Grange Oil Works

Alternative names:

Charlesfield Oil Works

Parish:

West Calder, Midlothian

Local authority:

West Lothian

Ownership:

J.P. Raeburn

Midlothian Mineral Oil Co. Ltd.

Opened:

c.1864

Closed:

c.1876

Current status of site:

Intensive chicken farm with wooded areas of bing at the edges of the site

Referred to variously as Grange or Charlesfield, this modest oil works seems to have produced crude oil from shales mined close by to the works, at Grange No.1 & 2 and Grange No.3. Operated by the Midlothian Mineral Oil Company from 1871. Equipment listed in the liquidation sale of1874 suggests that some refining of crude oil also took place on site. Workman's housing associated with the work was constructed at Raeburn Rows.

Listed by Redwood as being sited at Gunsgreen Toll and operated by J.P. Raeburn between 1863 and 1876.

Lidar image overlaid with 25" OS map c.1895, courtesy National Library of Scotland

British Geological Survey plan LSP 391 - 16301, overlaid, seemingly showing the location of surface features including the oil works retorts.

Rateable value by year

Date	Rateable Value	Owner	Occupier	Notes
1864	£20	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield
1865	£80	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield
1866	£258	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield
1867-68	£199	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield
1869-72	£247	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield	John Peter Raeburn of Charlesfield	Referred to as Grange
1873	£525	Midlothian Oil Company Ltd	Midlothian Oil Company Ltd
1874	£450	Midlothian Oil Company Ltd	Midlothian Oil Company Ltd
1875	£150	Midlothian Oil Company Ltd	Midlothian Oil Company Ltd	Unlet
				NO FURTHER ENTRIES

Location map

Detailed maps

Grange (aka Charlesfield) Oil Works - 25" OS map c.1895, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Grange (aka Charlesfield) Oil Works - 25" OS map c.1917, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Grange (aka Charlesfield) Oil Works - Aerial, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Recent images

View from bridge over Breich Water to Gungreen Tollhouse. Looking east. October 2010.

October 2010.

Newspaper references

The Grange Oil Works, in the same neighborhood (as the Gavieside Oil Works), are owned by Mr. Raeburn (a grandson of the portrait painter), and have sixty retorts.

Scotsman, 1st February 1869

.......

THE MID-LOTHIAN MINERAL OIL COMPANY (LIMITED) IN LIQUIDATION. AT MID-LOTHIAN OIL WORKS, WEST CALDER, ON TUESDAY 12th OCTOBER 1875, AT 12 O'CLOCK. IMPORTANT SALE OF SHALE OIL PLANT AND MACHINERY CONSISTING OF: 20 UPRIGHT RETORTS and CONNECTIONS (Young's Patent), 54 HORIZONTAL RETORTS AND CONNECTIONS. 8 MALLEABLE IRON STILLS and MOUNTINGS. 8 CAST-IRON CONDENSER STILLS, 5 large IRON RECEIVERS. 6 Large WOOD WASHERS (lined with lead), HYDRAULIC PRESS 8in Ram 3ft LIFT, Superior Hydraulic Press 9in Ram, 11 ft. lift, with Pumps. 6 Four-Inch BUCKET PUMPS, 6 CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS, 5 STEAM ENGINES, 6,8,10,13 and 16 in. Cylinder. 5 STEAM BOILERS and MOUNTINGS. 10 EGG and FLAT END BOILERS (various sizes)...

Scotsman, 2nd October 1875

.......

COUNTY OF EDINBURGH – SHALE-FIELD – To be LET, the SHALE in the ESTATE of CHARLESFIELD in the Parishes of Mid-Calder and West-Calder. A Branch of the Caledonian Railway passes through the property, with a Siding for its accommodation. Apply to Messrs. HILL & FERGUSSON, W.S., 42 Fredrick Street Edinburgh.

Scotsman, 27th September 1876