A conspicuous summit in the Bathgate Hills of West Lothian, Bowden Hill rise steeply to 229m (751 feet) 1½ miles (2.4 km) north northeast of Torphichen and 2¼ miles (3.5 km) southwest of Linlithgow. The hill presents its steepest slopes to the west, having been carved by an ice sheet moving from the west and leaving a 'tail' in its lee. At its summit is a sizeable and well-defined hill-fort, constructed in the Bronze Age and once surrounded by a single wall, now somewhat denuded. This is similar in structure to, although larger than, another on Cockleroy Hill, ¾ mile (1.25 km) to the east. It has been suggested that this was the site of the Battle of Badon where King Arthur defeated the Saxons in the 6th C.
Bowden Hill Lime Works extracted limestone from several adits on the north side of the hill from the mid-19th century until 1901. There was once a tramway connecting to the Union Canal which exported the lime, that was used to improve agricultural land, and brought coal to fire three sizeable lime kilns which can still be seen. Lochote Reservoir is located a half-mile (0.8 km) to the south.
