St Mary's Academy, Bathgate

Coordinates: 55°53′42″N 3°37′26″W / 55.895°N 3.624°W / 55.895; -3.624

St Mary's Academy, Bathgate was a former Roman Catholic High School located in the Eastern part of Bathgate, West Lothian in Scotland. It was a state funded High School that educated young adults mainly from the areas of Bathgate, Armadale, Blackridge, Linlithgow, Bo'ness, Stoneyburn and Bents, Blackburn, Seafield, Polbeth, West Calder, Addiewell, Faulhouse, Longridge, Whitburn, East Whitburn, Harthill, Greenrigg and parts of Livingston, Broxburn, Winchburgh, Kirkliston and Ratho Station. The School Motto was 'Animo et Fide' which translates from Latin as Courageously and Faithfully. The School was located on Edinburgh Road, Bathgate.

Buildings

The school consisted of two rectangular stone buildings each containing a gymnasium in the centre and two quadrangles. These buildings were known as the East wing and the West wing, they were linked by a covered walkway (the link corridor). The main buildings were complemented for 20 years by a number of "temporary" structures referred to by staff and students as "the Maths Hut", "the Geography Huts", the "History Hut" and the "Music Huts". The East wing was the original St Mary's Senior Secondary. The school was renamed St Mary's Academy when the building was amalgamated with the building of non-denominational Lindsay High School,^[1] whose students moved to the new Bathgate Academy. The Rector in the late 1960s and 1970s was Mr Hugh McCusker.

Closure

In 1993, West Lothian Council announced plans to amalgamate the school with Our Lady's High School, Broxburn into one large purpose built School in nearby Livingston. Both Our Lady's High and St Mary's adopted the new name, and both operated as St Margaret's Academy one year prior to their closure' before moving all schooling to Livingston. The school closed in mid-1994. St Mary's was subsequently demolished in the late 1990s and is now the site of private sector housing. There is a small plaque commemorating the school at the North West entrance to the estate, which includes 'Lindsey' and St Marys' in its street names.

References