930, there was a passenger station at the north end of the tunnel. The construction of the Winchburgh Tunnel was supervised by the noted Scottish Civil Engineer, John Gibb. West Lothian Council have been promoting a plan to reopen the station by 2018.

Sport

Niddrie Castle Golf Club has an 18-hole, 5914 yards long, par 70

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

, located in and around the grounds of the historic

. The club was established in 1926. Winchburgh Bowling Club was established in 1913 by local miners and the clubhouse has a 150-capacity function room for social occasions, such as weddings. In July 2007, parents from local schools formed a boys'

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team, taking the name of the former Winchburgh Albion, which had folded in the 1970s. This evolved over the next decade and there now exists multiple girls, boys and joint underage teams registered with the SFA under the banner of the Winchburgh Albion Youth Football Club. The original Winchburgh Albion FC had produced several senior football players, including

Willie Thornton William Thornton MM (3 March 1920 – 26 August 1991) was a Scottish footballer and manager. Thornton's entire senior playing career was spent with Rangers, and Thornton is considered to be one of the greatest players in the club's history. ...

who had a long career with Rangers as player and later, assistant manager, after managing

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

John Gorman John Gorman may refer to: * John Gorman (director) (1884–1936), American movie director *John Gorman (entertainer) (born 1936), English vocalist and musician *John Gorman (politician) (1923–2014), Northern Ireland politician *John Gorman (footb ...

is another former Winchburgh player; he started his senior career with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, before going on have playing success with

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and as a coach with several clubs, including his present role at

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. ...

. He was also assistant manager of the England international team from 1996 to 1999, under the management of

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

Amenities

There are a number of amenities in the town of Winchburgh including a grocery store, several takeaway food shops, several convenience stores, butcher shop and deli,

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

doctor's surgery A doctor's office in American English, a doctor's surgery in British English, or a doctor's practice, is a medical facility in which one or more medical doctors, usually general practitioners (GP), receive and treat patients. Description Doc ...

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

. The Tally Ho pub and beer garden, a bowling club and there are also several places of worship in the town. Housing Includes 19th century miner's cottages, council housing built in the 1950s, several new housing developments, sheltered housing and a care home for the elderly. BellsMillWharf03

Winchburgh and the Union Canal

The

Union Canal Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

passes through Winchburgh. The canal no longer operates as a transport link, but is now used for fishing, magnet fishing and some leisure boating. It has a towpath previously used by the horses which drew canal bargess and which is now used as a footpath, the foot paths are popular places for dog walkers, bikers, runners and walkers The Bridge 19-40 Canal Society (a non-profit) has a base at Winchburgh on the canal, and it operates seasonal boat trips departing from Port Buchan located in neighbouring Broxburn on West Main Street.

Schooling

The village has two

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and a nursery located in Winchburgh. The 'Holy Family Primary'

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

serves

Roman Catholic (term) "Roman Catholic" is sometimes used to differentiate members of the Catholic Church in full communion with the pope in Rome from other Christians who also self-identify as "Catholic". It is also sometimes used to differentiate adherents to the ...

pre-

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

school children, whereas 'Winchburgh Primary' is a non-denominational school. Both of these are state run schools, and share the same building (the Holy Family Primary School's original building was demolished). Secondary School aged children mostly attend schools in neighbouring

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

, Queensferry and

. Building is currently in place to create 2 new high-schools in Winchburgh to alleviate overcrowding in

Linlithgow Academy Linlithgow Academy is a secondary school in Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland. The original academy was built in 1900 to a design by James Graham Fairley and replaced an earlier kirk institution, known as "Sang Schule". History The present ...

. One of the high schools being 'Winchburgh Academy' which will see pupils from 'Winchburgh Primary' and other local areas. The other academy being 'Sinclair Academy' which will see pupils from 'Holy Family Primary'.

References

External links

Winchburgh to Linlithgow
- A selection of images on the

.
Niddry CastleWinchburgh Church website
{{authority control Villages in West Lothian