Homes on sale now in Winchburgh, near Edinburgh
Over ten years ago, Winchburgh Developments Limited saw the potential of the historic West Lothian mining village, situated 12 miles west of Edinburgh, to deliver all of these benefits. The story of this tight-knit community is already a fascinating one, with much more yet to come.
Historic foundations
The transformation that is taking place now would be impressive to those from only a few generations ago, let alone people further back in Winchburgh’s history. There has been a settlement here for over 1000 years, during which time the village has played host to King Edward II of England on his way back from Bannockburn and Mary Queen of Scots during her flight from imprisonment at Loch Leven castle.
More recently, in the 1800s, Winchburgh was probably best known for its thriving oil shale mining industry. The evidence of this can still be seen today with the distinctive ‘bings’ that can be viewed from miles around. These artificial hills were created from used shale and today support a variety of wildlife. Some of the miners’ cottages are still lived in today.
Community vision
Back to the present time, the current development is a £1billion project that combines the convenience of living close to the city with all the benefits of country life including extensive parks and a canal-side marina.
From the early stages of the master planning process, Winchburgh Developments Limited has sought to build a relationship with the local community to involve them in the important decisions that would shape the future of Winchburgh, such as detailed designs for green spaces, and plans for public art projects around Winchburgh.
John Hamilton, CEO, has been working on the vision for the village since 2010. He paid tribute to how engaged people from the village were in the process. “With help from the local Winchburgh community, we created a masterplan to transform the area while retaining the spirit of the village to become a place people can live, work, play and relax, and somewhere they’re proud to call home.”
Although many new residents have moved from within West Lothian and the east central belt, the village spirit has attracted others from farther afield.
Keith and Andrea Fraser said: “In moving south from Aberdeenshire, we visited many developments across the Lothians in our search for a new home. We wanted to move to a growing community and the vision for Winchburgh really appealed to us, especially the range of services and public spaces which we look forward to exercising in and enjoying with family and friends. Although, we no longer have to face a daily commute, for those who do the new M9 junction will really improve Scottish transport links, and access to and from the village.”
Homes for all
The completed development will provide at least 3,800 new homes and improved transport links. Leading homebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Bellway, CALA, Barratt, Robertson and J Smart & Co are on site. From one-bedroom canal-side apartments, two and three bed affordable houses, to six-bedroom family homes, Winchburgh’s properties are aimed at appealing to a wide range of homebuyers, including young professionals, first-time buyers, growing families and older couples looking to downsize.
Philip Hogg, Sales and Marketing Director for CALA Homes (East), said: “We’ve had an amazing response from buyers at our Winchburgh development, Oakbank. It’s clear that they are being inspired by the wider project and it’s ticking everything they are looking for in the next stage of their lives.”
“Winchburgh is an exciting project for us and we’re investing in creating five-star homes for buyers from all walks of life. Alongside the other developers in Winchburgh, we’re looking forward to creating a burgeoning community with first-class infrastructure and amenities,” added Anne Ross, Sales Director at Barratt East Scotland.
Blue and green environments
Located in the heart of the new town centre, Winchburgh marina will provide a host of amenities for locals and visitors to enjoy, including leisure facilities, restaurants and café spaces. The marina brings a unique character to Winchburgh and is well connected to the town’s other green spaces, including the new Daisy Park (which is to be completed by Spring 2024), via a network of footpaths and cycle routes.
The 85-acre Auldcathie District Park will benefit the health and wellbeing of the community for years to come. The sheer scale of the new green spaces is staggering - roughly 2.5 times the area of Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. The final park will see a total of 30,000 trees planted and will include a dedicated bike park, extensive wildlife areas and a community orchard.
Winchburgh Developments Limited recently gifted a 1.5 acre community garden to the local Growing Group. Co-founder John West said: “The garden marks the next chapter of a strong initiative which helps make our community even more special. Recently winning the Silver Beautiful Scotland Award in the large village category as part of Keep Scotland Beautiful was fantastic as it recognised the community’s continuous hard work to help make Winchburgh an attractive and community-inspired place to live.”
Space to learn
Adjacent to Auldcathie District Park lies a large schools campus area which will include two secondary schools, already well underway, and the new location for Holy Family Primary School at the heart of the development. This will feature playing fields and synthetic sports pitches and create a high-quality and pleasant learning environment for future pupils. The secondary schools will provide the community with modern indoor sports facilities on their doorstep, including a 25-metre swimming pool. A further new primary school is expected to be completed by 2024/25 in a similar ‘school in a park’ location on the east side of the masterplan.
Resident John Pritchard, who has lived in Winchburgh all his life, said: “Bringing back secondary education to the village will be fantastic, seeing young people at lunch times and afterschool rather than them all leaving on buses. This will bring a real positive culture change for the village and for everyone who lives here and be welcomed by so many parents and pupils alike to be able to walk to school.”
More connected
Beyond the village, Edinburgh Park and Livingston are a 9-mile drive away, Edinburgh city centre is only 12 miles to the east and Falkirk 15 miles to the west. With a new motorway junction just given the go-ahead, Winchburgh is the perfect place for commuters with excellent connections to the rest of the central belt.
John Pritchard welcomed this too, saying: “Now with the expansion of Winchburgh, and a lot of families owning two cars or more, access to all parts of Scotland and beyond will be much easier and be real asset to those who live here and move here in the future.”
Vibrant village
Everything going on in Winchburgh so far builds upon the strong identity and sense of community already present in the village.
There is a busy dance school, uniformed groups, an active youth club, community choir and a very well attended seniors club.
There is also a thriving sports community including Winchburgh Warriors Netball Club, Niddry Castle Golf Club, Winchburgh Bowling Club and the newly reformed Winchburgh Albion Youth Football Club along with a host of keep fit classes held at the Bowling Club and Community Centre.
Winchburgh’s two churches offer weekly services as well as running community activities through the week including coffee mornings and local meetings. Winchburgh also hosts an annual Gala which is enjoyed by the community every year.
The journey so far
The final word goes to John Hamilton whose team has delivered on the Winchburgh vision so far: “Like any major development project, we had some challenges, including extensive reclamation work of formerly derelict land to become one of Scotland’s largest new greenspaces, the Auldcathie District Park, the first phase of which is now open.
“We are immensely proud of what we have achieved so far, and I believe that, when complete, the range of homes available, combined with the exceptional lifestyle on offer is absolutely unrivalled at the moment in Scotland.
“We’re really excited about what is yet to come and hope that existing and new residents feel the same.”
To find out more about how Winchburgh could be the place you call home, please visit