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Philipstoun Oil Works

View of Scottish Oils c.1925 (c) Almond Valley Heritage Trust
View of Scottish Oils c.1925 (c) Almond Valley Heritage Trust

It is hard to imagine now but this small village was once a major producer of crude shale oil. James Ross & Company opened an oil works at Philipstoun in 1885, during the shale oil boom in West Lothian. Local shale mines were linked to the works by rail. The works became part of Scottish Oils and finally closed in 1935.

# More Images

Ordnance Survey 6-inch map of Linlithgowshire (pub 1897 revised 1895) (c) National Library of Scotland