skip to main content
Menu
  • Blog
    • Art & design
    • Castles
    • Cycling
    • Edinburgh
    • Edinburgh Festival
    • Food & drink
    • General
    • History
    • Music
    • Sport
    • Walking
    • Whisky
    • Wildlife
  • Castles
    • Glossary
    • Mottes
    • Stay in a castle
    • Castle blog posts
    • Alphabetical list of castles
    • Castles divided by county
    • Photos of castles
    • Castles we've visited
  • History
    • Castles
    • Ancient history
      • barrows
      • brochs
      • cairns
      • caves
      • chambered cairns
      • cists
      • crannogs
      • cursus monuments
      • forts
      • henges
      • rock art
      • sacred sites
      • souterrains
      • standing stones
      • stone circles
    • Pictish history
      • Pictish stones
      • Pictish sites
      • Pictish placenames
    • Clans
      • Surnames
      • Trace your ancestors
      • Tartan
    • Trace your ancestors
  • Culture
    • Music
      • Bands & musicians
      • Music links
    • Film
    • Television
    • Placenames
      • Pictish placenames
  • Eat
  • Drink
    • Scottish beer
    • Scottish gin
    • Scottish vodka
  • Stay
  • Travel guide
    • City guides
    • Car hire
    • Airports
  • Walking
    • Munros
    • West Highland Way
  • Photos
    • ancient sites
      • Dark Age sites
      • megalithic sites
      • other carved stones
      • Pictish sites
      • Roman sites
    • buildings
    • miscellaneous
    • places in Scotland
  • Offers
  • Home
  • blog
Kinneil House and Torphichen Preceptory

Today we visited two buildings in West Lothian with long and interesting histories. First was Kinneil House on the outskirts of Bo’ness. Built over several centuries by the Hamilton family, who were granted the land here in 1323, it comprises of a grand 5 storey 17th century main block flanked by symmetrical four storey wings, with an older L-plan tower house attached to the right.

By 1936 it was in a state of disrepair and was due to be knocked down to make way for new housing. But during the demolition work some of the best 16th and 17th century mural work in Scotland was uncovered when the original plaster was exposed, and the demolition was halted.

Walking around the back of the house, its older origins are revealed by the gun loops visible at ground floor level. These are the remains of a castle built here in the 15th century.

Now in the care of Historic Scotland and the Friends Of Kinneil, it is only open a few days a year, and even then only a small restored portion of the L-plan tower house can be visited. In the grounds of Kinneil Estate are a workshop used by James Watt who developed a steam engine to pump water from local coal mines, a Roman fort, and the remains of Kinneil Church, which served the villagers of Kinneil until they were moved to Bo’ness by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton in the late 17th century.

Next we drove to Torphichen, a small village in rural West Lothian with an interesting claim to fame. For 400 years it was the Scottish headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. The Knights Hospitaller were a religious military order charged with the defence of the Holy Land during the Crusades. They were invited to Scotland by David I in 1132, and built a church in the 1140s, although the main tower and transepts which can be seen today were date to the 13th century.

Following the Reformation the Knights Hospitaller were suppressed and Torphichen Preceptory taken from them, although the last Preceptor, Sir James Sandilands, was re-granted the lands on a secular basis, his family having owned land in the area since 1348.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Latest blog posts

The lost tower of Rakestonleis
23rd of July 2022 •
The three castles of Tolibothwell
7th of April 2020 •
Where to buy beer in Scotland during the Coronavirus lockdown
26th of March 2020 •
Cherry blossom in Edinburgh
23rd of April 2019 •
A dreich day of Dumfriesshire castles
13th of March 2019 •
Tweed Valley walks and Elibank Castle
30th of April 2018 •
Red squirrels at Eskrigg Reserve (and some castles)
6th of April 2018 •
Old and new Comiston Houses
29th of March 2016 •
Quintinshill rail disaster parade
23rd of May 2015 •
Cycling along Silverknowes Esplanade in Edinburgh
5th of April 2015 •
more blog posts....

Blog categories

art & design

15 posts

castles

88 posts

cycling

24 posts

Edinburgh

67 posts

Edinburgh Festival

7 posts

food & drink

4 posts

general

41 posts

history

143 posts

music

2 posts

sport

4 posts

walking

57 posts

whisky

1 posts

wildlife

41 posts

Follow us on bloglovin'

Stravaiging around Scotland Stravaiging around Scotland

Most popular posts

Yester Castle and the Goblin Ha’
19th of June 2011 •
West Highland Way 2006 – Day 1
16th of July 2006 •
Ancient sites on Lewis
15th of June 2006 •
Calton Hill and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
19th of May 2013 •
Loch Turret and Ben Chonzie
21st of October 2006 •
Standing stones in Edinburgh
28th of August 2010 •
Doors Open Day Edinburgh 2012
24th of September 2012 •
Castles and Pictish stones in the north of Scotland
13th of April 2013 •
Hot air ballooning over Scotland
2nd of April 2009 •
Walking around Gosford House and gardens
20th of June 2014 •
more blog posts....

Blogroll

Ailish Sinclair

BikELove Scotland

Edinburgh Drift

From Hill to Sea

isleofronalog

Jardine's Book of Martyrs

Kelsey Jackson Williams

Marc Calhoun

Scotland with The Wee White Dug

Scottish Crannogs

Senchus

The Hazel Tree

The History Girls Frae Scotland

The Urban Prehistorian

Walkhighlands

  • advertisement
  • advertisement
  • advertisement

Related pages

A trek to the top of Schiehallion
A trek to the top of Schiehallion
Walking in the woods above Pitlochry
Walking in the woods above Pitlochry
Stormy Portobello and birdlife on the River Tyne
Stormy Portobello and birdlife on the River Tyne
An underground adventure in southern Midlothian
An underground adventure in southern Midlothian
Baby squirrels at Callendar House
Baby squirrels at Callendar House
Exploring the Carmichael estate
Exploring the Carmichael estate
Published on the 25th of April 2010 at 10:03 pm. Updated on the 12th of March 2015 at 5:12 pm.

Leave a comment

back to the top of the page

Connect with us

Like us on Facebook

Receive our newsletter

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by Stravaig_Aboot

Quick links

Stay in a Scottish castle
Edinburgh Festival accommodation
Hotels in Scotland
Car hire in Scotland
Places to eat and drink in Scotland
Castles in Scotland
Trace your Scottish ancestors
Scottish clans
Standing stones in Scotland
The Picts
Pictish symbol stones
Pictish placenames
Scottish bands and musicians
Scottish films
Scottish TV shows
West Highland Way

About

Andy Sweet above Fast Castle

Stravaiging around Scotland is written, photographed and researched by Andy Sweet.
read more....

Cookies

To make this site work properly we use cookies to store information on your computer. Click here to read more.
© 2003 - 2023 Andy Sweet / Stravaiging around Scotland. Powered by WordPress. Hosted by Tsohost.
%d bloggers like this: