Carriden

"Carriden, a coast parish of Linlithgowshire, containing the villages of Blackness, Bridgeness, Grangepans, and Muirhouses. It approaches within 3 furlongs and 1 mile of the post-towns and railway stations of Borrowstouness and Linlithgow; and is bounded N by the Firth of Forth, E by Abercorn, S by Linlithgow, and W by Bo'ness. Its greatest length, from E to W, is 3¼ miles; its greatest breadth, from N to S is 1⅞ mile; and its area is 2708¼ acres, of which 3¼ are water. The surface, rising somewhat rapidly from the shore to a line about 1 mile inland, declines thence, for the most part, to the southern boundary, but rises again south-westward towards Glower-o'er-em (559 feet) in Borrowstouness; in Carriden itself rarely much exceeds 300 feet above sea-level. Two small headlands are respectively at Blacknes in the E and at Bridgeness in the W. The rocks are partly eruptive, partly carboniferous. Trap rock and sandstone are occassionally worked; coal, has, from time immemorial, been extensively mined; and a deposit of clay, about 12 feet deep, at Brickfield near Blackness, has been extensively used for making bricks and tiles. Two streamlets, Carriden and Blackness Burns, drain most of the interior to the Forth. The soil is generally light and early, capable of producing good crops."

Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland c.1895.