BLACKRIDGE, a quoad sacra parish (for a time), chiefly in the parish of Torphichen, county of Linlithgow, 3 miles (W.) from Bathgate; containing 900 inhabitants, of whom 94 are in the village. This parish comprised portions of the civil parishes of Torphichen, Shotts, Bathgate, Slamannan, and New Monkland. The village lies at the west end of the first-named parish, near the river Avon; and the inhabitants are employed in agriculture, and in the mines and quarries in the neigh- bourhood. The church, situated in the village, was erected by subscription, in 1838, and is a neat structure containing 400 sittings. One of the two parochial schools in Torphichen is fixed here; the master has a salary of £10 from the lands of Blackridge, and 100 marks Scots from heritors, with a house and garden, and the fees average about £14. Here is also one of the two parochial libraries.