Linlithgow Civic Trust

Autumn Lecture Series - The Renovation of the Spire of St Michael’s Parish Church

In a change to previously advertised dates, the second of our 2022 Autumn lecture series will be 'The Renovation of the Spire of St Michael’s Parish Church', by retired architect Brian Lightbody, who is leading the project to refurbish the spire.

The talk will be on Thursday 13th of October (a change to the previously advertised date), at Queen Margaret Hall, starting at 7:45pm (doors 7:30).

The talk is free, and non-members are welcome to attend. In order to help us gauge numbers, please complete this short survey.

If you have any questions, or know of anyone who would be interested in giving a talk to our members, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Autumn Lecture Series - Kinneil: Over 2,000 Years of Scotland's History

In a change to previously advertised dates, the first of our 2022 Autumn lecture series was 'Kinneil: Over 2,000 Years of Scotland's History', by the chair of local volunteer group Friends of Kinneil, Ian Shearer.

Ian, who conducted our recent tour of Kinneil House, unpeeled the layers of over 2,000 years history on our doorstep which include;

• The turf defence which stretched across Scotland, known as the Antonine Wall, one of six UNESCO World Heritage sites in Scotland
• The now lost medieval village of Kinneil which sat high up overlooking the River Forth
• Kinneil House, once home of the Hamiltons, a notable Scottish family, which still contain unique domestic wall paintings of the mid-16th and 17th centuries
• The humble structure in which James Watt carried out experiments which led to the industrial revolution.

Ian spoke to over 40 members about the fascinating history of what was once one of Linlithgowshire's finest residences.

Kinneil Visit Saturday 21^st May 2022

Members of the Trust enjoyed an excellent visit to Kinneil on Saturday 21st May 2022. We were privileged to hear Ian Shearer, Chairman of the Friends of Kinneil, guide us, unpeel the layers of hundreds of years of history in the most northerly part of the old ‘Linlithgowshire’.

We saw the remains of one of the most easterly fortlets along the Antonine Wall; viewed the remains of the ancient Kinneil Church, looked for the vanished village of Kinneil; visited the remains of the home of the notable Scottish family: the Hamiltons, including what are considered to be Scotland’s finest domestic wall paintings of the mid-16th and 17th centuries as well as seeing where James Watt conducted important experiments that led to the industrial revolution.

We are grateful for the representative from Historic Environment Scotland who gave us access inside the house to enable us to look at the outstanding murals.

LCT Annual Lecture 2021

Local historian Bruce Jamieson gave a new illustrated talk on-line via Zoom on “Disaster at Darien” (The scheme, its failure and the impact on Scotland and Linlithgow).

Click here to view a recording of the talk.

Future Programme

Linlithgow Civic Trust organises events throught the year.  Talks and lectures are arranged during the autumn and winter and there are visits to places of interest in spring and summer.

If you have any suggestions of places to visit or speakers, please contact  us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..