West Calder
West Calder
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 West Calder Main Street looking towards the West End |
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 West Calder
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| West Calder shown within West Lothian | |
| Population | 5,370 [1] |
| OS grid reference | NT019632 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WEST CALDER |
| Postcode district | EH55 |
| Dialling code | 01506 |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
West Calder (Scots: Wast Cauder, Gaelic: Calder an Iar) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, located 4 miles west of Livingston. The town was an important centre for the oil shale economy in the 19th and 20th Centuries. West Calder has its own railway station. The surrounding villages that take the towns name in their address; Polbeth, Addiewell, Loganlee, Harburn and Westwood outline the area that this town encompasses and they all have played an important part in the history of the town as well as West Lothian. It is also the most northerly centre of the Dogs Trust, closely followed by the new centre at Glasgow. The town is a 10-minute drive from Livingston, which is host to two large shopping centres.
A memorial in the centre of the town remembers the fifteen men killed on 10 January 1947 as a result of an explosion at the Burngrange oil shale mine southwest of the town.
Most housing in the village dates from the mid-20th century, though it has a public library built as early as 1903. Funded by Carnegie money this building represents a fine example of the Art Nouveau style and has a decorative interior. The parish church (1643) was abandoned in 1880 and is now roofless.
The Five Sisters shale bings to the north of West Calder were named by artist John Latham during his time with an Artist Placement Group project with the Scottish Office’s Development Agency in 1975–6.
A description of West Calder written by Rev. Mr. Muckersie appears in the Old Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 18 No.9 pp. 190–198. The description includes information on the topics such as the character and manners of the people, agriculture and produce, the ecclesiastical state of the parish, diseases affecting the local populace and details of the poor funds.
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Wikipedia