Brief History of Oakbank Village

Oakbank is a former mining village where many people used to live and work in the former oil works based at Oakbank.  There used to be many houses which sat opposite the Oakbank Social Club & the Bowling Club.

However the houses were demolished several years ago and the village then became a near ghost town as the locals moved into newer homes in nearby East Calder.  The unique red oil-shale bings are part of the area’s landscape. 

They are examples of post-industrial spoil heaps, the result of retorting mineral oil (paraffin) from deep–mined shale beds at a time when Scotland was the major oil production nation in the world.  We are fortunate that we have been left an excellent football park to play football on in such a lovely peaceful setting here at Oakbank.