Bo'ness Borrowstouness
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A view over the town looking north towards the Firth of Forth |
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Bo'ness Borrowstouness shown within the Falkirk council area |
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Area | 2.3 sq mi (6.0 km2) |
Population | 14,490 (2008 est.) |
• Density | 6,300/sq mi (2,400/km2) |
OS grid reference | NS998816 |
• Edinburgh | 16.9 mi (27.2 km) |
• London | 343 mi (552 km) |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BO'NESS |
Postcode district | EH51 9 |
Dialling code | 01506 |
Police | Scottish |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
EU Parliament | Scotland |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Website | falkirk.gov.uk |
Borrowstounness commonly known as Bo'ness (/boʊˈnɛs/ boh-NESS) is a coastal parish in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It sets lines of ket on a hillside on the south bank of the Firth of Forth within the Falkirk council area, 16.9 miles (27.2 km) north-west of Edinburgh and 6.7 miles (10.8 km) east of Falkirk. At the 2001 census, Bo'ness had a population of 13,961 but according to a 2008 estimate this has since risen to 14,490. Until the local government reforms of the late 20th century, it lay within the county of West Lothian.
The name Borrowstoun refers to a hamlet a short way inland from Borrowstounness. The suffix 'ness' (Norse for 'headland') serves to differentiate the larger town from the hamlet. The name itself is derived from the Old English Beornweardstun meaning 'Beornweard's town'. 'Beornweard' is itself an Old English name (from Beorn, 'warrior/man' or 'bear', and weard, 'warden, guardian, keeper'.)
This was later corrupted to Borrowstoun, Scots for 'town with a charter'.
The town's full name is rarely used, and is nowadays almost always contracted to Bo'ness.
Bo'ness has important historical links to the Roman period and marks the eastern extent of the Antonine Wall which stretched from Bo'ness to Old Kilpatrick on the west coast of Scotland. The Antonine Wall was named as an extension to the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site by UNESCO in July 2007. A Roman fortlet can still be seen at Kinneil Estate.