Uphall

Uphall

Strathbrock kirk, on the north side of Uphall
Uphall
Uphall shown within West Lothian
OS grid reference NT058718
Civil parish
  • Uphall
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BROXBURN
Postcode district EH52
Dialling code 01506
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament

Uphall (Scots: Uphauch, Scottish Gaelic: Ubhalaidh)[1] is a village in West Lothian, Scotland. It is a swiftly growing village in a conurbation with Broxburn to the east, Dechmont to the west and the major town of Livingston to the south west. Uphall is 30 miles from Glasgow and 14 miles from Edinburgh in the Scottish Lowlands.

Uphall has a public golf course and a selection of public houses including The Volunteer Arms, The Oatridge Hotel, Houston House Hotel.

Uphall was historically known as Wester Strathbrock, with its neighbour Broxburn being Easter Strathbrock. Until the second half of the 19th century, both Uphall and Broxburn were small rural communities. The discovery and exploitation of local oil shale triggered massive growth as many people moved to the area to gain employment in the oil shale mines and associated oil works. Surrounding villages expanded rapidly as rows of miners' cottages were erected to accommodate the influx of people, most of whom came - in search of money - from Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland.

This growth continued until the oil industry went into terminal decline in the 1920s and only post war industrial development at Greendykes and East Mains Industrial Estates, coupled with new employment throughout the West Lothian district and increased commuting to Edinburgh, helped to offset the depression that followed.


Notable residents

  • The Rev Alexander MacAndrew Gillespie OBE FRSE FRCPE FSAS FRGS (d.1984) minister and physician[2]
  • Paul di Resta, the DTM champion 2010, and Formula One race driver in 2011-13 with the Force India F1 Team was born in Uphall on April 16, 1986.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.