History
The chief historic attraction of Linlithgow is the remains of Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots, and probably Scotland's finest surviving late medieval secular building. The present Palace was started (on an older site) in 1424 by James I of Scotland. It was burnt in 1746, and, whilst unroofed, it is still largely complete in terms of its apartments (though very few of the original furnishings survived).
Linlithgow was also the site of the Battle of Linlithgow Bridge at the western edge of the town. The bridge no longer stands today. The roadway to Linlithgow over the River Avon is described by scholars as a lifted road.
Apart from the Palace, a second attraction, standing adjacent, is 15th century St. Michael's Church, the most complete surviving example of a large late medieval 'burgh kirk' in Scotland. Its western tower originally had a distinctive stone crown spire, of the type seen also on St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, or Newcastle Cathedral, which was removed in the early 19th century. In 1964 a replacement, and at the time controversial, spire in aluminium in a modern style by the prominent Scots architect Sir Basil Spence, representing Christ's crown of thorns, was added.
Many historic buildings line the High Street. On the south side ground levels rise and several historic "wynds" and "closes" as found in Edinburgh still exist. The most prominent space is on axis with the road to the Palace. This contains the Cross Well of 1807 which proclaims itself to be a replica of its 1628 predecessor. To its north stands the Town House of 1668 by the master mason John Smith. This replaced a previous hall demolished by Oliver Cromwell's army in 1650. Much of its original interior was removed in a modernisation project of 1962. The High Street is particularly noted for its high number of ancient taverns.
James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh carried out the first assassination with a firearm, when he shot James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, the Regent of Scotland, on 11 January 1570 in Linlithgow.
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