Middleton Hall

A substantial C-listed mansion lying to the south of the Brox Burn in Uphall (West Lothian), Middleton Hall now serves as a residential care home for the elderly. It was built 1707-10 for Rev. George Barclay who lived here after retiring from ministry of the Parish until his death 1714. Thereafter it passed to David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan (1742 - 1829). Later it became a home of the businessman Sir John Pender (1816-96), who had interests in the West Lothian oil shale industry and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1868. Middleton Hall was bought by the Broxburn Oil Company, who let it as an asylum and then as a convalescent home for soldiers injured in the First World War. In 1919, the Hall was extended to become the headquarters for Scottish Oils Ltd., which came into being through the merger of five Scottish oil shale companies, including Broxburn Oil. It was originally of two storeys, but a third was added and a substantial complex of workshops and laboratories were constructed to the south. It served as offices, as a laboratory and as a training centre. Housing for technical and management staff were built within the grounds, to designs inspired by the Garden City movement. These now form Burnside Road, Middleton Road, Westhall Gardens and Middleton Avenue, the latter having been the elegant wooded approach to the Hall. Different sizes and style of houses were allotted to workers according to their rank within the company.

Scottish Oils effectively ceased trading in the 1960s when oil shale production in West Lothian came to an end. The building became offices for Motherwell Bridge Thermal, who manufactured heat exchangers and developed a large factory to the south. In the late 1980s, Middleton Hall became a care home. The original pilastered entrance has been restored. The Motherwell Bridge factory closed in 2000 and was demolished, the South Middleton site having been redeveloped for housing.

Confusingly there is another Middleton Hall in Midlothian, 21 miles (33 km) to the east southeast.


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