A number of villages fall under the umbrella of Bathgate, including Blackburn, Whitburn, Stoneyburn, Armadale, Torphichen and Fauldhouse.

Situated 2 miles (3 km) south of the ancient Neolithic burial site at Cairnpapple Hill, Bathgate and the surrounding area show signs of habitation since about 3500 BC and the world's oldest known reptile fossil has been found in the town.

By the 12th century, Bathgate was a small settlement, with a church at Kirkton and a castle south of the present day town centre.

Batket in the 14th century, and by the 15th appeared as both Bathgat and Bathcat, the latter an offshoot of Uchtred Dalrymple's feudal lineage, which ruled during ancient times.

The church and all its associate property were placed under the auspices of Holyrood Abbey at that time and paid a tenth of its income from the land to that institution.

In the 1846 book A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Samuel Lewis writes: Of this ancient castle, some slight traces of the foundations only are discernible, in a morass about a quarter of a mile [400 m] from the town, in which, though it has been drained and brought into cultivation, kitchen utensils of brass, and coffins rudely formed of flat stones, have been discovered by the plough.Another antiquarian, W. Jardin, in the Statistical Account of Scotland Vol I (1793), and referring to Walter Stewart, states: Some traces of his mansion may be seen in the middle of a bog or loch about 1⁄4 mile [400 m] from the town.

Hewn stones have frequently been dug from the foundations, and some kitchen-utensils of copper or brass have been found.Dating from around the same time the remains of Bathgate's former parish church still stand at Kirkton.

In 1606 silver ore was found at nearby Hilderston, in the shadow of Cairnpapple Hill, by a prospecting collier, Sandy Maund.

Francis Groome, in the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882–84) writes: Some of the inhabitants suffered hardship and loss in the times of the persecution; and the insurgent army of the Covenanters, when on their march from the W to Rullion Green, spent a disastrous night at Bathgate.Robert Louis Stevenson, in the book Lay Morals, Part 2: The Pentland Rising.

A Page of History further elucidates upon this night in November 1666: A report that Dalzell was approaching drove them from Lanark to Bathgate, where, on the evening of Monday the 26th, the wearied army stopped.

horse!’ and 'Mount the prisoner!’ resounded through the night-shrouded town.His depiction goes on to describe how the half the army perished in the freezing weather as they headed towards the Pentland Hills.

[16] Designed by the Scottish architect James Graham Fairley, it is in Early English architectural style and the church is Category B listed.

[17] A few years later in 1908, St Mary's Roman Catholic Church was built to a design by Charles Ménart on Livery Street.

This railway line was extended as the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link to Airdrie allowing train services to run between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley via Bathgate on time and on budget in December 2010.

[20] The world's oldest known reptile fossil, Westlothiana lizziae (affectionately referred to as Lizzie), was discovered in East Kirkton Quarry, Bathgate in 1987; it is now in the Museum of Scotland.

[21] Early in 1992,[22] the US company Motorola opened a mobile phone manufacturing (Personal Communications Sector or PCS) plant at Easter Inch in Bathgate (now the Pyramids Business Park).

In 2001, the global market for mobile phones dropped sharply and as a consequence, despite pressure from the highest levels of UK government,[23] on 24 April 2001 Motorola announced the closure of the plant and the loss of 3,106 jobs.

[27] Some previous productions at the site have included the film T2 Trainspotting and the TV show Good Omens,[27] which stars local actor David Tennant.

It played host to the Menzies' Foundry[28] (demolished due to the railway link construction) and British Leyland was sited in Bathgate.

In light of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests a petition to change the processions name due to Newlands slave trade past, gained hundreds of signatories.

The museum is located at 9-11 Mansefield Street in a row of cottages that are Category C listed dating between the late 18th and mid 19th century in construction.

[42] Frequent and daily direct services exist to Falkirk, Westfield, Armadale, Blackridge, Whitburn, Fauldhouse, Torphichen, Linlithgow, Broxburn, Uphall, Newbridge, Deans, Livingston, East Calder and Edinburgh.

Paul di Resta, former Formula One driver with Sahara Force India and now driving for Mercedes in the DTM touring car series, grew up in the town of Bathgate.

He is cousin to two other notable drivers who also hail from Bathgate—the now-retired multiple IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti and his younger brother Marino, currently racing sports cars in Europe and North America.