Our Mission is.......

.....to preserve and interpret the history and environment of West Lothian and make this heritage accessible, engaging, and enjoyed by all.

Almond Valley Heritage Trust

A charity registered in Scotland, Registration No. SC 013783
Registered in Scotland as a company limited by guarantee. Registration No.089429.

The story of Almond Valley begins in the late 1960's with a campaign to save the historic buildings of Livingston Mill from demolition. A volunteer group won the support of the new town development corporation, and over the course of a decade worked to restore the derelict watermill and farm-steading. Members of the local community then established a city farm on the site, and a little later, one of the outbuildings became home for the Livingston Oil Museum.

In 1990 the Almond Valley Heritage Trust was created to take forward these diverse interests. Ever since, we've continually extended the attractions and facilities of the site, exploring new activities, and developing new services. As a social enterprise, we've built a sustainable business that involves and serves both our visitors and the wider community. We've ambitious plans for continued progress.

As an accredited museum, Almond Valley works to provides a local museum service for those areas shaped by the shale oil industry, and represents the national importance of Scotland's shale oil industry.

Our shale oil industry collection is recognised as being of National Significance, and a vigorous programme of research and digitisation enables knowledge of Scotland's shale oil industry to be shared internationally through our scottishshale website

Almond Valley holds particular appeal to families with young children, who have an immediate affinity with the farm animals and run wild in the green spaces and play facilities. We aim to be a happy carefree place that can be enjoyed by all of the family, and hope that the experiences shared will inform, inspire and be reflected upon. This gentle approach to learning links and underlies everything that we do.

Our Board of Trustees

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  • Wayne Simpson (chair)
  • Valerie Tallon (vice chair)
  • Andrew Miller
  • Bill Percy
  • Ian Crawford
  • Steve Mills
  • Marcus Sangster
  • Lynne Hollis
  • Scarlett Walker

Our charitable purposes

  1. To advance arts, heritage, culture and science by safeguarding and celebrating the heritage and environment of West Lothian.
  2. To preserve the heritage of Scotland's shale oil industry by holding collections and engaging in museum activities that reflect the national and international significance of the industry
  3. To advance education and promote community well-being through activities that support popular engagement in heritage.

Registered Office

Almond Valley Heritage Centre, Millfield, Livingston,West Lothian, EH54 7AR

Tel 01506 414957, e-mail

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Annual Reports

Our History in Pictures