The Shale Oil Works and Village, Binnend

The Shale Oil Works and Village, Binnend

The Burntisland Shale Oil Works operated at Binnend from 1878 to 1894. The village which was built in 1881 to house the employees had a much longer existence, for it was not until 1954 that the last inhabitant left. It is therefore the village which lives on in the memories of those whose home it was, or who holidayed there. I hope the following pages do justice to a fascinating story. (Please note that the pages are slow loading, because I thought that the visitors to this part of the site would prefer higher resolution graphics.)

The Burntisland Oil Works
The history of the works, with a unique photograph and a detailed map.

The Village at Binnend
Also known as the Binn Village, or the High Binn and the Low Binn. The text and accompanying photos trace the story of the village from 1881 to 1954.

Memories of the Binn Village
Reminiscences from members of six families who lived there.

The material on these Binnend pages is being published simultaneously in the Burgh Buzz (Autumn 2002 edition).

Sources: The main sources for historical information were "The Binnend Oilworks and the Binn Village" by Walter Stephen (c1968) and "Glimpses of Modern Burntisland" by William Erskine (c1930). Full details of both are in the Bibliography.

External link: Stephen Fisk has created a series of pages on Binnend on his Abandoned Communities website - well worth a visit.

IAIN SOMMERVILLE
October 2002
E-mail:iars@fife40.freeserve.co.uk

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