Shale Villages project website

A new web resource is now online commemorating the Shale Villages of West Lothian, as part of the Almond Valley Trust website, and located at www.almondvalley.co.uk/V_home.htm. It is part of a project run from May 2009 - May 2010 to document the communities created by the shale industry (essentially the mining of oil bearing rock) between 1860 and 1962.

The following housing areas are included in the project, with each having its own dedicated page on the Shale Villages site:

Parish of Carnwath:
Tarbrax Old Rows, Tarbrax New Rows

Parish of West Calder:
South Cobbinshaw, North Cobbinshaw, Woolfords Old Row, Woolfords New Row, Addiewell Village, Happy Land, Hermand Old Rows, Hermand New Rows, Mossend Village, Gavieside Village, Raeburn Row

Parish of Livingston:
Oakbank Cottages, Rosebery Cottages, Mid Breich Rows, Westwood Row, Seafield Old Rows, Seafield New Rows, Livingston Station, Starlaw Row, Deans Cottages, Newfarm Cottages

Parish of Midcalder:
Oakbank Village, Pumpherston South, Pumpherston North

Parish of Uphall:
Roman Camps, Uphall Station Rows, Beechwood Cottages, White Row, Stankards Rows,
Holmes Rows, Holygate, New Holygate, Stewartfield, Broxburn Greendykes Rows, Albyn Rows

Parish of Kirkliston:
Westerton Rows, Niddry Rows, Winchburgh, Redhouse Cottages

Parish of Linlithgow:
Bridgend, Kingscavil

Parish of Abercorn:
Wester Pardovan, Philpstoun "Garden City", Newton

Parish of Dalmeny:
Dalmeny

Parish of Burntisland
High Binn, Low Binn

Parish of Lasswade:
Pentland Cottages, W. Straiton & Meadowbank

There is also a three year Shale Families project currently underway as of last May 2010, but the link to some of the records being digitised for this seems to be down just now.

The site has several additional links, including one to the Scottish Shale Oil Industry Collections Survey at http://survey.scottishshale.co.uk/ which provides information on over 8000 items relating to the Scottish shale oil industry as held by museums, libraries and archives in Scotland and further afield.

(With thanks to Talking Scot)

Chris