The area of Steneyburne is first mentioned in 1500 in "The Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Causes" 1478-1554.   It appears as Staneburn in 1512 in "Registrum magni segilli regum Scotrum" and it is listed in the Scottish Record Society Publications in 1678 as Stanieburn.   The next reference is in the Kirk Session Records of Livingston from 1641 and has both spellings of Stanieburne and Stannyburne.

Before the village came into being the area was simply the desolate and windswept northern edge of the Kaldar Moor.  The only habitations were small farms and one large, possibly fortified house.  The earliest map of 1630 shows several of the places we know of today:  Adivel (Addiwell), Brych 0r Breich Mill, Baddes, Falas (Fauldhouse) and Foulshiels.  It is strange that Holehouseburn is not shown even though it is known to have existed as early as 1609.

It is very difficult to state who actually first owned the area where the village now stands but as it was originally in the Parish of Livingston it could then have been part of the estates of the Livingston or De Leving family in 1486.  During the 16th century, part of the area was passed to the Hamilton family and in 1604 was acquired by the Linlithgow family.  In 1609 a writer and lawyer from Edinburgh named Waddell bought the lands of Holehouseburn.   In 1633 the Murray's, a branch of the Elibank family, took over the rest of this part of the Breich valley until 1704 when it became the property of Sir James Cunninghame of Livingston, who was succeeded by his oldest son William, who became the local Member of Parliament.   Sir William then chartered the feu of Stoneyburn House to James Waddell, a grandson from Holehouseburn, on the 11th May 1779.

In June 1647 the Presbytery of Linlithgow 'perambulated' the Livingston Parish from east to west and recorded their opinion that it was large enough to have two ministers, one for the eastern part and one for the western part - which became Whitburn Parish.   Stoneyburn area was still in the former and it was not until 23rd June 1731 that the area was disjoined from Livingston Parish and became part of the Parish of Whitburn, where it remained until Stoneyburn became a parish in its own right in the early 1920's.   The Waddell's, who now owned most of the land in the valley, became Heritors of the Parish along with the Baillie's of Polkemmet, the Durham's and the Scot's of Foulshiels and the Wilkies of Breich, Dykes and Auchenhard.   These were landowners with responsibilities for the minister' stipends and the upkeep of the Churches, Manses and Schools.

The area has very little known historical background except that it was involved with the Covenanters.  Whitburn Parish as a whole is steeped in its ties with that movement during those troubled times.  It is well documented that whilst Cromwell's troops were billeted in Livingston from 3rd September 1650 there was very little trouble except for a few court sessions dealing the illegal preachings at Whitburn and Foulshiels in May 1651.

On the 28th November 1666 the Covenanters' army of 1,100 men crossed the Breich burn, probably at the ford near Bents Farm, and made their way to Bathgate where they camped for the night before continuing their march next day via Newbridge to their crushing defeat at Rullion Green on the slopes of the Pentland hills.   The route from Bents to Bathgate still exists in several places and was part of the Salters' Road running past East Whitburn at Swinabbey Farm and then past Inchcross Farm on the southern outskirts of Bathgate.   This route was developed and originally used to transport salt from Bo'ness to the markets of Carnwath and Lanark in the 17th and 18th centuries.