Almond Valley's Recognised collection celebrates Scotland's pioneering shale oil industry, and includes objects illustrating mining, retorting and refining processes, the products of the industry, and how they were marketed. The museum archive holds the surviving official records of the shale oil companies.
Almond Valley Heritage Trust
Visitor Info
About the Museum
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 process, which we call “invisible learning”, links and underlies everything that we do.
The museum also explores the fascinating story of Scotland's shale oil industry, which shaped much of our local landscape and did much to influence the development of the oil trade worldwide.
Displays consider the geology of shale and the strange environments that led to the formation of this unusual mineral, then illustrates the technology developed to extract and refine the oils contained within it. There are arrays of lamps, candles and other products of the industry and other exhibits that illustrate the commercial activities of the oil companies. There's an oil works laboratory, recreated worker's cottage, and much that illustrate the lives of those who worked in the shale works.
