Now mainly a commuter and tourist centre, the central Scottish town of Linlithgow has a glamorous history, popular with its kings and queens for hundreds of years. The town stands in a picturesque location on the edge of Linlithgow Loch and is dominated by its ruined palace and by St Michael’s parish church, described as one of the finest medieval churches in Scotland (Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland).
The Town of Linlithgow: Origins and Early Years
The origins of Linlithgow are not clear but the Gazetteer of Scotland suggests that there was a Roman fort on the site and documentary evidence indicates that King David I (1084-1153) had a manor house there; it seems likely that there was a thriving settlement there for a long time before the town received its first Royal Charter in the twelfth century.
The early street plan was probably broadly similar to that which is visible today with a single main street running from east to west with the royal manor and the first parish church (first consecrated in the middle of the thirteenth century) lying immediately to the north of the town cross.
Linlithgow During the Wars of Independence
Linlithgow’s strategic position (it commanded the coastal route between the two fortress cities of Edinburgh and Stirling) inevitably drew it to the attention of military commanders. During the Wars of Independence it was occupied by England’s Edward I who made it his base during his siege of Stirling Castle. It was Edward who constructed the wooden palisade around the Palace grounds which was to give them their current name of the Peel.
The manor was recaptured by the Scots in 1313 and continued t ofeature in the ongoing wars between England and Scotland. Edward III came north again in 1337 and set fire to the town. Most of it was constructed of wood and so the fire took quickly and with devastating results, leaving it ‘uninhabited and totally waste’ (History of Linlithgow).
Linlithgow Under the Stewarts
After the Wars of Independence Linlithgow continued to be popular with royalty (the court took refuge in the town when plague came to Edinburgh in 1349) and it received a second charter in 1389 from Robert II, the first of the Stewart dynasty. Again the town continued to be vulnerable to fire and the town was devastated again in 1411 and 1424 (on the second occasin the parish church was destroyed).
It was after the fire that James I began the rebuilding of the damaged royal residence: it was to become one of the finest Renaissance buildings in Scotland. The completion of the building took two centuries with input from other kings, including James IV and James V. The town witnessed many significant historic events: Mary Queen of Scots was born in the Palace and the Regent Moray was assassinated in the High Street.
Although no buildings remain in Linlithgow dating from this period, it seems likely that there were many fine houses belonging to Scotland’s courtiers, while other were built by the Knights of St John, who were associated with the nearby monastic foundation of Torphichen (Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland). The town’s oldest buildings, Hamilton’s Land in the High Street, date from the very end of the Stewarts’ time in Linlithgow and were probably built at the end of the sixteenth century.
Linlithgow After the Union of the Crowns
In 1603 Scotland’s James VI succeeded to the English throne as James I of England and the Scottish court moved south. Although the Stuart dynasty continued (the spelling changed during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots) its focus was thereafter south of the border: James’s promise to return to his native land on a regular basis was not fulfilled.
Although the town and palace had lost much of their royal role, they continued to host the nation’s rulers. Charles I came briefly in 1633: Cromwell spent a winter in the Palace; and Bonnie Prince Charlie stopped on his way to Edinburgh. It was the occupation by the Duke of Cumberland in 1746 which caused its final decline: his troops failed to extinguish their fires on leaving and the already-decaying building caught fire and was left in ruins.
Despite being deprived of its Royal patronage, Linlithgow continued to thrive. It had an excellent location on trading routes (though later losing out to the port of Bo’ness) and developed as a centre for the industries of brewing and distilling, as well as tanning (and its associated shoemaking) and the production of textiles, paper and soap
The coming of the Union Canal in 1822 was a benefit to the town commercially; but the opening of the railway twenty years later meant that it was more easily bypassed and took away some of its economic impetus. Today the railway brings Linlithgow benefits: as well as being a significant tourist centre it’s also a popular commuter centre.
Sources and Further Information
Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland, HarperCollins 1994
Gazetteer of Scotland "Overview of Linlithgow", scottish-places.nfo
History of Linlithgow online, linlithgow.com
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