General view.
SC 424410
Description General view.
Date 3/1974
Collection Papers of Professor John R Hume, economic and industrial historian, Glasgow, Scotland
Catalogue Number SC 424410
Category On-line Digital Images
Scope and Content 'Five Sisters' shale bing, Briech, West Lothian This is a relic of the locally-important shale oil industry, in which shale was heated in retorts to yield a form of crude oil. The residual 'spent' shale was then dumped in heaps which eventually formed flat-topped hills. This view shows five conical heaps - bings - radiating from the site of the Oakbank Oilworks. This was the last new shale oil works built in Scotland. The shale oil industry pre-dated the petroleum industry. Its basic technology was devised by James 'Paraffin' Young. Shale oil yielded on refining paraffin, paraffin wax, and lubricating oil, as well as motor spirit. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.
External Reference H74/25/11
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/424410
File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap
Attribution: © Copyright: HES (Reproduced courtesy of J R Hume)
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