Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 6
(291) Page 469
Download files
Complete book:
Individual page:
Thumbnail gallery: Grid view | List view
UPHALL
URIE
miles along the E coast S of Crossfield. Several other
heights occur, hut are inconsiderable in magnitude.
The loftier hills are covered, to the depth of some feet,
by such moss as forms good fuel ; and the lower heights,
once similarly covered, but now denuded of their moss,
frequently show the bare rock, yet largely possess a
green dry sward which yields excellent pasturage. A
valley, immediately E of Valla Field, extends the whole
length of the island, and has, from end to end, a chain
of fresh-water lakes— the largest of which, the Loch
of Cliff, is 2| miles long, and of pleasant appearance.
Much of the soil of the island is excellent, and, in spite
of bad husbandry, produces good crops. About 2000
acres are arable, and nearly an equal number of acres
are excellent meadow and grass-lands, which might
easily be brought into tillage. Five-sixths of the
whole area are in commonage ; and might, to a con-
siderable extent, be improved. Gneiss, serpentine, chlo-
rite, slate, and diallage are the principal rocks of the
island ; and talcose and micaceous schists, primitive
limestone, quartz, and hornblende also occur. Amian-
thus, asbestos, hydrate of magnesia, and chromate of
iron, are the most noticeable minerals. The last occurs
in considerable quantity, and is an object of much com-
mercial value, on account of its yielding a fine yellow
pigment, used in the dyeing of silk, wool, linen, and
cotton. Limestone is quarried and burnt as a manure.
Fishing here, as throughout Shetland, forms the prime
employment of the inhabitants. Shetland hosiery forms
the staple of manufacture. A chain of the Scandinavian
towers, called brochs and Picts' houses, extends round
the island ; stone circles and barrows are numerous ;
and on one of the cones of Crossfield were held the great
courts of Shetland, previous to their removal to the
vale of Tingwall. Though Unst has, from time imme-
morial, formed only one charge, the island is naturally
divided into three districts, which are known as the
North, Middle, and South parishes. Ruins or vestiges
exist of upwards of 20 pre-Reformation places of worship ;
and three of these were, during part of last century,
occupied, in regular rotation, as parish churches, whilst
six are still surrouuded by graveyards. The Rev. James
Ingram, D.D. (1776-1879), discharged parochial duty
in Unst, first as Established and then as Free Church
minister, from 1821 till within a few years of his death.
Biot's and Eater's experiments at Buness have been
noticed in our article on Shetland. Two proprietors
hold each an annual value of more than £500 (one
owning nearly one-half of the entire island), and 4 of
between £100 and £500. The parish of Unst, compris-
ing the island of Unst and the above-named islands, is
in the presbytery of Burravoe and the synod of Shetland ;
the living is worth £309. The church, near the head
of Balta Sound, is a neat edifice, built in 1827 at a cost
of £2000, and containing 1224 sittings. There are also
two Free churches and a Wesleyan Methodist chapel ;
and five public schools — Balta Sound, Burra Firth,
Harolds Wick, Uvea Sound, and Westing — with respec-
tive accommodation for 100, 50, 102, 70, and 73 children,
had (1884) an average attendance of 55, 33, 28, 27, and
23, and grants of £62, 5s. 6d., £41, 2s., £35, 6s., £35,
7s., and £30, 9s. 4d. Valuation of parish (1S60)£2677,
(1884) £4173, 4s. 6d. Pop. of parish (1801) 2259, (1831)
2909, (1861) 3060, (1871) 2780, (1881) 2181, of whom
2173 were in Unst island.
Uphall, a village and a parish of S Linlithgowshire.
The village stands on the left bank of the Brox Burn,
1J mile W by S of the town of Broxburn, and 7
furlongs N by W of Uphall station on the North
British railway, this being 13| miles WSW of Edin-
burgh, and 5| E by N of Bathgate. It has a post
office, with money order, savings' bank, and railway
telegraph departments, a public hall, and an inn, once
a well-known coaching stage. Pop. (1871) 360, (1881)
591.
The parish, containing also the town of Broxburn,
originally was known as Strathbroke ('valley of the
brock or badger'); and it took that name from the
Burn of Brocks or Brocks' Burn, corrupted now into
Brox Burn. It is bounded NE and E by Kirkliston,
SE and S by Kirknewton and Midcalder in Edinburgh-
shire, W by Livingston and Ecclesmachan (detached),
and NW by Linlithgow and the main body of Eccles-
machan. Its utmost length, from ENE to WSW, is
4J miles ; its utmost width is 3J miles ; and its area is
4561 J acres, of which 20| are water. The Almond,
near Amondell, flows J mile north-north-eastward along
all the Kirknewton border ; and Brox Burn, which
joins it some way lower down, takes an east-north-
easterly course of 41 miles, partly along the boundaries
with Ecclesmachan (detached) and Kirkliston, but
mainly across the interior. The Union Canal, too,
traverses the E of the parish for 2§ miles, here making
a westerly bend round the town of Broxburn. The
surface is gently undulating, and at no point sinks
much below 200, or much exceeds 400, feet above sea-
level. The higher grounds, however, command mag-
nificent views of the Lothians, to North Berwick Law
and the Lammermuirs. The rocks are carboniferous,
belonging to the calciferous sandstone series, with
intrusive patches of basalt. They include oleaginous
shales, coal, many seams of variable ironstone, excellent
sandstone, limestone, marl, reddish coloured chalk,
clay fit for the uses of the brickmaker and the potter,
and some coarse fuller's earth. The manufacture of
paraffin oil from the shales is a recent and important
industry ; and hither must be ascribed the rapid in-
crease in the population. There are three extensive
paraffin works in the parish — Broxburn ; Uphall, re-
cently amalgamated with Young's ; and Holmes, lately
established. The soil on the lower grounds is a fine
black loam, and elsewhere is mainly a fertile clay.
Fully seven-eighths of the entire area are in tillage ;
and much of the remainder is under coppice or planta-
tion. Mansions, noticed separately, are Amondell,
Hotjstoun, Kirkhill, and Middleton Hall ; and
the Earl of Bnchan owns more than half of the whole
parish, 4 lesser proprietors holding each an annual value
of £500 and upwards, 1 of between £100 and £500,
and 2 of less than £100. Uphall is in the presby-
tery of Linlithgow and the synod of Lothian and
Tweeddale ; the living is worth £450. The parish
church, containing 400 sittings, is partly of pre-
Reformation date, and partly a]ipears to have been
built in the middle of the 17th century. The bell still
in use is inscribed ' Campana Sancti Nicholai de Strath-
broke, 1441 ; ' and in the Buchan vault are buried the
Hon. Harry Erskine (1746-1817) and his brother,
Thomas, Lord Chancellor Erskine (1750-1823). Other
places of worship are Broxburn Established chapel of
ease (1884), Uphall or Broxburn Free church, Broxburn
U. P. church (1880), and Broxburn Roman Catholic
church of SS. John Cantius and Nicholas (1881). Brox-
burn public, Uphall public, and Broxburn R. C. schools,
with respective accommodation for 348, 225, and 171
children, had (1S84) an average attendance of 620, 168,
and 136, and grants of £470, 13s., £116, 12s., and
£61, 6s. 8d. Valuation (1S60) £7S78, (1885) £39,428,
15s. 2d., plus £3652 for railway. Pop. (1801) 786,
(1S31) 1254, (1S61) 1507, (1S71) 2772, (1SS1) 4812.—
Ord. Sur., sh. 32, 1757. See the Earl of Buchan's
' Account of the Parish of Uphall ' in Trans. Soc. Ants.
Scotl. (1796).
Uplawmoor or Ouplaymoor, a village in Neilston
parish, Renfrewshire, at the foot of Loch Libo, 3j miles
SW of Neilston town. It has a post office under
Glasgow.
Upper Keith. See Humbie.
Upper Largo, etc. See Largo, etc.
Upsetlington. See Ladykirk.
Urchay. See Orohy.
Urie, a mansion in Fetteresso parish, Kincardineshire,
on the left bank of Cowie Water, 2 miles NNW of
Stonehaven. It is an Elizabethan edifice of 1S55 ; and
the addition of a wing in 1SS3-S4 at a cost of over
£10,000 has made it the largest mansion in the county.
The grounds are very extensive, including 700 acres
within the walls in permanent pasture and 5 miles of
469
URIE
miles along the E coast S of Crossfield. Several other
heights occur, hut are inconsiderable in magnitude.
The loftier hills are covered, to the depth of some feet,
by such moss as forms good fuel ; and the lower heights,
once similarly covered, but now denuded of their moss,
frequently show the bare rock, yet largely possess a
green dry sward which yields excellent pasturage. A
valley, immediately E of Valla Field, extends the whole
length of the island, and has, from end to end, a chain
of fresh-water lakes— the largest of which, the Loch
of Cliff, is 2| miles long, and of pleasant appearance.
Much of the soil of the island is excellent, and, in spite
of bad husbandry, produces good crops. About 2000
acres are arable, and nearly an equal number of acres
are excellent meadow and grass-lands, which might
easily be brought into tillage. Five-sixths of the
whole area are in commonage ; and might, to a con-
siderable extent, be improved. Gneiss, serpentine, chlo-
rite, slate, and diallage are the principal rocks of the
island ; and talcose and micaceous schists, primitive
limestone, quartz, and hornblende also occur. Amian-
thus, asbestos, hydrate of magnesia, and chromate of
iron, are the most noticeable minerals. The last occurs
in considerable quantity, and is an object of much com-
mercial value, on account of its yielding a fine yellow
pigment, used in the dyeing of silk, wool, linen, and
cotton. Limestone is quarried and burnt as a manure.
Fishing here, as throughout Shetland, forms the prime
employment of the inhabitants. Shetland hosiery forms
the staple of manufacture. A chain of the Scandinavian
towers, called brochs and Picts' houses, extends round
the island ; stone circles and barrows are numerous ;
and on one of the cones of Crossfield were held the great
courts of Shetland, previous to their removal to the
vale of Tingwall. Though Unst has, from time imme-
morial, formed only one charge, the island is naturally
divided into three districts, which are known as the
North, Middle, and South parishes. Ruins or vestiges
exist of upwards of 20 pre-Reformation places of worship ;
and three of these were, during part of last century,
occupied, in regular rotation, as parish churches, whilst
six are still surrouuded by graveyards. The Rev. James
Ingram, D.D. (1776-1879), discharged parochial duty
in Unst, first as Established and then as Free Church
minister, from 1821 till within a few years of his death.
Biot's and Eater's experiments at Buness have been
noticed in our article on Shetland. Two proprietors
hold each an annual value of more than £500 (one
owning nearly one-half of the entire island), and 4 of
between £100 and £500. The parish of Unst, compris-
ing the island of Unst and the above-named islands, is
in the presbytery of Burravoe and the synod of Shetland ;
the living is worth £309. The church, near the head
of Balta Sound, is a neat edifice, built in 1827 at a cost
of £2000, and containing 1224 sittings. There are also
two Free churches and a Wesleyan Methodist chapel ;
and five public schools — Balta Sound, Burra Firth,
Harolds Wick, Uvea Sound, and Westing — with respec-
tive accommodation for 100, 50, 102, 70, and 73 children,
had (1884) an average attendance of 55, 33, 28, 27, and
23, and grants of £62, 5s. 6d., £41, 2s., £35, 6s., £35,
7s., and £30, 9s. 4d. Valuation of parish (1S60)£2677,
(1884) £4173, 4s. 6d. Pop. of parish (1801) 2259, (1831)
2909, (1861) 3060, (1871) 2780, (1881) 2181, of whom
2173 were in Unst island.
Uphall, a village and a parish of S Linlithgowshire.
The village stands on the left bank of the Brox Burn,
1J mile W by S of the town of Broxburn, and 7
furlongs N by W of Uphall station on the North
British railway, this being 13| miles WSW of Edin-
burgh, and 5| E by N of Bathgate. It has a post
office, with money order, savings' bank, and railway
telegraph departments, a public hall, and an inn, once
a well-known coaching stage. Pop. (1871) 360, (1881)
591.
The parish, containing also the town of Broxburn,
originally was known as Strathbroke ('valley of the
brock or badger'); and it took that name from the
Burn of Brocks or Brocks' Burn, corrupted now into
Brox Burn. It is bounded NE and E by Kirkliston,
SE and S by Kirknewton and Midcalder in Edinburgh-
shire, W by Livingston and Ecclesmachan (detached),
and NW by Linlithgow and the main body of Eccles-
machan. Its utmost length, from ENE to WSW, is
4J miles ; its utmost width is 3J miles ; and its area is
4561 J acres, of which 20| are water. The Almond,
near Amondell, flows J mile north-north-eastward along
all the Kirknewton border ; and Brox Burn, which
joins it some way lower down, takes an east-north-
easterly course of 41 miles, partly along the boundaries
with Ecclesmachan (detached) and Kirkliston, but
mainly across the interior. The Union Canal, too,
traverses the E of the parish for 2§ miles, here making
a westerly bend round the town of Broxburn. The
surface is gently undulating, and at no point sinks
much below 200, or much exceeds 400, feet above sea-
level. The higher grounds, however, command mag-
nificent views of the Lothians, to North Berwick Law
and the Lammermuirs. The rocks are carboniferous,
belonging to the calciferous sandstone series, with
intrusive patches of basalt. They include oleaginous
shales, coal, many seams of variable ironstone, excellent
sandstone, limestone, marl, reddish coloured chalk,
clay fit for the uses of the brickmaker and the potter,
and some coarse fuller's earth. The manufacture of
paraffin oil from the shales is a recent and important
industry ; and hither must be ascribed the rapid in-
crease in the population. There are three extensive
paraffin works in the parish — Broxburn ; Uphall, re-
cently amalgamated with Young's ; and Holmes, lately
established. The soil on the lower grounds is a fine
black loam, and elsewhere is mainly a fertile clay.
Fully seven-eighths of the entire area are in tillage ;
and much of the remainder is under coppice or planta-
tion. Mansions, noticed separately, are Amondell,
Hotjstoun, Kirkhill, and Middleton Hall ; and
the Earl of Bnchan owns more than half of the whole
parish, 4 lesser proprietors holding each an annual value
of £500 and upwards, 1 of between £100 and £500,
and 2 of less than £100. Uphall is in the presby-
tery of Linlithgow and the synod of Lothian and
Tweeddale ; the living is worth £450. The parish
church, containing 400 sittings, is partly of pre-
Reformation date, and partly a]ipears to have been
built in the middle of the 17th century. The bell still
in use is inscribed ' Campana Sancti Nicholai de Strath-
broke, 1441 ; ' and in the Buchan vault are buried the
Hon. Harry Erskine (1746-1817) and his brother,
Thomas, Lord Chancellor Erskine (1750-1823). Other
places of worship are Broxburn Established chapel of
ease (1884), Uphall or Broxburn Free church, Broxburn
U. P. church (1880), and Broxburn Roman Catholic
church of SS. John Cantius and Nicholas (1881). Brox-
burn public, Uphall public, and Broxburn R. C. schools,
with respective accommodation for 348, 225, and 171
children, had (1S84) an average attendance of 620, 168,
and 136, and grants of £470, 13s., £116, 12s., and
£61, 6s. 8d. Valuation (1S60) £7S78, (1885) £39,428,
15s. 2d., plus £3652 for railway. Pop. (1801) 786,
(1S31) 1254, (1S61) 1507, (1S71) 2772, (1SS1) 4812.—
Ord. Sur., sh. 32, 1757. See the Earl of Buchan's
' Account of the Parish of Uphall ' in Trans. Soc. Ants.
Scotl. (1796).
Uplawmoor or Ouplaymoor, a village in Neilston
parish, Renfrewshire, at the foot of Loch Libo, 3j miles
SW of Neilston town. It has a post office under
Glasgow.
Upper Keith. See Humbie.
Upper Largo, etc. See Largo, etc.
Upsetlington. See Ladykirk.
Urchay. See Orohy.
Urie, a mansion in Fetteresso parish, Kincardineshire,
on the left bank of Cowie Water, 2 miles NNW of
Stonehaven. It is an Elizabethan edifice of 1S55 ; and
the addition of a wing in 1SS3-S4 at a cost of over
£10,000 has made it the largest mansion in the county.
The grounds are very extensive, including 700 acres
within the walls in permanent pasture and 5 miles of
469
Set display mode to: Large image | Transcription
Images and transcriptions on this page, including medium image downloads, may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence unless otherwise stated.
Gazetteers of Scotland, 1803-1901 > Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 6 > (291) Page 469 |
---|
Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/97391094 |
---|
Attribution and copyright: |
|
---|---|
More information |