Bathgate

Bathgate, a town of Linlithgowshire, 20 miles W. by S. of Edinburgh by rail. Freestone, coal, limestone, and shale (since 1852) have been wrought in the vicinity. There are also paraffin and paper works, a distillery, &c. In 1824 the town became a burgh of barony, in 1865 a police-burgh. Its chief buildings are the corn exchange, the academy, and the new parish church—a Norman edifice of 1834, with a clock-tower 108 feet high. Sir James Simpson was a native. Pop. (1881) 4887; (1891) 5331.