Whitecross, Falkirk

Human settlement in Scotland

Muiravonside

Council area

Falkirk

Stirling and Falkirk

CountryScotlandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townLINLITHGOWPostcode districtEH49Dialling code01506PoliceScotlandFire Scottish AmbulanceScottish UK Parliament

Linlithgow and East Falkirk

Scottish Parliament

Falkirk East

Websitefalkirk.gov.uk

List of places: UK; Scotland

55°58′26″N 3°39′24″W / 55.9739°N 3.6568°W / 55.9739; -3.6568

Whitecross is a small village within the Falkirk council area, close to the boundary of West Lothian council in Scotland. It lies 2.0 miles (3.2 km) west-southwest of Linlithgow and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south-east of Polmont on the west bank of the River Avon. Until the end of World War II it was literally a handful of buildings, but expanded thereafter with a housing estate planned by Stirlingshire County Council in 1945.

The United Kingdom 2001 census reported the population as 819.^[2]^[3]

Manuel Junction, where the branch line from Bo'ness used by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society meets the Glasgow-Edinburgh via Falkirk line, lies north-east of Whitecross. The main local industries were a brickworks and coal mining, both now ceased. The Avon Aqueduct carries the Union Canal across the River Avon just south of Whitecross.

The ruins of Manuel Priory are close to Whitecross on the eastern, West Lothian, bank of the Avon. This was a Cistercian convent founded, or perhaps re-founded, in the reign of King Malcolm IV of Scotland (1153–1165). The remains of the 15th century Haining Castle lie in the grounds of the former Manuel brickwork north-east of Whitecross.

References

^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
^ "Comparative Population Profile: Whitecross Locality". SCROL. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
^ Insight 2001, No 3 - 2001 Census Population of settlements and wards, www.falkirk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-17