1280px-Livingston,_West_Lothian

December 23, 2018 by Alexander Meldrum

Photo 601 of 6604
Previous
Next

Scotlands Citys & Towns Livingston Livingston (Scots: Leivinstoun, Scottish Gaelic: Baile Laobhainn) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war ...

Scotlands Citys & Towns Livingston Livingston (Scots: Leivinstoun, Scottish Gaelic: Baile Laobhainn) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from the village of Livingston in West Lothian, it was originally developed in the-then counties of Midlothian and West Lothian. It is situated approximately fifteen miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and thirty miles (48 km) east of Glasgow, and is close to the towns of Broxburn to the north-east and Bathgate to the north-west. It was built around a collection of small villages, Livingston Village, Bellsquarry and Livingston Station (now part of Deans). It has a number of residential precincts or areas. These include Craigshill, Howden, Ladywell, Knightsridge, Deans, Dedridge, Murieston, Almondvale, Eliburn, Kirkton and Adambrae. To the north of Craigshill, lies the Houstoun Industrial Estate. The locality of Livingston as defined by the General Register Office for Scotland (GRO) includes Uphall Station and Pumpherston. The wider urban settlement, also as defined by the GRO, also includes Mid Calder and East Calder. Other neighbouring villages include: Kirknewton, Polbeth and West Calder. The 2001 UK Census reported that the town had population of 50,826. The 2011 UK Census showed the population of Livingston had increased to 56,269. Livingston is the second-largest settlement in the Lothians after Edinburgh. Until 1963, the area surrounding the ancient village of Livingston was open farmland, and the ancient village is now called Livingston Village. The area around Livingston was previously an important shale oil area, the world's first oil boom occurred in West Lothian. This was based on oil extracted from shale, and by 1870 over 3 million tons of shale were being mined each year in the area around Livingston. Output declined with the discovery of liquid oil reserves around the world in the early 1900s, but shale mining only finally ceased in 1962. The "bings" that characterise oil shale mining in West Lothian have largely been flattened. In 1898 Livingston had several houses, a Church of Scotland church, a United Free church and a school. Around 1 mile north of Livingston there was a railway station in a settlement called Livingston Station which is now part of Deans. The old part of Livingston is now called Livingston Village. Go to Wikipedia for full History

View Less

Elizabeth Flintoff likes this.

Report this photo