Scottish shale Scottish shale

Straiton Oil Works

Former parish and county:
Parish of Liberton, Edinburghshire
Local authority:
Midlothian
Straiton Oil Company Ltd
Opened:
Initially constructed c.1866
Closed:
Production ceased c.1898 but the works survived in a derelict date for a further decade
Current status of site:
Retail park

Redwood notes that the site was operated by the Straiton Oil Company between 1877 and 1882, and then became the property of the Clippens Oil Company. He also observes "The Straiton Oil Company also started in this year (1877) with a capital of £50,000. It was anything but a booming success... In 1882 the Straiton Oil Company Limited got into such straitened circumstances that it had to be either financially reconstructed, or else give up the business. As there still appeared to be plenty of people with more money than brains, ready to rush into the oil business, sufficient capital was soon raised to buy out the Straiton Oil Company, and carry on business under the name of the Midlothian Oil Company Limited... 1884 (saw the amalgamation of) the Midlothian Company and the Clippens Company."

Under ownership of the Clippens Oil Company Straiton Oil Works and Refinery were worked in association with the adjacent Pentland Oil Works. Oil production was suspended in 1897 as the consequence of a long and complex legal case with the Edinburgh and District Water Trust which was not concluded until 1907. By that time the works had fallen derelict and never returned to production.

  • Rateable value by year
    • Date Rateable Value Owner Occupier Notes
      1886 £53.12 William Taylor William Taylor
      1867-68 £28 William Taylor William Taylor
      1869-70 £28 William Taylor & Company, Leith William Taylor & Company, Leith
      1871-73 £210 William Taylor & Company, Leith William Taylor & Company, Leith
      1874 £213 William Taylor & Company, Leith William Taylor & Company, Leith
      1875 £213 William Taylor & Company, Leith William Taylor & Company, Leith
      1876 £200 William Taylor & Company, Leith William Taylor & Company, Leith
      1877 £280 Stration Estate Company Ltd Stration Estate Company Ltd
      1878 £428 Stration Estate Company Ltd Stration Estate Company Ltd
      1879-80 £700 Straiton Oil Company Straiton Oil Company
      1881 £1212 Straiton Oil Company Straiton Oil Company
      1882 £1212 Midlothian Oil Company Ltd Midlothian Oil Company Ltd Also Brickwork
      1883 £2113 Midlothian Oil Company Ltd Midlothian Oil Company Ltd Brickwork Unlet
      1884 £2210 Midlothian Oil Company Ltd Midlothian Oil Company Ltd
      1885 £2000 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1886-87 £1840 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1888 £1860 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1889-91 £1950 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1892 £2100 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1893 £2490 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1894-96 £1962 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1897-98 £400 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1899 £250 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      1900 £150 Clippens Oil Company Ltd Clippens Oil Company Ltd
      NO FURTHER ENTRIES
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  • Newspaper references
    • Mineral Oil in Scotland

      Recently shale was discovered in the vicinity of Straiton, not far from Loanhead ; and within the last two months twelve retorts have there been erected for the manufacture of oil, and placed under the charge of Mr Young. At present nine retorts are at work, each producing about twenty tons of crude oil per day. Two mines have been opened, the dips of which are both very steep. The shales found are of various qualities—some seams, it is said, yielding as high as 50 gallons of crude oil per ton, while others do not reach nearly half that quantity. The expense of fuel for the retorts is greatly lessened at Straiton by the employment of the gas thrown off, and which would otherwise be wasted, as a heating substance. Some of the shales bear a resemblance to that recently found on Sir John Don Wauchope's property, and probably they form part of the same seam.

      Scotsman, Quoted in Western Daily Press, 17th May 1866

      .......

      Wanted – 6 Good Bricklayers and 2 Masons. - Apply to Thomas Watson, Straiton Estate Co.s Works, Straiton.

      Edinburgh Evening News, 26th July 1877

      .......

      FIRE AT STRAITON OIL WORKS.

      About one o'clock on Saturday afternoon, while one of the work-men at the works was removing refuse from a retort, a barrel containing oil caught fire. The flames spread to a wooden erection, which was soon burned. The fire, however, was prevented from spreading to other parts of the works. It was stated that damage to the extent of between £400 and £500 had been occasioned.

      Scotsman, 14th July 1879

      .......

      THOMAS ABERNETHY v. THE LIQUIDATOR OF THE STRAITON OIL COMPANY.

      In this action, a claim of £700 damages was made against the liquidator of the Straiton Oil Company, on the ground that the Company improperly failed to transfer a contract of service, under which the pursuer was engage as manager of Straiton Oil Works, at a salary of £300 a year and a free house, for five years from 14th April 1881, to the Mid-Lothian Company to whom the defenders transferred the works. In defence, it was said that the the pursuer having accepted service with the Mid-Lothian Company in the same line of work, and at the same remuneration, he had no claim against them.

      Scotsman, 16th November 1883