Scottish shale Scottish shale

Inkerman Oil Works

Alternative names:
Abercorn oil works, Walkinshaw oilworks, Hermand o
Former parish and county:
Parish of Barony, Renfrewshire
Local authority:
East Renfrewshire
Ownership:
Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd.
Hermand Oil Co. Ltd (1890)
Opened:
Presumably built c.1872
Closed:
Dismantled c.1899
Current status of site:
Mostly beneath the A737 / M8 interchange
Regional overview:
Oil works in the Renfrewshire area

Redwood lists the site as Abercorn Oil Works, started 1871 by the Abercorn Oil Company, changed hands 1880. He also notes use of horizontal retorts until 1871, and then 240 vertical retorts, producing crude oil only. "After 1880 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd were proprietors".

Inkerman Oil Works has been known at various times as Abercorn Oil Works, Walkinshaw Oil Works and Hermand Oil Works, (but should not be confused with the Abercorn Oil Works, Paisley of Anderson & Walloch, concerned with the processing of vegetable oils.)

Inkerman works were established in about 1871 by the Abercorn Oil Company. In 1880, when that company was incorporated into the Walkinshaw Oil Company, the “existing oil and brick works and workmen’s houses near Inkerman” were valued at £22,498. East Fulton works, and various mines and mineral rights, were also transferred to the new company. The Walkinshaw Company seemed to have replaced or reconstructed the retorts at Inkerman and constructed a new refinery that both served the Inkerman retorts and processed crude oil bought in from elsewhere. Hot gasses from the retorts fuelled the company’s brickworks at Inkerman, and the company’s railway linked the works with various pits.

Financial problems and issues with the quality of the local shale saw production of crude oil cease in about 1885, the refinery continuing at a reduced level until 1886, and brick production continuing until liquidation of the company in 1890. The refinery was subject of a major fire in January 1885 (this account gives some description of the layout of the buildings and lesser incidents in April 1885 and January 1887.

It seems that considerable funds were invested to refurbish the refinery once ownership passed to the Hermand Oil Co Ltd in 1890. At the 1892 AGM of the Hermand Oil Company it was stated that "the expenditure on the refinery at Walkinshaw since the company acquired it amounts to £13,044 7s 3d, and some further expenditure - probably of £5000 - is necessary to set it in working order." It is uncertain that this further investment was made, and the refinery plant and equipment were sold off in 1900

The second edition OS map, surveyed c.1895, shows the site in use as a refinery, although the disused bing provides a clear indication that the site had earlier been used for crude oil production. The four parallel structures in the southern part of the works appear to be benches of stills.

Inkerman oil works.jpg
  • Rateable value by year
      • Date Rateable Value Owner Occupier Notes
      1872 £500 Abercorn Oil Company per John Davidson Abercorn Oil Company per John Davidson Oil Works
      £20 Duke of Abercorn Abercorn Oil Company Clayfield
      1873 £375 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £10 Duke of Abercorn Abercorn Oil Company Clayfield
      1874-77 £375 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £20 Duke of Abercorn Abercorn Oil Company Clayfield
      £80 Rough Mussell. P Hill Wilson Rough Mussell. P Hill Wilson Shale Heap
      1878 £375 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £20 Duke of Abercorn Abercorn Oil Company Clayfield
      £80 Rough Mussell. P Hill Wilson Rough Mussell. P Hill Wilson Shale Heap
      1879 £375 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £20 Duke of Abercorn Abercorn Oil Company Clayfield
      £92 Rough Mussell. P Hill Wilson Rough Mussell. P Hill Wilson Shale Heap
      £100 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Brickwork
      1880 £375 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £200 Duke of Abercorn Abercorn Oil Company Clayfield
      £100 Rough Mussell. P Hill Wilson Rough Mussell. P Hill Wilson Brickwork
      £80 Rough Mussell Rough Mussell Shale Heap
      1881 £375 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £100 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Brickwork
      £200 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Clayfield
      1882 £375 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £100 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Brickwork
      £250 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Clay and land
      1883 £550 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £250 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Brickwork
      £100 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Minerals
      1884-85 £550 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works
      £250 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Brickwork
      £100 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Minerals
      1886 £550 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Oil Works (reduced on appeal)
      £250 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Brickwork
      -- John Cunningham Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Minerals
      £145 Alum & Ammonia Company Thomas Hurlet Shale / Haugh Heap
      1887 £325 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Oil Works
      £125 Abercorn Oil Company Abercorn Oil Company Brickwork
      -- John Cunningham John Cunningham Minerals
      £86 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Shale / Haugh Heap
      1888 £100 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Per Thomas Liddle Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Per Thomas Liddle Oil Works
      £100 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Per Thomas Liddle Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Per Thomas Liddle Brickwork
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Clay
      £10 Alum & Ammonia Company Robert King Shale / Haugh Heap. (Reduced)
      1889 £100 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Oil Works
      £100 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Brickwork
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Clay
      £10 Alum & Ammonia Company Robert King Shale / Haugh Heap
      1890 £100 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Oil Works Empty
      £115 Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Brickworks
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Walkinshaw Oil Company Ltd Clay and Paraffin Oil Works
      £10 Alum & Ammonia Company Robert King Shale / Haugh Heap
      1891-92 £47 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Empty
      £118 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Brickworks
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Hermand Clay Clay and Paraffin Oil Works
      -- Robert King Robert King Unlet
      1893 £47 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Oil Works Empty
      £115 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Brickworks
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Hermand Clay Clay and Paraffin Oil Works
      -- Robert King Robert King Unlet
      1894 £47 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Oil Works Empty
      £115 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Brickworks
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Hermand Clay Clay and Paraffin Oil Works
      -- Robert King Robert King Unlet
      1895 £47 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Oil Works Empty
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Duke of Abercorn Clay and Paraffin Oil Works
      £115 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Brickworks
      1896 £47 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Oil Works Empty
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Duke of Abercorn Clay and Paraffin Oil Works
      £115 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Brickworks
      1897 £100 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Oil Works Empty
      £50 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Brickworks
      £240 Duke of Abercorn Duke of Abercorn Clay and Paraffin Oil Works
      1898 £25 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Oil Works Empty
      £25 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Brickworks
      1899 £25 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Works being demolished
      £25 The Hermand Oil Company Ltd The Hermand Oil Company Ltd Bricks
      NO FURTHER ENTRIES
  • Location map
  • Detailed maps

    • Recent images

    P1040323.JPG P1040320.JPG P1040314.JPG P1040311.JPG
  • Newspaper references

      • In the Inkermann district the roofs of most of the recently erected sheds were blown off, and some of the gable were also blown down at the New Walkinshaw Oil Company’s works, while farm steadings in the neighbourhood have suffered very considerably, stacks &c., being tossed about with great violence.

      Glasgow Herald, 23rd November 1881

      .......

      FIRE AT THE WALKINSHAW OIL-WORKS.

      A fire occurred last night at the works of the Walkinshaw Oil Company near Paisley. The works are skirted on the north by the Caledonian Railway, and it is stated a shower of hot embers from a passing train ignited the contents of one of three pits known "Save Alls," and placed so as to receive the refuse from the neighbouring oil refineries. The fire quickly spread to one the other pits, and thin covering oil which had been carried into the receptacles along with the tar and other waste products gave the outbreak a very alarming appearance. The manager brought into use the extinguishing appliances with which the works have been furnished since the serious fire of a couple of months ago, and the Paisley Fire Brigade, which had received alarm, on arriving found that their services were unnecessary. The refuse contained in the "Save Alls" is chiefly used in the works as fuel, so that the loss is inconsiderable.

      Edinburgh Evening News, 7th April 1885

      .......

      SALE OF OIL WORK PLANT and MACHINERY at WALKINSHAW OIL WORKS, PAISLEY, on THURSDAY, 8th February at 11o'clock. SHIRLAW, ALLAN, & CO. have received instructions from THE NEW HERMAND OIL CO. LTD., to SELL by AUCTION as follows:-

      • Pair of Freezing Engines by Sidley & Co. Cylinders 14in. By 21 in. Stroke:
      • Air Compressing Engine, cylinder, 16 in., by 36 in. Stroke:
      • 12 in. Locomotive,
      • 6 Fine Oil Boilers 24ft., by 7 ft. with mountings:
      • M and C.I. Stock
      • Tank and Washers,
      • M & I Boiler Tanks,
      • Acid Blowers and tanks,
      • Hydraulic and Belt-driven Pumps,
      • One 7-Ton and One 3-Ton Hand Derrick Cranes,
      • Double Power Hand-Winch,
      • Platform Weighings, Shafting,
      • about 140 Tons Railway Rails and Connection,
      • Old Lead, M. & C.I. Scrap. P.P. Logs &c.
      • Also BRICKS of BOILER, STILL, and TANK SEATS, &c.

      Catalogues in preparation, from Auctioneers. Hamilton 20th January 1900.

      Scotsman, 24th January 1900

  • Directory references

      • From Watson's Directory for Paisley:

        • ABERCORN OIL COMPANY (1873-74), James Boyd, manager (1875) Spiers Jones, manager (1876-79) Alexander Thomson, manager (1880-81)
        • Abercorn Oil Company, farmers, East Candren (1873-75) (1879-80)
        • WALKINSHAW OIL COMPANY (LIMITED) - Alexander Thomson, manager (1882), Alexander Wilson, manager (1883), Alexander Neilson, manager, Boghead farm (1884-1889)
        • HERMAND OIL COMPANY (LIMITED) – refinery Walkinshaw – crude works West Calder – Harry Armour, manager (1891-98)
        • ALLAN, Robert, cashier – office, Inkerman Works (1874-85) Walkinshaw Oil Co. works (1886)
        • ARMOUR, Harry, manager, Hermand Oil Co. Limited (1890-91)
        • BURNS, Robert, oversman, No.1 Walkinshaw Pit (1876-78)
        • COWAN, Hugh, oversman, No.3 Douglas Pit (1876-81)
        • FRASER, William, manager, Hermand Oil Company Limited, ho. Boghead farm (1897)
        • GALLATELY, John, Chemist, Hermand Oil Co. Limited Boghead farm (1890-91)
        • GIBB, Robert, pit manager, Walkinshaw Oil Co. (Limited) (1884-86)
        • HOUSTON, William, clerk, Walkinshaw Oil Co. (Limited) (1884-86)
        • JONES, Spiers, manager, Abercorn Oil Works, East Candren (1876-79)
        • KIRKWOOD, William, manager, Inkerman Works (1876-83)
        • KIRKWOOD, William, jun, clerk, Inkerman Works (1874-75)
        • LOGAN, Thomas, sen. Oversman No.1 Douglas Pit (1876-86)
        • LYNN, James, secretary, Hermand Oil Company Limited, house Breich,West Calder (1896-98)
        • McKEAN, John, oversman, Walkinshaw Pit (1880-83)
        • NEILSON, Alexander, manager, Walkinshaw Oil Co. (Limited) Boghead Farm (1884-89)
        • NEILSON, John, clerk, Walkinshaw Oil Co. (Limited) (1884-89), Hermand Oil Co. Limited – house East Candren farm (1890-94)
        • NIVEN, William, oversman, No.2 Douglas Pit (1876-83)
        • THOMSON, Alexander, Manager, Abercorn Oil Works, East Candren (1880-81), chemist (1882-83)
        • TAYLOR; James, sub-manager, Hermand Oil Company Limited – house East Candren farm (1891)
        • WILSON, Alexander, manager, Walkinshaw Oil Company (1883)
        • WHITE, William, oversman, No.4 Abercorn Pit (1876-78)
        • STEVEN, Thomas Wylie at Abercorn Shale Oil Works, Inkerman – house , 37 New Street Paisley, (1876-78) Uphall Oil Company (Limited), (1879-82)

    Enquiry form