CARRIDEN, a parish, in the county of Linlithgow,
li mile (E.) from Borrowstounness; containing,
with the villages of Blackness, Bridgeness, Cuffabouts,
Grangepans, and Muirhouses, 1208 inhabitants. It derived
its name either from the specific character of the
locality, or from its being a military station in connexion
with the wall of Antonine, which extended iuto this parish,
nearly to Carriden House. There are now no remains
of the wall, but several Roman antiquities have
been discovered at different times, including a gold coin
of the Emperor Vespasian, a Roman altar without inscription,
a brass sword, several vases, and other relics.
Few events of historical importance have occurred in
connexion with the parish, except such as are closely
identified with the castle of Blackness, which, with the
village, is noticed in a separate article. The parish extends
for three miles along the southern shore of the
Firth of Forth, and is about two miles in breadth, comprising
an area of 2/19 acres, of which 2550 are arable,
with some fine tracts of meadow and pasture; 1 13 woodlaud
and plantations; and the remainder roads and
waste. The surface is varied, rising from the shore for
nearly a mile in bold undulations, which, as they approach
the south-west, near LinHthgow and Borrowstounness,
attain an elevation of 519 feet above the sea, and form
part of the Irongath hills; towards the east they gradually
subside into gentle acclivities. At high water the
shore is a narrow margin of sand, gently sloping, and at
low water expanding into a considerable tract of soft
sleechy matter, a mixture of alluvial soil and sand; the
sandy margin is gradually becoming firmer and more
stony, from the encroachment of the sea.
The soil varies from a light sand to a rich and fertile
loam, and, in some parts, to a heavy clay; the system
of agriculture is in a highly improved state, and the
crops are grain of all kinds, potatoes, and turnips. Some
attention is paid to the rearing of live stock: the sheep,
small numbers of which are pastured on the grass-lands,
are generally of the black-faced kind; the cattle are the
short-horned, occasionally intermixed with others from
the north. The annual value of real property in the parish
is £4510. The plantations consist of oak, ash, elm,
beech, plane, lime, and larch, for all of which the soil is
tolerably well adapted. There are several quarries of
freestone for building, and whinstone for the roads, which
are worked for use iu the parish. Coal is every where
abundant, and has been wrought from a very remote
period: within the present century, not less than ten
collieries have been opened, at a short distance from each
other; but only four, of which two belong to the Duke
of Hamilton and two to John Cadell, Esq., of Grange,
are at present in operation. Ironstone, also, is wrought
to some extent. Carriden House is an ancient mansion
with modern additions, situated in grounds tastefully
laid out, and embellished with the windings of the Carriden
burn, the banks of which, though of small extent,
are beautifully picturesque. At the village of Grangepans,
the making of salt is carried on; there were formerly
si.x pans, but only four are now in operation.
Near Blackness is a valuable field of clay, twelve feet in
depth, affording materials for the making of bricks and
tiles; the produce amounted in 1834 to 150,000 bricks,
200,000 roofing-tiles, and the same number of drainingtiles,
since which time the demand has much increased.
At Bridgeness is a pier for the shipping of coal and salt,
and the landing of lime and manure; it has been enlarged
by the proprietor, and with it is connected a tramway,
about a mile in length, from the collieries. Facility
of communication is afforded by the road from Linlithgow
to Queensferry, which passes through the south-eastern
portion of the parish. On the lands of Capt. Hope,
some stake-nets were laid down a few years since; and
more recently similar nets have been laid down from the
point of Blackness: the quantity of salmon taken has occasionally
been considerable.
Ecclesiastically the parish is within the bounds of the
presbytery of Linlithgow, synod of Lothian and Tweeddale:
the minister's stipend is £249. I"., with a manse,
and a glebe valued at £25 per annum; patron, the Duke
of Hamilton. The church is a neat plain structure,
erected in 1*66, about half a mile from the old church,
the burying-ground of which is still used; it contains
458 sittings. The parochial school is well conducted;
the master has a salary of £34, with a house, and
an allowance in lieu of garden, and the fees average
about £8 per annum. There is a good parochial library.
Col. Gardiner, who was killed at the battle of Prestonpans
in 1745, was a native of this parish; Dr. Roebuck,
of Sheffield, the original founder of theCarron iron-works,
and associated with the celebrated Watt in some of his
improvements on the steam-engine, is buried in the
churchyard; and the late Rear-Admiral Sir George J.
Hope was proprietor of Carriden House.