Kirknewton is a village located in
West Lothian, population about 2200 (in 2011),
Scotland. It lies south of the
A71 from
Edinburgh to
Livingston, and north of the
A70, the high-level road that runs along the north side of the
Pentland Hills from Edinburgh to
Carnwath and
Lanark. Much of the village stands back from the B7031, which links the two main "A" roads.
History
The earliest signs of settlement in the area are the remains of
Iron Age forts on Kaimes Hill and
Dalmahoy Hill, craggy summits about a mile east of Kirknewton. In slightly more recent times, Kirknewton House, which lies just to the south of the village, had its origins (as Meadowbank House) in the 17th century. The current house is a reworking of the original by the architect
William Playfair for
Alexander Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank in 1835. Kirknewton House is screened by trees from nearby roads and from the village itself. The most obvious evidence of its existence is the entrance lodge beside the start of the drive to the house at the south end of the village.
Kirknewton stood at the south eastern corner of the large area of West Lothian which was transformed from the 1860s by the
oil shale industry, with the nearest shale mine lying just to the north west of the village, between it and
East Calder. Shale from here was taken to the huge oil shale works at
Pumpherston for processing.
During
World War II, the
Royal Air Force built a military airfield at Whitemoss, a mile south east of Kirknewton....
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