Westerton
Rows
coordinates:
55°55'53.14"N,
3°26'4.11"W
location: on a minor
road between Newbridge and Broxburn, West Lothian
former parish: Kirkliston
current
status:
site cleared c.1960 and returned to agriculture
date
constructed: c.1885
owner/builder: Young's Paraffin
Light and Mineral Oil Co.
"The
village consists of 41 houses, built in three rows of equal
size. The homes are built of brick and consist of a room
(12ft x 12ft), kitchen (12ft by 12ft with two bed recesses),
and a scullery with sink (7.5 ft x 6ft). Outside dry closets,
coal cellars, and small gardens are provided for each tenant.
There is a common drying green but no wash-houses. All refuse
is removed twice weekly by the company. The rent, inclusive
of local and county rates, is 3/- weekly. Population,257.
One of the houses, with a wing added, has been converted
into a billiard and games room. Daily papers are supplied,
and there is a small library. The workers pay 1.5d per week
for use of the reading room."
Theodore
K. Irvine, Report on the Housing Conditions in the Scottish
Shale Field, 1914.
"Another
local village; Westerton is on the way out, as the houses
are to be closed as they become vacant. This little hamlet,
which was originally built to house shale miners, was, from
the time it was built, a happy go-ahead community, and there
are many in the district who will hear with regret of the
"passing" of this village."
West Lothian Courier, 2nd April
1954
Site of Westerton Rows, looking East towards the Almond railway
viaduct. October 2009.
A railway mishap in the 1920's. The blob on the horizon to
the left of the wagon might be
Westerton Rows?
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