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The story of Scotland's shale oil industry
The Scottish shale oil industry has a remarkable and important history.
Bathgate Chemical Works, established in 1851, was perhaps the first site in the world where mineral oils were processed on an industrial scale. From this blossomed an extensive oil industry that competed successfully against cheaper imported petroleum for many years, and continued in operation until 1962. Such fierce competition bred innovation, progress, and a body of Scots know-how that contributed greatly towards the development of the oil industry throughout the world.
This website is being developed to celebrate, exchange knowledge, and encourage research into this special heritage. We hope that the resource will be of particular value to those researching family histories.
Genealogy
Research resources for family historians
Employment records
A database of surviving company documents.
Trades and occupations
Descriptions of working life in the industry.
Notable personalities
Inventors, entrepreneurs, and worthies.
Gazetteer
Records of sites associated with the shale oil industry
Oil works and refineries
Covering all parts of Scotland.
Company housing & villages
In Scottish oil-shale districts.
Mines, pits and quarries
In Scottish oil-shale districts.
Beyond Scotland
Scottish influence throughout the world
Histories
Original papers offering an introduction to the industry
An introduction to shale oil
Its history, technology and geology.
Company histories
Information files on each oil company.
Your research & reminiscences
Contributions from independent authors.
Collections
Catalogue of objects and archives held here and elsewhere.
Museum collection
The Scottish shale oil industry collection.
BP archive
Company records now held by our museum.
Reference collection
Copy images and documents.
Collections survey
Other museum collections, surveyed 2009.
West Lothian in postcards
Local images plotted on maps.
Library
Research resources available on-line
Pamphlets and publications
Archive publications as digital books.
Oral histories
Transcripts of interviews conducted 1983-90.
Transcripts and notes
Extracts from newspapers and magazines.
Learning and sharing
Resources for schools and research noticeboard
Schools pages
Become a Shale Oil Explorer.
Essays and exhibitions
Presentations on the shale oil story.
About us
Almond Valley is a family-friendly museum established in 1990 to preserve and interpret the history and environment of West Lothian. It also continues the work of an oil museum research project which, since 1983, had collected objects and archives associated with the shale industry. Download our collections development policy.
Much of the collection is now displayed in The Scottish Shale Oil Museum; one of a range of educational and leisure facilities at Almond Valley, close to Livingston, West Lothian.
For further information on a great day out at Almond Valley visit our main web site.
We are a member of Industrial Museums Scotland and Oil Museums in Europe.
Latest work to the site
October 2018...
- Our volunteers continue to churn out transcribed documents. Have a look at this minute book, from Scottish Oils Ltd, this minute book from the Dalmeny Oil Co., and this lease book from James Ross & Co.
- One of our wonderful volunteers has spent the past year transcribing a Pumpherston Oil Company minute book, dated 1916-1919.
- We've added lots more dispositions this week. Can you find your house? We'll be adding the final ones from Pumpherston and Winchburgh in the next few weeks.
- Just added is a new Register of Leases, detailing every householder in certain streets from 1902-1968.
- Dr Alexander Scott's investigation into occupational dermatoses, and cancer, amongst paraffin workers.
Every object tells a story:
Seeing the collection through our volunteers' eyes
Our new exhibition has been co-curated with our volunteers who each selected an object from our collection that spoke to them and shared their personal stories behind their choices. Storytelling allows us to draw links between the past, present and future and bring to life the human presence behind any object. This exhibition will be on display in the museum until the end of June 2018 or you can explore it online here.
We are happy to licence use of many images, extracts, and other resources of this website under a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial licence (Scotland). See full copyright statement. Such material should be attributed to Almond Valley Heritage Trust and, where practical, a hyperlink provided to www.scottishshale.co.uk.