Armadale is a town within the district of West Lothian in central Scotland. Armadale, formerly known as Barbauchlaw, is an ex-mining town which was also known for its brick manufacturing. It is named after Armadale in Sutherland, this estate being owned by Sir William Honeyman who later acquired the land of Barbauchlaw.
Overview
The town has a great number of different public places. There are eight public bars in the town - Coppies, The Corrie, The Cross Bar, The Cavalier, The Bucks Head Tavern, The Highlander, The Regal, and The Goth, which provides the town clock at the front of the building and The Rowan Tree. There are local shops like Coia's Sweet Shop, Coia's Fish and Chip shop, John Dewar and Sons Butchers and more. There is also a small Scotmid supermarket on West Main Street. Armadale is officially the site of Ogilface Castle. Woodend Farm has another site nearer Blackridge, marked as 'Ogelface in ruins' on a 1773 map. These sites have been the subject of archaeological geophysics surveys by the Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society and Dr Peter Morris and kite aerial photography by the West Lothian Archaeological Trust which now also manages the Armadale Community and Heritage Website.
History
Before the building of a new turnpike road between Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1786 the village of Armadale was little more than a rural farm community but its location at a main highway junction brought additional traffic and a toll house was built where the new road intersected with an existing road in the east of the estate. The estate comprising the lands of Barbauchlaw was sold to Sir William Honeyman in 1790 and upon his elevation to the bench in 1797 he took the title of Lord Armadale and this name was then applied to the township The discovery of large coal deposits and also ironstone in the area attracted the attention of a number of companies and several pits were sunk in the area. A coal company was formed in 1819 and began to work the "Woodend Pit" to the north-west of the toll house. The resulting boost in prosperity brought railway companies onto the scene transporting an influx of workers requiring housing and all the usual attendant facilities such as shops, village halls, churches etc.. A school was first formed in the town also in this year, and it eventually became necessary to build a dedicated school house in 1839 to accommodate the growing number of students. As with most mineral dependent communities, as the deposits were exhausted and the pits closed, many moved away but enough local industry remained for the township to survive and today it has also become a commuting hub for those employed in the major towns.
features speedway. It was also used in the past for stock car racing and, until 2016, for greyhound racing. Speedway started in 1997 when the Edinburgh Monarchs team moved here competing in the Premier League, which it won 5 times, until the 2016 season. Reorganisation of the sport the following year saw the team enter the SGB Championship. The town also has a long-established football team, Armadale Thistle, whose home, Volunteer Park, is located on North Street. Armadale Bowling Club located in South Street was established in 1867 and celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 2017. The Armadale Flute Band, established in 1983, has won competitions all over Scotland. In May 2013, following the death of Trustee Rosie Wells, and her subsequent bequest, the Armadale registered Scottish Charity No SC043118 set up the Scottish National Aerial Photography Scheme for children and students. International recognition came in the same month, with the Trust being invited to become an Associated Partner of the ArchaeoLandscapes Europe Project, part of the European Union's Culture Programme, which is managed by Dr Axel Posluschny of the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute.
Education
The localhigh schoolArmadale Academy was originally built at the site that now plays host to Armadale Primary School. It was rebuilt and opened in 1967, at West Main Street, Armadale, and was again rebuilt and opened in August 2009, immediately behind the 1967 Academy building. The site of the old building will be used for new car parking facilities, and new playing fields. The current headmaster is Graham Paris. The old headmasters, Campbell Hornell, moved onto a larger school at the end of the 2015/16 term, and Graham Johnstone retired at the end of the 2009/10 term being headmaster there for nearly 14 years. Carol MacDonald left to return to student support at Christmas 2018.
