Livingston Village is a village in West Lothian, dating back to the 12th century. Originally a farming village in West Lothian it is now in the heart of the town of Livingston. History Pre 1962 Before 1962 Livingston Village was known as Livingston and has a history dating back to the 12th century. It is first mentioned in an early 12th-century charter as Villa Levingi (Leving's town). In 1128 David I granted the newly founded Abbey of Holyrood control of the church at Livingston and its income in a charter that was witnessed by Turstani filii Levingi (Thurstan Levingsson). He built a fortified tower (Peel of Livingston) which is long since gone. The settlement that grew up around it became known as Levingstoun, Layingston and eventually fixed at Livingston. The name derives from the family name Leving who controlled the area until dying out in 1512. The home of the family was a large Scottish tower house, Livingston Peel. From 1512 until 1671 the house was occupied by The Murrays of Elibank. In the late 17th century the Peel was demolished and replaced by a house called Livingston Place and it passed from the Murray family to the Cunningham family. It was acquired by the Earl of Rosebery in 1828 and demolished in 1840. The Earls of Callendar and the Earls of Linlithgow bear the family name Livingston, and trace their lineage back through Thurstan of Levingston to his father Leving of Levingstoun. One genealogy traces it further back to a Baron de Leving who is believed to have accompanied St. Margaret from her birthplace in Hungary, her presence in Edward the Confessor's court in England and her exile in Scotland. Other sources regard Leving as a Flemish entrepreneur. Livingston Old Kirk, in its current form, dates from 1732 and is a fine example of plain Presbetryrian architecture of the period. It stands on the site of a pre-Reformation church which appears to have stood on the site from c.1350 to 1650. In 1898 Livingston had several houses, a Church of Scotland Church, a United Free church and a School. Surrounding Country Houses Charlesfield House Charlesfield House was a major country house standing just south-west of the village on the banks of the River Almond. It was designed around 1795 and completed in 1798 as the home of a Rev. Thomas Hardy. However it was sold almost immediately, to Henry