Holmes Rows

Parish:

Uphall, Linlithgowshire

Local authority:

West Lothian

Ownership:

Holmes Oil Co. Ltd.

Opened:

Presumably built c.1884

Closed:

ruinous by the 1950's

Current status of site:

Site landscaped and surrounded by modern housing.

Built to serve Holmes Oil Works, Holmes Rows consisted of a row of four, two-storey blocks, each containing eight two-room houses. The 1950's OS map show them in a ruinous condition. Company staff were also housed at Holmes Cottages.

Location map

Detailed maps

Holmes Rows - 25" OS map c.1897, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Holmes Rows - 25" OS map c.1907, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Holmes Rows - 1:2,500 OS map c.1955, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Holmes Rows - Aerial, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Archive plans

Plan of ground feued to Holmes Oil Company Ltd for workman's housing, 1900. (BP archive 143390)

Recent images

Site of Holmes Rows, ‎21 ‎May ‎2011

Newspaper references

IN THE LIQUIDATION OF THE HOLMES OIL COMPANY, LIMITED.

FOR SALE, by PRIVATE OFFER, the following PROPERTY ;- Lot 1 – TWO COTTAGES. Rent, £52. Feu-Duty. £4 8s. Lot 2 - TWO COTTAGES. Rent, £23 8s. Feu-Duty £4 8s. Lot 3. - FOUR BLOCKS of WORKMEN'S HOUSES, consisting of Eight Houses in each Block. Rental £249 12s. Feu-Duty, £17 12s. There is a good demand for Houses of this class in the locality, and the Rent might be increased. Since the commencement of the Liquidation in October 1900, the Houses have been fully Let.

The Falkirk Herald, 19th July 1902

.......

A block of eight houses at the Holmes, Broxburn, have been destroyed by fire.

West Lothian Courier, 28th April 1922