Broxburn Oil Works c.1910 (c) Almond Valley Heritage Trust

Broxburn became a boom town when the shale oil industries took off in West Lothian. It was a time of great competition and innovation. There were eight oil works sites active in the town in the 1860s. They were amalgamated in 1878 into the Broxburn Oil Works. A refinery processed all the crude oil produced by the company and all the wax scale was made into wax and candles.