| Activity | In the 1970s the Mill Farm Project was formed as a community group to look at ways preserve Livingston Mill Farm, which had a corn mill dating to c.1770 and a number of attendant buildings; and to use it as a basis for community activity. The mill had not been used since the mid-1950s, but was in a reasonably good state of preservation.
Concurrently, in the 1970s and early 1980s, there was interest in developing a musuem in Livingston that was dedicated to the shale oil industry. Shale oil had been a major industry and employer in Scotland during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and Livingston lay at the industry's geographic heart. Several bings - hillocks of discarded shale - remained a visible impact on the landscape. The Livingston Development Corporation had considered a number of locations for such a museum, including Deans industrial estate, once site of the Deans Oil Works, and Howden House.
These two strands amalgamated in the late 1980s when, in March 1987, the Board of the Development Corporation approved the principle of establishing an oil museum/heritage centre adjacent to Livingston Mill Farm. A steering group was created which was chaired by WRV Percy, a Board Member of the Corporation, and contained representatives from West Lothian District Council, Scottish Museums, and the Mill Farm Project.
The project cost in excess of £400,000 with the Corporation providing technical expertise and some funding, with West Lothian District Council also contributing. A number of donations were sought from corporations and other bodies; British Petroleum, for example, donated £21,000, and later, a number of historical documents to the archive.
Almond Valley Heritage Trust was established as a charity and as a company limited by guarantee in 1990, and following the construction of the museum and renovation of the mill, the Almond Valley Heritage Museum opened in 1991. Today the Heritage Trust operates a museum, mill, narrow gauge steam railway, a number of soft play areas for young childen, and a variety of other activites, including the preservation of archival collections relating to the shale oil industry in Scotland. |