5500 BC

Westlothiana fossil 'Lizzie' is around 345 Million years old!

This very important fossil, affectionately known as ‘Lizzie', could be the earliest known reptile. She is believed to be around 345 million years old! She was found in East Kirkton Quarry, Bathgate in Scotland in the 1980s and is now on show in the National Museum of Scotland.

5000 BC

330 million years ago volcanoes helped West Lothian rise from shallow seas close to the Equator

Around 330 million years ago, West Lothian was situated close to the Equator in shallow seas on the edge of an enormous continent known as Euramerica. The area changed over time, moving from coral seas, to sandy deltas, to murky lagoons, to swampy forests ... Then came many volcanic eruptions creating the landscape we see today.

4500 BC

The hills show millions of years of interesting landscape changes

3000 BC

Cairnpapple Henge

Cairnpapple is a amazing ceremonial site. It's earliest evidence is six hearths dating from about 5,500 years ago. Cairnpapple sits in a dramatic position in the Bathgate Hills, in central Scotland with views from coast to coast. It was used and re-used as a major ritual site over about 4000 years.

2500 BC

The Beaker people make their homes in the hills

1155 BC

Wallace's Bed is a Bronze Age - Iron Age hillfort at Cockleroy

This is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. A stone arrowhead was found at the summit.

1160

Why is Bathgate called Bathgate?

Bathgate was once part of Cumbria and it's name means Wood of the Boar

1180

Bathgate Castle

Built in around the 12th century Bathgate Castle was the head residence of the barony of Bathgate. The castle was part of the dowry of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, upon her marriage to Walter, High Steward of Scotland in 1314. Walter died there in 1327, and the castle appears to have been abandoned afterwards. The remains of the castle are located within Bathgate golf course.

1316

The Stewart's royal dynasty started in Bathgate

1606

King Jamie's Silvermine at Hilderston, Bathgate Hills

This mine was opened in the early 1600s by a man looking for coal, and re-opened in the 1700s. The site was commandeered by the Crown in 1608, as the vein of silver that ran through was of such purity. It is believed that the silver from this mine was used in the manufacture of the Scottish Crown Jewels or "Honours of Scotland", which are on display within Edinburgh Castle.

1651

The white lady of Caputhall Bog

1675

Coal Mining very active

Enter story info here

1745

Bluidy Tom Dalyell

1746

Bonnie Prince Charlie's visit to Bathgate

1783

Glenmavis Distillery Opens

Enter story info here

1785

Bathgate's first fossil hunter Dr John Fleming

John Fleming FRSE FRS FSA (10 January 1785 – 18 November 1857) was a Scottish Free Church minister, naturalist, zoologist and geologist. He named and described a number of species of molluscs. During his life he tried to reconcile theology with science. Fleming Fjord in Greenland was named after him.

1811

Sir James Young Simpson is born

Enter story info here

1824

Bathgate becomes a Burgh

Enter story info here

1833

Bathgate Academy opens

Enter story info here

1842

The Bathgate Band & Queen Victoria

Enter story info here

1849

Bathgate Railway Station opens

Enter story info here

1850

Galabraes Stone & the Witches

About 150 years ago it is told that witches danced around the Galabraes Stone

1857

Corn Exchange opens (later The Palais)

Enter story info here

1892

Bathgate Golf Club opens

Enter story info here

1899

Bathgate Foundries Open

Enter story info here

1903

George Harvey Watt born - private secretary to Winston Churchill

Enter story info here

1918

Wiston Coombe's painting aged 14 and his journey to the Somme

Enter story info here

1932

Bathgate's Penny Lick Glass

Ice-cream and cholera? What's the connection?

1938

Regal Picture House opens

Enter story info here

1955

Queen Elizabeth visits Bathgate

Enter story info here

1962

1962 British Leyland Opens

Enter story info here

1979

UFO sighting at Dechmont

On the morning of the 9th November 1979, Dechmont Wood was the site of a very unusual encounter known as the ‘Robert Taylor’ incident

1986

Westlothiana (Lizzie the fossil) is discovered

Enter story info here

1988

The Silver Running Man of Bathgate Hills

Enter story info here